Chronological
24 Very early on the first day of the week, they went to the place where Joseph had put Jesus' dead body. They took with them the spices that they had prepared. 2 They arrived there. They found that someone had rolled the big stone away from the hole. 3 They went inside the hole in the rock, but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus there. 4 They did not understand this at all. But while they were thinking about it, two men appeared. Their clothes shone brightly like lightning. These men came and stood beside them. 5 So the women became very afraid and they went down low with their faces on the ground.
The men said to the women, ‘This is a place to bury dead people. You should not be looking here for someone who is alive. 6 Jesus is not here. He has become alive again! Remember what he said to you, while he was still with you in Galilee. 7 He said, “It is necessary that someone should give the Son of Man into the power of bad men. They will kill him on a cross. But three days later he will become alive again.” ’
8 Then the women remembered the words that Jesus had said in Galilee. 9 They left the hole where Jesus' body had been. They went to the 11 apostles. They told them what had happened. They also told all the other people who were there. 10 It was Mary from Magdala, Joanna, James' mother Mary, and other women who were with them that told the news about Jesus to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe what the women said. They thought that it was just a silly story. 12 But Peter got up and he ran to the hole in the rock. He bent down and he looked inside. He saw only the pieces of linen cloth that they had put around Jesus' body. There was nothing else. So he went home again. He could not understand what might have happened.
Jesus shows himself to two disciples
13 Later on that same day, two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village. The village was called Emmaus. It was about 11 kilometres from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. 15 While they were talking like this, Jesus himself came near to them. He started to walk along with them. 16 They saw him, but for some reason they did not recognize him. 17 Jesus asked them, ‘What are you talking about while you walk along the road?’
They stood still and they seemed sad. 18 One of them, called Cleopas, answered him, ‘Many things have happened in Jerusalem in the last few days. Are you the only visitor here that does not know about it?’ 19 Jesus asked them, ‘What things have happened?’
They replied, ‘The things that happened to Jesus who was from Nazareth. He was a prophet from God. He did many great things and he spoke powerful messages. God showed that his message was true. All the people believed him. 20 Then the leaders of the priests and our rulers took hold of him. They gave him to the Roman ruler. They said that he had done bad things and that he ought to die. So they killed him by fixing him to a cross. 21 But before that we had hoped that he would save the people of Israel. We hoped that he would make us free again.
There are other things too. Today is the third day since Jesus died. 22 After all this happened, some women in our group surprised us. Early this morning, they went to the place where Joseph had put him. 23 But they did not find his body there. So they returned to us and said, “Some angels appeared to us. They have told us that Jesus is alive.” 24 So some people from our group went to the place where his body had been. They found everything just the same as the women had said. But they did not see Jesus.’
25 Jesus then said to them, ‘How silly you are! You are very slow to believe everything that God's prophets said long ago. 26 You should have known that the Messiah had to die. Only then would he return to heaven and show how great and powerful he is.’ 27 Jesus then began to explain to them what Moses and all God's prophets had taught. He showed them what they wrote in the Bible about himself.
28 Then they came near to the village that the disciples were going to. It seemed that Jesus would continue his journey. 29 But they wanted him to stop there. They said to him, ‘Please stay in our home with us. It is getting late, and it will soon be night.’
So Jesus went into their house to stay with them. 30 He sat down to eat with them. He took the bread and he thanked God for it. He broke it into pieces and he gave some to them. 31 Their eyes became clear and they recognized him. But then he disappeared, and they could no longer see him. 32 They said to each other, ‘When he talked to us, it was like a fire that was burning inside us. We felt it while we were walking along the road. We also felt it when he was explaining God's message in the Bible.’
33 Immediately they got up and they returned to Jerusalem. There they found the 11 apostles and other people who were with them. 34 The people there told the two disciples, ‘It is true! The Lord Jesus is alive again. He has appeared to Simon!’
35 Then the two disciples spoke to the whole group. They told what had happened to them on the road to their village. They told how they recognized Jesus when he broke the bread into pieces in their home.
Jesus appears to the group
36 While they were still speaking like that, Jesus himself stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’
37 But the whole group was very surprised and afraid. They thought that they were seeing a spirit. 38 Jesus said to them, ‘You should not be so afraid. You seem to have trouble in your minds about what you are seeing. 39 Now look at my hands and my feet. It is really me! Touch me. Then you will know that I am not a spirit. A spirit does not have a body with skin and bones. You can see that I have a real body.’
