John 20

John tells of the first Easter: the empty tomb, Mary’s tearful meeting with the risen Jesus, and His appearances to the disciples, including doubting Thomas. The chapter moves people from grief and fear to faith and joy. It ends by stating why John wrote: so that readers may believe in Jesus and have life.

John 20:1

Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb in the dark, hours after the Sabbath ended. She finds the great stone rolled away from the entrance. John’s quiet note that it was still dark fits her grief, and the light of the resurrection is about to break.

BSA: dark (“a lack of light, spiritual darkness”): Besides the hour of the day, the darkness fits the gloom of those who do not yet know Jesus is alive.

See also: Luke 24:1-2.

John 20:2

Mary assumes the worst: someone has taken the body. She runs to Peter and John, the disciple Jesus loved. Her words show that she does not yet imagine a resurrection. She only knows that her Lord’s body is missing.

BSA: running (“with urgent haste”): Her haste shows how deeply she cared for Jesus, even though she misunderstood what had happened.

John 20:3-4

Both men set out at once, running together. The younger disciple, usually understood to be John himself, outruns Peter and gets there first. The race shows how urgently they wanted to know the truth.

BSA: outran (“to run forward and outstrip”): John’s detail of winning the race reads like an eyewitness remembering it.

John 20:5-7

The other disciple stoops and sees the linen wrappings, but waits outside. Peter goes straight in and sees the cloths and the head cloth folded apart. Thieves would not have unwrapped the body and left everything so orderly.

Greek: ἐντετυλιγμένον (entetyligmenon, G1794) — “rolled up, folded together.” The head cloth lay neatly wrapped in its own place. It shows calm order, not a hasty theft.

See also: John 11:44.

John 20:8-9

The other disciple goes in, sees, and believes. John admits that even then they did not grasp from Scripture that the Messiah must rise. Faith began with the evidence of the empty tomb. Understanding of the Scriptures came later.

BSA: believed (“trusted, had faith”): He trusted that something wonderful had happened, though his understanding was still incomplete.

See also: Psalm 16:10; Luke 24:45-46.

John 20:10

The two men go back home, puzzled and still without the full picture. Mary is left alone at the tomb. The difference between the two scenes prepares us for what happens next.

See also: Luke 24:12.

John 20:11-13

Mary stays outside, weeping. When she looks in, she sees two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had lain. Their question is gentle, and her answer shows her grief: her only concern is where her Lord has been put.

BSA: weeping (“crying out loud, mourning”): Her sorrow is loud and open, not quiet. She has not yet heard the news that will end it. angels (“messengers of God, heavenly beings”): They are God’s messengers, though Mary is too sorrowful to take in their message.

John 20:14-15

Mary turns and sees Jesus but does not recognize Him, assuming He is the gardener. Tears and expectation of a corpse keep her from seeing. Jesus asks her the same question as the angels, drawing out what her heart seeks.

BSA: seeking (“looking for, trying to find”): Jesus’ question reaches past her words to what she truly longs for.

See also: Luke 24:15-16.

John 20:16

Jesus speaks her name, and she knows Him at once. She cries out the Hebrew word Rabboni, meaning Teacher. The risen Lord calls His own by name, and they know His voice.

BSA: Rabboni (“my Master, Teacher”): It is a warm, personal form of address: she calls Him her own Master.

See also: John 10:3-4.

John 20:17

Jesus tells Mary not to hold on to Him. His new relationship with them will not be the old one; He is going to the Father. He calls the disciples His brothers and says His Father is now their Father too. That is a stunning gift.

BSA: brothers (“fellow believers, disciples”): Even though they had abandoned Him, Jesus still names the disciples as family.

Greek: ἅπτου (haptou, G681) — “cling to, hold on to.” The command suggests clinging or grasping. Mary must not try to keep Jesus as He was before, because a new kind of nearness is coming through the Spirit.

See also: Hebrews 2:11; Romans 8:15-17.

John 20:18

Mary obeys at once. She tells the disciples she has seen the Lord and passes on His words. The first witness to the risen Christ was a woman who had been in deep grief. She becomes His messenger.

See also: Matthew 28:8-10.

