Jesus Is Raised from the Grave ^(A)

20 It was the first day of the week. Mary Magdalene came to the grave early in the morning while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been pushed away from the grave. ² She ran to Simon Peter and the other follower whom Jesus loved. She said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the grave. We do not know where they have put Him.”

³ Then Peter and the other follower went to the grave. ⁴ They ran but the other follower ran faster than Peter and came to the grave first. ⁵ He got down and looked in and saw the linen cloths but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came and went into the grave. He saw the linen cloths lying there. ⁷ The white cloth that had been around the head of Jesus was not lying with the other linen cloths. It was rolled up and lying apart by itself. ⁸ Then the other follower, who had come first, went in also. He saw and believed. ⁹ They still did not understand what the Holy Writings meant when they said that He must rise again from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the followers went back again to their homes.

¹¹ Mary stood outside the grave crying. As she cried, she got down and looked inside the grave. ¹² She saw two angels dressed in white clothes. They were sitting where the body of Jesus had lain. One angel was where His head had lain and one angel was where His feet had lain. ¹³ They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord. I do not know where they have put Him.”

¹⁴ After saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ He said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” She thought He was the man who cared for the garden. She said to Him, “Sir, if you have taken Jesus from here, tell me where you have put Him. I will take Him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned around and said to Him, “Teacher!” ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to Me. I have not yet gone up to My Father. But go to My brothers. Tell them that I will go up to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God!” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and told the followers that she had seen the Lord. She told them the things He had said to her.

Jesus Was Seen by His Followers—Thomas Was Not There

¹⁹ It was evening of the first day of the week. The followers had gathered together with the doors locked because they were afraid of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “May you have peace.” ²⁰ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. When the followers saw the Lord, they were filled with joy.

Jesus Sends His Followers to Preach ^(B)

²¹ Then Jesus said to them again, “May you have peace. As the Father has sent Me, I also am sending you.” ²² When Jesus had said this, He breathed on them. He said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you say that people are free of sins, they are free of them. If you say that people are not free of sins, they still have them.”

Thomas Does Not Believe Jesus Is Raised from the Dead ^(C)

²⁴ Thomas was not with them when Jesus came. He was one of the twelve followers and was called the Twin. ²⁵ The other followers told him, “We have seen the Lord!” He said to them, “I will not believe until I see the marks made by the nails in His hands. I will not believe until I put my finger into the marks of the nails. I will not believe until I put my hand into His side.”

Jesus Was Seen Again by His Followers—Thomas Was There

²⁶ Eight days later the followers were again inside a house. Thomas was with them. The doors were locked. Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “May you have peace!” ²⁷ He said to Thomas, “Put your finger into My hands. Put your hand into My side. Do not doubt, believe!” ²⁸ Thomas said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you believe. Those are happy who have never seen Me and yet believe!” ³⁰ Jesus did many other powerful works in front of His followers. They are not written in this book. ³¹ But these are written so you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. When you put your trust in Him, you will have life that lasts forever through His name.

The Risen Christ Talks to His Followers

21 After this, Jesus again showed Himself to His followers at the lake of Tiberias. It happened like this: ² Simon Peter and Thomas who was called the Twin and Nathanael from the town of Cana in the country of Galilee and the sons of Zebedee and two other followers were all together. ³ Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” The others said, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into a boat. That night they caught no fish.

⁴ Early in the morning Jesus stood on the shore of the lake. The followers did not know it was Jesus. ⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They said, “No.” ⁶ He said to them, “Put your net over the right side of the boat. Then you will catch some fish.” They put out the net. They were not able to pull it in because it was so full of fish.

⁷ Then the follower whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Peter heard it was the Lord, he put on his fisherman’s coat. (He had taken it off.) Then he jumped into the water. ⁸ The other followers came in the boat. They were pulling the net with the fish. They were not far from land, only a little way out.

⁹ When they came to land they saw fish and bread on a fire. ¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” ¹¹ Simon Peter went out and pulled the net to land. There were 153 big fish. The net was not broken even with so many.

¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and eat.” Not one of the followers would ask, “Who are You?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came and took bread and fish and gave it to them. ¹⁴ This was the third time Jesus had shown Himself to His followers after He had risen from the dead.

The Risen Christ Talks to Peter

¹⁵ When they were finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” Peter answered Jesus, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to Peter the second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He answered Jesus, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Take care of My sheep.”

¹⁷ Jesus said to Peter the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter felt bad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love Me?” He answered Jesus, “Lord, You know everything. You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. ¹⁸ For sure, I tell you, when you were young, you put on your belt and went wherever you wanted to go. When you get old, you will put out your hands and someone else will put on your belt and take you away where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ He said this to tell Peter what kind of death he would die to honor God. After Jesus said this, He said to Peter, “Follow Me.”

²⁰ Peter turned around. He saw the follower whom Jesus loved, following. This one had been beside Jesus at the supper. This is the one who had asked Jesus, “Lord, who will hand You over?” ²¹ Peter saw him and said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this one?” ²² Jesus said, “If I want this one to wait until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” ²³ So the news spread among the followers that this follower would not die. But Jesus did not say to him that he would not die. He said, “If I want him to wait until I come, what is that to you?”

John Tells That He Wrote This Book

²⁴ This is the follower who is telling of these things and who has written them. We know that his word is true. ²⁵ There are many other things which Jesus did also. If they were all written down, I do not think the world itself could hold the books that would be written.