40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 This was such good news, they were very happy. But they could still not really believe it. So he asked them, ‘Do you have anything that I could eat?’ 42 They gave him a piece of fish that they had cooked. 43 While they were watching, he took it and he ate it.
44 Then he said to them, ‘I told you about these things while I was still with you. Everything that God's servants wrote about me in the Bible had to happen. Moses wrote about me in his book of God's Law. The prophets also wrote about me. The book called Psalms also tells about me. And now it has become true.’
45 Then he helped them to understand God's message in the Bible. 46 He told them, ‘This is what it says there: The Messiah had to die. Then, after three days, he had to rise up and become alive again. 47 People in every country of the world must hear God's message. They must stop doing wrong things and change how they live. When they do this, God will forgive them. He will forgive all the bad things that they have done. People need to tell this message about the Messiah in Jerusalem first, then tell people in other countries. 48 You are the people who have seen what has happened here. You must tell other people about it. 49 Now listen! I will send to you the gift that God my Father has promised to give to you. You must stay here in the city until this happens. Then the power of God will come from heaven and it will cover you.’
Jesus goes up to God in heaven
50 Then Jesus led the group of his disciples out of the city. They all went to a place near the village called Bethany. He held up his hands towards them all. He asked God to be good to them. 51 While he was praying for them like that, he went up away from them. God lifted him up to heaven. 52 The disciples praised Jesus for his great power. Then they returned to Jerusalem and they were all very happy. 53 All the time they were in the temple and they were praising God.
The hole in the rock is empty
20 Early on the first day of the week, Mary from Magdala went to the hole in the rock. It was still dark. She saw that someone had removed the big stone from the front of the hole. 2 So she ran to where Simon Peter was. He was with the other disciple, the one that Jesus loved. She said to them, ‘Somebody has taken the Lord's body out of the hole. We do not know where they have put him!’
3 So Peter and the other disciple started to go to the place where Jesus' body had been. 4 Both of them were running. But the other disciple ran faster than Peter ran. So he reached the hole first. 5 He bent himself down and he looked inside the hole. He saw the pieces of linen cloth that were lying there. But he did not go in. 6 Simon Peter had run behind the other disciple. When he arrived, he went into the hole. He saw the pieces of cloth that were lying there. 7 Also, he saw the piece of cloth that had been around Jesus' head. This was not in the same place as the long pieces of linen cloth. Someone had put it carefully in a separate place. 8 The other disciple had reached the place first, and now he also went inside. He saw and he believed. 9 They still did not understand what the Bible already said. It said that Jesus had to become alive again after he had died.[a]
Jesus appears to Mary from Magdala
10 Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying. 11 But Mary stood outside the hole in the rock. She was crying. While she cried, she bent herself down to look inside the hole. 12 She saw two angels there. They were wearing white clothes. They were sitting where Jesus' dead body had been. One angel was sitting where Jesus' head had been. The other angel was sitting where his feet had been.
13 They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ She replied, ‘They have taken away my Lord. I do not know where they have put him.’ 14 When she had said this, she turned round. She saw a man who was standing there. It was Jesus, but she did not recognize him. 15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?’ Mary thought that he was the gardener. So she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away somewhere, please tell me. Tell me where you have put him. Then I will go and I will take him away.’
16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned towards him and she said in the Jewish language, ‘Rabboni!’ (This means ‘Teacher’.) 17 Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me because I have not gone up to the Father yet. But go to my brothers, the disciples. Tell them, “Now I will go up to my Father. He is also your Father. He is my God, and he is your God.” ’ 18 Mary from Magdala took this message to the disciples. She went to them and she said, ‘I have seen the Lord!’ Then she told them the things that Jesus had said to her.
Jesus appears to his disciples
19 On the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the disciples were meeting together. They had locked the doors of the room because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Then Jesus came and he stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ 20 After he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were very, very happy when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, in the same way I am now sending you.’ 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them. He said, ‘Receive God's Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive a person's sins, God will forgive them too. If you do not forgive them, God will not forgive them.’