John 20:19

That same evening the disciples hide behind locked doors, afraid of the Jewish authorities. Jesus comes and stands among them, and His first word is peace. He meets frightened people with calm, not blame.

BSA: Peace (“harmony, inner calm”): This is more than a greeting: He gives a settled wholeness to hearts that are shaking.

See also: John 14:27.

John 20:20

Jesus shows them His hands and His side, so they know the risen Lord is the same One who was crucified. The wounds are the proof. Their fear turns to joy at seeing Him.

BSA: side (“the place of the wound”): The spear wound remained as a mark that the Lord who lives is the Lord who died for them.

See also: John 19:34.

John 20:21

Jesus repeats His peace, then gives a commission: as the Father sent Him, so He sends them. Their mission rests on His. Having received peace, they are sent out into the world with it.

BSA: sending (“as My representatives, with My authority”): They go as His representatives, carrying His message.

See also: John 17:18.

John 20:22

Jesus breathes on them and tells them to receive the Holy Spirit. The act recalls God breathing life into Adam. He gives them the life and power they need for the mission. Christians understand the timing relative to Pentecost in different ways.

BSA: breathed (“poured out His Spirit, gave life”): His breath signals new life, as at creation.

Greek: ἐνεφύσησεν (enephysēsen, G1720) — “breathed into.” This is the same rare word used in the Greek Old Testament when God breathed life into Adam, showing a new creation beginning.

See also: Genesis 2:7; Acts 2:1-4.

John 20:23

Jesus gives His followers a share in announcing forgiveness. As they proclaim the gospel, they can assure people that their sins are forgiven in Jesus’ name, or that without Him they remain. Christians understand how this is carried out in different ways.

BSA: forgive (“release, let go of”): Forgiveness is a release, like letting a prisoner go free.

See also: Matthew 16:19; Luke 24:47.

John 20:24-25

Thomas, called the Twin, was absent that evening. When the others tell him they have seen the Lord, he sets his own conditions. He wants to see and touch the wounds. His honest demand shows how heavy his sorrow was.

BSA: believe (“trust in”): Thomas is not refusing out of stubbornness alone. He cannot yet bring himself to trust such wonderful news.

See also: John 11:16.

John 20:26

A week later the disciples are again indoors, and this time Thomas is with them. Jesus comes through the closed doors and again says peace. He returns for the one who doubted, and no locked door keeps Him out.

BSA: Peace (“harmony, wholeness, God’s favor”): He speaks wholeness over the very room that held a doubter.

John 20:27

Jesus gently offers Thomas exactly what he asked for. He invites him to touch the wounds and urges him to move from doubt to faith. The Lord knew every word Thomas had said, and He answers with patience.

Greek: ἄπιστος (apistos, G571) — “unbelieving.” Jesus’ words are literally ‘do not be unbelieving, but believing’. He calls Thomas to turn from one state to the other.

John 20:28

Thomas answers with the highest confession in the Gospel: My Lord and my God! He no longer needs to touch. He worships Jesus as Lord and God, and he says it personally.

BSA: my (“personal, intimate”): Thomas does not merely say Jesus is God. He speaks of Him as his own Lord and God.

See also: John 1:1; Philippians 2:10-11.

John 20:29

Jesus affirms Thomas’s faith but also speaks of those who will believe without seeing. That includes every later believer who trusts the witness of the apostles. A special blessing rests on them.

BSA: blessed (“happy, supremely fortunate”): Those who trust without sight are called deeply fortunate.

See also: 1 Peter 1:8.

John 20:30

John says Jesus did many more signs than he has recorded. A sign points beyond itself to who Jesus is. John has chosen his accounts carefully rather than telling everything.

BSA: signs (“miraculous events, wonders”): They are wonders meant to point to who Jesus is.

See also: John 21:25.

John 20:31

Here John states his purpose. He wrote so that readers would believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and in believing would have life in His name. The whole Gospel invites us to trust Him and receive that life.

BSA: life (“eternal, spiritual existence”): This is God’s own life, begun now and lasting forever. name (“authority, character”): Life comes through who Jesus is and all that His name stands for.

See also: John 3:16; 1 John 5:13.