John 20

Part of Resurrection and Epilogue📖 John introduction

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¹Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene *came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and *saw the stone already removed from the tomb. ✦ ²So she *ran and *came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and *said to them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they have put Him.” ✦ ³So Peter and the other disciple left, and they were going to the tomb. ✦ ⁴The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead, faster than Peter, and came to the tomb first; ✦ ⁵and he stooped to look in, and *saw the linen wrappings lying there; however he did not go in. ✦ ⁶So Simon Peter also *came, following him, and he entered the tomb; and he *looked at the linen wrappings lying there, ✦ ⁷and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings but folded up in a place by itself. ✦ ⁸So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb also entered then, and he saw and believed. ✦ ⁹For they did not yet understand the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead. ✦ ¹⁰So the disciples went away again to their own homes. ✦ ¹¹But Mary was standing outside the tomb, weeping; so as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb; ✦ ¹²and she *saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. ✦ ¹³And they *said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She *said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they put Him.” ✦ ¹⁴When she had said this, she turned around and *saw Jesus standing there, and yet she did not know that it was Jesus. ✦ ¹⁵Jesus *said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Thinking that He was the gardener, she *said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you put Him, and I will take Him away.” ✦ ¹⁶Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turned and *said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). ✦ ¹⁷Jesus *said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’ ” ✦ ¹⁸Mary Magdalene *came and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her. ✦ ¹⁹Now when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were together due to fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and *said to them, “Peace be to you.” ✦ ²⁰And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ✦ ²¹So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be to you; just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” ✦ ²²And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ✦ ²³If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” ✦ ²⁴But Thomas, one of the twelve, who was called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. ✦ ²⁵So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” ✦ ²⁶Eight days later His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be to you.” ✦ ²⁷Then He *said to Thomas, “Place your finger here, and see My hands; and take your hand and put it into My side; and do not continue in disbelief, but be a believer.” ✦ ²⁸Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” ✦ ²⁹Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” ✦ ³⁰So then, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ✦ ³¹but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

John 20 ·29 Luke 24 ·21 Mark 16 ·12 John 21 ·10 John 14 ·10 John 16 ·9 Matt 28 ·8 John 1 ·8

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Seminary

★ Start hereApologeticsGary Habermas — the resurrectionGary Habermas · Free · evangelical
130+ free videos and lectures from the scholar behind the "minimal facts" method — the start-here on the historical evidence for the resurrection. (Only his books are paid.)
★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on John 20YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — John 20David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — John 20Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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