Jesus shows himself to Thomas
24 One of the 12 disciples was called Thomas. (He was also called ‘the Twin’.) He was not with the other disciples when Jesus came to them. 25 So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But Thomas said to them, ‘I will never believe that he is alive again unless I myself see him. I want to see the marks of the nails in his hands. I want to touch where the nails were with my finger. I want to put my hand into his side where the spear went in. If I cannot do that, I will not believe.’
26 Eight days after that, the disciples were in the house again. This time Thomas was with them. They had locked the door. But Jesus came and he stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ 27 Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger in here. Look at my hands. Put your hand here, in my side. Do not refuse to believe what is true. Now, believe.’ 28 Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord, and my God!’ 29 Jesus said to him, ‘You believe because you have seen me. Other people have not seen me, but they do believe in me. God is really happy with those people.’
The purpose of this book
30 Jesus did many other miracles while the disciples were with him. I have not written about all of them in this book. 31 But I have written about these things, so that you will be able to believe the truth. You will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Because you believe in him, you will have life with God.
Jesus shows himself to the disciples again
21 After that, Jesus showed himself to the disciples again when they were by Lake Tiberias.[b] This is how it happened. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas the Twin and Nathanael were together. (Nathanael came from Cana in Galilee.) The sons of Zebedee (James and John) and two other disciples were also there. 3 Simon Peter said to the other disciples, ‘I will now go and catch fish.’ They replied, ‘We will come with you.’ So they went out and they got into the boat. But they caught nothing during that night.
4 Early in the morning, Jesus was standing on the shore of the lake. But the disciples did not know that it was Jesus who stood there. 5 Then Jesus asked them, ‘Friends, have you caught any fish?’ They answered, ‘No!’ 6 He said, ‘Throw your net out on the right side of the boat. If you do that, you will catch some fish.’ So they threw the net out into the water. Then they caught so many fish that they could not pull the net back into the boat.
7 The disciple that Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard him say, ‘It is the Lord,’ he put on his coat. (He had been wearing only a few clothes.) Then he jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed him in the boat. They pulled the net that was full of fish behind them. They were not far from the shore. It was about 100 metres away. 9 When they came to the shore, they saw that someone had lit a fire. Some fish were cooking on it. There was some bread there, too. 10 Jesus said to them, ‘Bring here some of the fish that you have just caught.’
11 Simon Peter got back into the boat and he pulled the net onto the shore. It was full of 153 big fish. There were so many fish, but the net had not broken. 12 Jesus said to them, ‘Come here and eat breakfast.’ None of the disciples was brave enough to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew that it was the Lord. 13 So Jesus took the bread and he gave it to them. Then he did the same with the fish.
14 After Jesus died and became alive again, this was now the third time that he showed himself to his disciples.
Jesus talks to Peter
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus spoke to Simon Peter. He said, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these other disciples love me?’ Peter answered, ‘Yes Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’
16 Jesus asked him a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter answered, ‘Yes Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Take care of my sheep.’ 17 Jesus asked him a third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’[c] Peter was sad because Jesus asked him a third time, ‘Do you love me?’ So he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, you know everything. You know that I really love you!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Take care of my sheep. 18 I tell you this: When you were young, you put on your own clothes. Then you went to any place that you wanted to visit. But when you are old, it will be different. You will hold out your arms and someone else will tie your clothes for you. Then they will take you to a place where you do not want to go.’ 19 When Jesus said this, he was showing how Peter would die.[d] His death would give honour to God. Then Jesus said to Peter, ‘Follow me.’
20 Peter turned round and he saw the disciple that Jesus loved. He was the man who had been very near to Jesus at the supper. He had asked Jesus, ‘Lord, who will sell you to your enemies?’ Now this disciple was following behind them. 21 When Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, ‘Lord, what will happen to him?’ 22 Jesus answered him, ‘Perhaps I might want him to live until I return to this earth. But that should not matter to you. You must follow me!’
23 At that time, people began to talk about these words that Jesus had said. Some disciples thought that Jesus meant that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say, ‘He will not die.’ Instead, he said to Peter, ‘Perhaps I might want him to live until I return to this earth. But that should not matter to you.’
24 I am the disciple who saw these things. I am the one who wrote them down. We all know that what I have written about them is true.
25 Jesus also did many other things. If people wrote about all those things, there would be very many books. I do not think that the whole world would have enough room for all those books.
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