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Chapter 20[a]

The Empty Tomb.[b] 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) 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.” [e]So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. (C)When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths[f] there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.(D) Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. [g](E)For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

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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.

The Empty Tomb(A)

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene(B) went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.(C) So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved,(D) and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”(E)

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.(F) Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in(G) at the strips of linen(H) lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head.(I) The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first,(J) also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture(K) that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)(L)

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