John 20:11-18
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
11 But Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.(A) And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. 13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus.(B) 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”(C) She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,”[a] which means Teacher. 17 Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me,[b] for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”(D) 18 Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and what he told her.
Appearance to the Disciples.[c]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 20:16 Rabbouni: Hebrew or Aramaic for “my master.”
- 20:17 Stop holding on to me: see Mt 28:9, where the women take hold of his feet. I have not yet ascended: for John and many of the New Testament writers, the ascension in the theological sense of going to the Father to be glorified took place with the resurrection as one action. This scene in John dramatizes such an understanding, for by Easter night Jesus is glorified and can give the Spirit. Therefore his ascension takes place immediately after he has talked to Mary. In such a view, the ascension after forty days described in Acts 1:1–11 would be simply a termination of earthly appearances or, perhaps better, an introduction to the conferral of the Spirit upon the early church, modeled on Elisha’s being able to have a (double) share in the spirit of Elijah if he saw him being taken up (same verb as ascending) into heaven (2 Kgs 2:9–12). To my Father and your Father, to my God and your God: this echoes Ru 1:16: “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” The Father of Jesus will now become the Father of the disciples because, once ascended, Jesus can give them the Spirit that comes from the Father and they can be reborn as God’s children (Jn 3:5). That is why he calls them my brothers.
- 20:19–29 The appearances to the disciples, without or with Thomas (cf. Jn 11:16; 14:5), have rough parallels in the other gospels only for Jn 20:19–23; cf. Lk 24:36–39; Mk 16:14–18.
John 20:11-18
New International Version
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb(A) 12 and saw two angels in white,(B) seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”(C)
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”(D) 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there,(E) but she did not realize that it was Jesus.(F)
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?(G) Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic,(H) “Rabboni!”(I) (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers(J) and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father(K) and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene(L) went to the disciples(M) with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
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