ዮሐንስ 20

The empty tomb

¹On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb in the early morning, while it was still dark, and found that the stone had been taken away from it. ²She ran off, then, to find Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus loved. “They have removed the Lord from the tomb,” she told them, “and we do not know where they have laid him.”^{a 3}Peter and the other disciple then set out and made their way to the tomb. ⁴The two of them ran together, but the other disciple was faster than Peter and got to the tomb ahead of him. ⁵Bending down to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there; he did not, however, go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter, who had been following him, came and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, ⁷and the face cloth that had been on his head. It was not lying with the linen cloths; it was rolled up in a place of its own, apart from them. ⁸Then the other disciple, who had arrived at the tomb first, went in too; and he saw and believed.^{b 9}For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. ¹¹Mary, however, stood outside the tomb, weeping. Still weeping, she stooped to look into the tomb. ¹²There she saw two angels in white clothes, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head, the other at the feet. ¹³They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” “My Lord has been taken away,” she answered, “and I do not know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴With these words she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who is it you are looking for?” Supposing he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you are the one who has carried him off, tell me where you put him, and I will take him away.”^{c 16}Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Do not keep holding on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and sisters with this message: ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.’”^{def 18}Mary Magdalene went and brought the disciples the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she reported to them what he had said to her.

Jesus appears to the disciples

¹⁹On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the disciples were behind locked doors because they feared the Jewish leaders. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace to you.”^{g 20}After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you. In the way that the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”^{h 22}Having said this, he breathed on them and told them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”^{ij 23}Whose sins you forgive, they stand forgiven; whose sins you retain, they stand retained.^{k 24}But Thomas, one of the Twelve, also called Didymus (which means Twin), was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples kept telling him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he told them, “I will never believe it unless I see the marks the nails made in his hands, and put my finger into those marks, and put my hand into his side.”

Jesus and Thomas

²⁶A week later his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace to you.” ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Bring your hand and put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving any longer, but believing.” ²⁸Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me?^l Blessed are those who have believed without having seen.”

Why this book was written

³⁰Jesus did many other signs as well while the disciples looked on, signs that are not written down in this book. ³¹These, though, are written down so that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing have life in his name.^m