John 20:19-21:25

New International Reader's Version

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were together. They had locked the doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Jesus came in and stood among them. He said, “May peace be with you!” ²⁰ Then he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were very happy when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, “May peace be with you! The Father has sent me. So now I am sending you.” ²² He then breathed on them. He said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas

²⁴ Thomas was one of the 12 disciples. He was also called Didymus. He was not with the other disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “First I must see the nail marks in his hands. I must put my finger where the nails were. I must put my hand into his side. Only then will I believe.”

²⁶ A week later, Jesus’ disciples were in the house again. Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came in and stood among them. He said, “May peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here. See my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen me but still have believed.”

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in front of his disciples. They are not written down in this book. ³¹ But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. If you believe this, you will have life because you belong to him.

Jesus and the Miracle of Many Fish

21 After this, Jesus appeared to his disciples again. It was by the Sea of Galilee. Here is what happened. ² Simon Peter and Thomas, who was also called Didymus, were there together. Nathanael from Cana in Galilee and the sons of Zebedee were with them. So were two other disciples. ³ “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them. They said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat. That night they didn’t catch anything.

⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore. But the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

⁵ He called out to them, “Friends, don’t you have any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

⁶ He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat. There you will find some fish.” When they did, they could not pull the net into the boat. There were too many fish in it.

⁷ Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Simon Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Peter heard that, he put his coat on. He had taken it off earlier. Then he jumped into the water. ⁸ The other disciples followed in the boat. They were towing the net full of fish. The shore was only about 100 yards away. ⁹ When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals. There were fish on it. There was also some bread.

¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat. He dragged the net to shore. It was full of large fish. There were 153 of them. But even with that many fish the net was not torn. ¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them. He did the same thing with the fish. ¹⁴ This was the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus Gives Peter His Task

¹⁵ When Jesus and the disciples had finished eating, Jesus spoke to Simon Peter. He asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others do?”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered. “You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶ Again Jesus asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord. You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

¹⁷ Jesus spoke to him a third time. He asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter felt bad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He answered, “Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ What I’m about to tell you is true. When you were younger, you dressed yourself. You went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands. Someone else will dress you. Someone else will lead you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ Jesus said this to point out how Peter would die. His death would bring glory to God. Then Jesus said to him, “Follow me!”

²⁰ Peter turned around. He saw that the disciple Jesus loved was following them. He was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper. He had said, “Lord, who is going to hand you over to your enemies?” ²¹ When Peter saw that disciple, he asked, “Lord, what will happen to him?”

²² Jesus answered, “Suppose I want him to remain alive until I return. What does that matter to you? You must follow me.” ²³ Because of what Jesus said, a false report spread among the believers. The story was told that the disciple Jesus loved wouldn’t die. But Jesus did not say he would not die. He only said, “Suppose I want him to remain alive until I return. What does that matter to you?”

²⁴ This is the disciple who is a witness about these things. He also wrote them down. We know that what he says is true.

²⁵ Jesus also did many other things. What if every one of them were written down? I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.