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John 20
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 20[a]

The Empty Tomb.[b] 1 On the first day of the week,(A) Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark,[c] and saw the stone removed from the tomb. (B) 2 So she ran[d] and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” 3 [e]So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. 4 They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; 5 he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. 6 (C)When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths[f] there, 7 and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.(D) 8 Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. 9 [g](E)For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned home.

The Appearance to Mary of Magdala.[h] 11 But Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.(F) 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.(G) 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”(H) 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,”[i] which means Teacher. 17 Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me,[j] 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.’”(I) 18 Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and what he told her.

Appearance to the Disciples.[k] 19 On the evening of that first day of the week,(J) when the doors were locked, where the disciples[l] were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.[m] The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.(K) 21 [n][Jesus] said to them again,(L) “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 [o]And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,(M) “Receive the holy Spirit. 23 [p](N)Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Thomas. 24 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”(O) 26 Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”(P) 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” 28 [q](Q)Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 [r]Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?(R) Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Conclusion.[s] 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book.(S) 31 But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.(T)

Footnotes

  1. 20:1–31 The risen Jesus reveals his glory and confers the Spirit. This story fulfills the basic need for testimony to the resurrection. What we have here is not a record but a series of single stories.
  2. 20:1–10 The story of the empty tomb is found in both the Matthean and the Lucan traditions; John’s version seems to be a fusion of the two.
  3. 20:1 Still dark: according to Mark the sun had risen, Matthew describes it as “dawning,” and Luke refers to early dawn. Mary sees the stone removed, not the empty tomb.
  4. 20:2 Mary runs away, not directed by an angel/young man as in the synoptic accounts. The plural “we” in the second part of her statement might reflect a tradition of more women going to the tomb.
  5. 20:3–10 The basic narrative is told of Peter alone in Lk 24:12, a verse missing in important manuscripts and which may be borrowed from tradition similar to John. Cf. also Lk 24:24.
  6. 20:6–8 Some special feature about the state of the burial cloths caused the beloved disciple to believe. Perhaps the details emphasized that the grave had not been robbed.
  7. 20:9 Probably a general reference to the scriptures is intended, as in Lk 24:26 and 1 Cor 15:4. Some individual Old Testament passages suggested are Ps 16:10; Hos 6:2; Jon 2:1, 2, 10.
  8. 20:11–18 This appearance to Mary is found only in John, but cf. Mt 28:8–10 and Mk 16:9–11.
  9. 20:16 Rabbouni: Hebrew or Aramaic for “my master.”
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 20:19 The disciples: by implication from Jn 20:24 this means ten of the Twelve, presumably in Jerusalem. Peace be with you: although this could be an ordinary greeting, John intends here to echo Jn 14:27. The theme of rejoicing in Jn 20:20 echoes Jn 16:22.
  13. 20:20 Hands and…side: Lk 24:39–40 mentions “hands and feet,” based on Ps 22:17.
  14. 20:21 By means of this sending, the Eleven were made apostles, that is, “those sent” (cf. Jn 17:18), though John does not use the noun in reference to them (see note on Jn 13:16). A solemn mission or “sending” is also the subject of the post-resurrection appearances to the Eleven in Mt 28:19; Lk 24:47; Mk 16:15.
  15. 20:22 This action recalls Gn 2:7, where God breathed on the first man and gave him life; just as Adam’s life came from God, so now the disciples’ new spiritual life comes from Jesus. Cf. also the revivification of the dry bones in Ez 37. This is the author’s version of Pentecost. Cf. also the note on Jn 19:30.
  16. 20:23 The Council of Trent defined that this power to forgive sins is exercised in the sacrament of penance. See Mt 16:19; 18:18.
  17. 20:28 My Lord and my God: this forms a literary inclusion with the first verse of the gospel: “and the Word was God.”
  18. 20:29 This verse is a beatitude on future generations; faith, not sight, matters.
  19. 20:30–31 These verses are clearly a conclusion to the gospel and express its purpose. While many manuscripts read come to believe, possibly implying a missionary purpose for John’s gospel, a small number of quite early ones read “continue to believe,” suggesting that the audience consists of Christians whose faith is to be deepened by the book; cf. Jn 19:35.
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John 20
Lexham English Bible

Jesus Is Raised

20 Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it[a] was still dark, and saw the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord from the tomb and we do not know where they have put him!” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple went out and were going to the tomb. 4 And the two were running together, and the other disciple ran ahead, faster than Peter, and came to the tomb first. 5 And bending over to look, he saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, though he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter also came following him, and he went into the tomb and saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, 7 and the facecloth that was on his head—not lying with the strips of linen cloth, but folded up separately in one place. 8 So then the other disciple who had come to the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed. 9 (For they did not yet know the scripture that it was necessary for him to rise from the dead.)

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.[b] 11 But Mary stood outside at the tomb, weeping. Then, while she was weeping, she bent over to look into the tomb, 12 and she saw two angels in white, seated one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have put him!” 14 When she[c] had said these things, she turned around[d] and saw Jesus standing there, and she did not know that it was Jesus.

15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She thought that it was the gardener, and[e] said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned around and[f] said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene came and[g] announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and he had said these things to her.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

19 Now when it[h] was evening on that day—the first day of the week—and the doors had been shut where the disciples were because of fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace to you.” 20 And when he[i] had said this, he showed his[j] hands and his[k] side to them. Then the disciples rejoiced when they[l] saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” 22 And when he[m] had said this, he breathed on them[n] and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins[o] of any, they are retained.”

Thomas Doubts But Later Believes

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who was called Didymus,[p] was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe!”

26 And after eight days his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Although[q] the doors had been shut, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Peace to you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Place your finger here and see my hands, and place your hand and put it[r] into my side. And do not be unbelieving, but believing!” 28 Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, have you believed? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Why This Book Was Written

30 Now Jesus also performed many other signs in the presence of the disciples[s] which are not recorded in this book, 31 but these things are recorded in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by[t] believing you may have life in his name.

Footnotes

  1. John 20:1 Here “while” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“was”)
  2. John 20:10 *The phrase “own homes” is not in the Greek text but is implied
  3. John 20:14 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had said”) which is understood as temporal
  4. John 20:14 Literally “to the back”
  5. John 20:15 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“thought”) has been translated as a finite verb
  6. John 20:16 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“turned around”) has been translated as a finite verb
  7. John 20:18 Here “and” is supplied because the participle (“announced”) has been translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style
  8. John 20:19 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“was”)
  9. John 20:20 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had said”) which is understood as temporal
  10. John 20:20 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  11. John 20:20 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  12. John 20:20 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
  13. John 20:22 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had said”) which is understood as temporal
  14. John 20:22 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  15. John 20:23 An understood repetition of the phrase from earlier in the verse
  16. John 20:24 The Greek term means “the Twin”
  17. John 20:26 Here “although” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had been shut”) which is understood as concessive
  18. John 20:27 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  19. John 20:30 Some manuscripts have “his disciples”
  20. John 20:31 Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“believing”) which is understood as means
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