John 20

Part of Resurrection and Epilogue📖 John introduction

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¹Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ✦ ²Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” ✦ ³Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. ✦ ⁴So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. ✦ ⁵And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. ✦ ⁶Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, ✦ ⁷and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. ✦ ⁸Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. ✦ ⁹For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. ✦ ¹⁰Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. ✦ ¹¹But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. ✦ ¹²And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. ✦ ¹³Then 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 have laid Him.” ✦ ¹⁴Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. ✦ ¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” ✦ ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher). ✦ ¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ” ✦ ¹⁸Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her. ✦ ¹⁹Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ✦ ²⁰When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. ✦ ²¹So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! 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, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” ✦ ²⁴Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ✦ ²⁵The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” ✦ ²⁶And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” ✦ ²⁷Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” ✦ ²⁸And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” ✦ ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” ✦ ³⁰And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; ✦ ³¹but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that 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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