John · chapter 20 of 21
Updated on
John 20 tells how Mary Magdalene finds the tomb empty on the first day of the week, and Peter and the beloved disciple run to see it. The risen Jesus appears to Mary, then to the disciples, to whom he gives his peace and the Spirit, and eight days later to Thomas, who confesses him as Lord and God. John explains that he wrote so that people may believe Jesus is the Christ.
John 20 is the climax of the Gospel: the resurrection of Jesus. After the burial of John 19, the disciples are full of fear and grief, and the chapter shows how the risen one turns their sorrow into joy and their doubt into faith. It also gives the statement of the book's purpose, which gives meaning to everything John has written.
On the first day of the week, very early, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb and sees the stone taken away. She runs to tell Simon Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved: they have taken the Lord and she does not know where they put him. Both run; the other disciple arrives first, but Peter goes in first and sees the linen cloths and the face cloth folded up separately. Then the other goes in, sees and believes. They go back home.
Mary stays weeping outside the tomb. She sees two angels in white who ask why she weeps. She turns and sees Jesus, but does not recognize him and thinks he is the gardener. Jesus calls her by name, Mary, and she recognizes him and says Rabboni, which means teacher. Jesus tells her not to hold on to him and to tell his brothers that he is ascending to his Father and their Father. Mary announces to the disciples that she has seen the Lord.
That evening the disciples are gathered with the doors locked for fear of the Jews. Jesus comes and stands among them and says peace be with you, and shows them his hands and side. They rejoice. He sends them as the Father sent him. He breathes on them and tells them to receive the Holy Spirit, and that whoever's sins they forgive will be forgiven. Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not there, and says he will not believe unless he sees the nail marks and puts his hand in Jesus' side. Eight days later Jesus returns, invites Thomas to touch his wounds and to stop doubting and believe. Thomas exclaims: my Lord and my God! Jesus says blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.
John ends by saying Jesus did many other signs not written in this book, and these are written so that people may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing have life in his name.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jesus speaks Mary's name, and she recognizes him and answers that he is her teacher. The resurrection is not only a public fact but a personal encounter: the good shepherd calls his sheep by name.
Jesus says peace be with you again and sends the disciples as the Father sent him. The peace of the risen one comes with a mission.
Thomas answers Jesus by calling him my Lord and my God. It is the fullest confession in the Gospel, and it appears at the end as a response to the opening declaration about the Word who was God.
John explains that he wrote these signs so that people may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing they may have life in his name. It is the key to reading the whole book.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The stone taken away from the entrance. — John 20:1
Answer: The linen cloths and the face cloth, folded up separately. — John 20:6-7
Answer: When he called her by name. — John 20:15-16
Answer: His peace, a commission to go, and the Holy Spirit. — John 20:19-22
Answer: To see the nail marks and touch his side; on seeing him he said: my Lord and my God. — John 20:25-28
Answer: So that people may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and have life in his name. — John 20:31
The resurrection changes how we face fear, grief and doubt. In a group you can share how the hope of resurrection sustains us in hard times. Mary wept beside an empty tomb, and it was meeting Jesus that turned her sorrow into proclamation.
Thomas' story encourages those who have doubts: Jesus did not reject him but drew near to him. It also reminds us of the blessing for those who believe without having seen, which is us. And the mission is ours: Jesus sends us as the Father sent him, with his peace and his Spirit.
John 20 ends with the stated purpose of the book: to believe and have life. But the Gospel has one more chapter: in John 21, Jesus appears by the Sea of Tiberias and restores Peter.
The text gives no detailed explanation. Many understand that Jesus is indicating that the relationship with him will no longer be as before, since he is about to ascend to the Father and later send the Spirit. Mary must stop clinging to his physical presence and carry the message to the disciples.
Because of his condition that he would not believe without seeing. Yet the Gospel also presents him as the one who gives the highest confession, my Lord and my God. His story shows that Jesus accepts honest questions and answers them with his presence.
The gesture recalls God's breath in creation and points to new life. Some readers see here an anticipation of the Pentecost told in Acts, and others an initial gift of the Spirit. The passage stresses that the disciples' mission depends on him.