1 Now on the first day of the week, very early, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the place and saw that the stone had been taken away from it. 2 Then she went running to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple who was loved by Jesus, and said to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the place of the dead and we have no knowledge where they have put him. 3 So Peter and the other disciple went out to the place of the dead. 4 They went running together, and the other disciple got in front of Peter and came first to the hole in the rock; 5 And looking in, he saw the linen bands on the earth; but he did not go in, 6 Then Simon Peter came after him and went into the hole in the rock; and he saw the linen bands on the earth, 7 And the cloth, which had been round his head, not with the linen bands but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple who came there first went in; and he saw and belief came to him. 9 For at that time they had no knowledge that the Writings said that he would have to come again from the dead. 10 So then the disciples went away again to their houses. 11 But Mary was still there outside the hole in the rock, weeping; and while she was weeping and looking into the hole, 12 She saw two angels in white seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I have no knowledge where they have put him. 14 And then looking round, she saw Jesus there, but had no idea that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? who are you looking for? She, taking him for the gardener, said to him, Sir, if you have taken him away from here, say where you have put him and I will take him away. 16 Jesus said to her, Mary! Turning, she said to him in Hebrew, Rabboni! (which is to say, Master). 17 Jesus said to her, Do not put your hand on me, for I have not gone up to the Father: but go to my brothers and say to them, I go up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. 18 Mary Magdalene went with the news to the disciples, and said she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her. 19 At evening on that day, the first day of the week, when, for fear of the Jews, the doors were shut where the disciples were, Jesus came among them and said to them, May peace be with you! 20 And when he had said this, he let them see his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 And Jesus said to them again, May peace be with you! As the Father sent me, even so I now send you. 22 And when he had said this, breathing on them, he said to them, Let the Holy Spirit come on you: 23 Any to whom you give forgiveness, will be made free from their sins; and any from whom you keep back forgiveness, will still be in their sins. 24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, named Didymus, 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, If I do not see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails, and if I do not put my hand into his side, I will never have belief. 26 And after eight days, his disciples were again in the house and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were shut, Jesus came, and taking his place in the middle of them, he said, May peace be with you! 27 Then he said to Thomas, Put out your finger, and see my hands; and put your hand here into my side: and be no longer in doubt but have belief. 28 And Thomas said in answer, My Lord and my God! 29 Jesus said to him, Because you have seen me you have belief: a blessing will be on those who have belief though they have not seen me! 30 A number of other signs Jesus did before his disciples which are not recorded in this book: 31 But these are recorded, so that you may have faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so that, having this faith you may have life in his name.
John 20 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Thomas
One of the Twelve, called Didymus, who said 'Let us also go, so that we may die with Him', was absent when Jesus first appeared, and was among those who fished with the disciples…
Cited in the guide: Matthew 10:3; John 11:16; John 20:24
Cross references (31)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Mark 16:9; Matthew 27:60; Revelation 1:10; John 19:25; Luke 24:1–10
- 2 John 13:23; John 20:13; John 21:24; John 19:26; John 21:20
- 3 Luke 24:12
- 4 2 Samuel 18:23; 1 Corinthians 9:24
- 5 John 19:40; John 11:44; John 20:11
- 6 Luke 22:31–32; John 21:15–17; John 21:7; Matthew 16:15–16; John 18:17
- 7 John 11:44
- 8 John 20:25; John 20:4; John 1:50; John 20:29
- 9 Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 25:8; Isaiah 53:10–12; Isaiah 26:19; Luke 24:44–46
- 10 John 16:32; John 7:53
- 11 John 20:5
- 12 Luke 24:3–7; Revelation 3:4; Mark 16:5–6; Revelation 7:14; Daniel 7:9
- 13 John 20:15; John 16:20–22; John 14:27–28; Psalm 43:3–5; John 2:4
- 14 Luke 24:16; John 21:4; Mark 16:9; Song of Songs 3:3–4; Matthew 28:9
- 15 John 18:7; John 20:13; John 1:38; Song of Songs 3:2; 1 Samuel 1:16
- 16 John 10:3; John 1:38; Exodus 3:4; 1 Samuel 3:10; John 1:49
- 17 John 16:28; Ephesians 4:8–10; 1 Peter 1:3; Galatians 4:6–7; John 17:11
- 18 Luke 24:10; Matthew 28:10; Mark 16:10–13; Luke 24:22–23; John 20:1
- 19 John 20:26; John 14:27; Luke 24:36–49; John 20:21; 2 Thessalonians 3:16
- 20 John 16:22; 1 John 1:1; Luke 24:39–41; John 20:27; John 16:20
- 21 John 17:18–19; Matthew 28:18–20; John 13:20; John 3:17; Mark 16:15–18
- 22 Job 33:4; Genesis 2:7; John 7:39; Acts 2:38; Acts 19:2
- 23 Matthew 18:18; Matthew 16:19; Acts 13:38–39; Mark 2:5–10; Acts 10:43
- 24 John 11:16; Hebrews 10:25; John 6:66–67; John 14:5; John 21:2
- 25 John 6:30; Mark 16:11; Hebrews 3:18–4:2; Psalm 78:32; Hebrews 3:12
- 26 John 20:19; Isaiah 54:10; Matthew 17:1; Isaiah 26:12; John 14:27
- 27 John 20:25; Psalm 103:13–14; 1 John 1:1–2; John 20:20; 1 Timothy 1:14–16
- 28 John 1:1; Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 7:14; 1 Timothy 3:16; Matthew 14:33
- 29 1 Peter 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 11:1; Hebrews 11:27; Luke 1:45
- 30 John 21:25; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:15–17; 1 John 5:13; 1 Corinthians 10:11
- 31 Acts 10:43; John 3:15–16; 1 John 5:1; 1 John 4:15; John 3:36
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Mary Magdalene had brought the news to His disciples, Peter and John, that the Lord was taken away from the sepulchre; and they, when they came thither, found only the linen clothes wherewith the body had been shrouded; and what else could they believe but what she had told them, and what she had herself also believed?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)
Full of feeling somehow is the female sex, and more inclined to pity. I say this, lest thou shouldest wonder how it could be that Mary wept bitterly at the tomb, while Peter was in no way so affected. For, "The disciples," it saith, "went away unto their own home"; but she stood shedding tears.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 14 (1889)
… and that this same suffered and rose again, as John, the disciple of the Lord, verifies, saying: "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have eternal life in His name," --foreseeing these blasphemous systems which divide the Lord, as far as lies in their power, …
They are encouraged in this supposition by the fact that the Lord Jesus after His resurrection breathed on His disciples, and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit." From this they suppose that the same thing was effected in either case, as if the evangelist had gone on to say, And they became living souls.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
But lest any one from simplicity or perverse ingenuity should suppose that Christ is but equal in honour to righteous men, from His saying, I ascend to My Father, and your Father, it is well to make this distinction beforehand, that the name of the Father is one, but the power of His operation manifold.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)