Side by side
John 20
Our retelling next to the Bible text it comes from. Each row lines up one scene with the verses it retells.
Scene 1: Alone in the DarkVerses 1 to 2
It was Sunday, very early. The sky was still dark. Mary Magdalene walked to the tomb in the garden.
Two days before, she had watched Jesus die. Now she came to the place where he was buried.
Mary saw that the stone had been moved away from the door of the tomb.
Mary ran. She ran to Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved.
"They have taken the Lord out of the tomb," she said, "and we do not know where they have put Him!" (20:2). Mary was upset and confused. She thought someone had taken Jesus's body away.
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she said, “and we do not know where they have put Him!”
Scene 2: The Race to the TombVerses 3 to 10
Peter and the other disciple set out for the tomb. They ran together. The other disciple ran faster and got there first.
The other disciple bent down and looked in. He saw the linen cloths lying there. But he did not go in.
Then Peter arrived. On the night Jesus was arrested, Peter had said three times that he did not know Jesus (18:17, 18:25-27). Now Peter went straight into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there too.
The cloth that had been around Jesus's head was rolled up. It lay by itself, apart from the other cloths.
Then the other disciple went in. John's Gospel says the other disciple "saw and believed" (20:8).
But the two disciples still did not understand what the Scriptures said. The Scriptures said Jesus had to rise from the dead.
Then Peter and the other disciple went back to their homes.
3Then Peter and the other disciple set out for the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down and looked in at the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6Simon Peter arrived just after him. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7The cloth that had been around Jesus’ head was rolled up, lying separate from the linen cloths. 8Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in. And he saw and believed. 9For they still did not understand from the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.
Scene 3: Mary StaysVerses 11 to 13
Mary did not go home. She stood outside the tomb, crying.
Mary had lost her teacher. Now she had lost even his body. She was grieving, and she was alone.
Nobody in the garden told her to stop crying. Crying for someone you love is not wrong. Jesus himself cried when his friend Lazarus died: "Jesus wept" (John 11:35).
As Mary cried, she bent down and looked into the tomb.
She saw two angels dressed in white. They were sitting where Jesus's body had been. One sat at the head. The other sat at the feet.
The angels asked her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" (20:13). Back then, "woman" was a polite way to speak to a woman. It was not rude.
"Because they have taken my Lord away," Mary said, "and I do not know where they have put Him" (20:13).
Mary was talking with angels. Still she did not stop crying. Her grief was that big.
11But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent down to look into the tomb, 12and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13“Woman, why are you weeping?” they asked. “Because they have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I do not know where they have put Him.”
Scene 4: The GardenerVerses 14 to 15
Mary turned around. Jesus was standing there. But she did not know it was Jesus.
"Woman, why are you weeping?" Jesus asked. "Whom are you seeking?" (20:15).
Mary thought Jesus was the gardener. One likely reason: the tomb was in a garden.
She said, "Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you put him. I will go and get him."
Here's what you know that Mary does not know yet: the man she was talking to was Jesus. The one she was looking for was right in front of her.
The Bible doesn't say why Mary did not know him. But remember, she was weeping. And even the disciples did not yet understand that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there; but she did not recognize that it was Jesus. 15“Woman, why are you weeping?” Jesus asked. “Whom are you seeking?” Thinking He was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried Him off, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.”
Scene 5: "Mary."Verse 16
Then Jesus said one word.
"Mary." (20:16).
Mary turned toward him. Now she knew him.
"Rabboni!" she said (20:16).
Rabboni means "Teacher." It is a word from Jesus's own language. John says she spoke "in Hebrew."
Jesus was not gone. His body had not been stolen. Jesus was alive, and he knew her name.
16Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
Scene 6: "I Have Seen the Lord!"Verses 17 to 18
"Do not cling to Me," Jesus said, "for I have not yet ascended to the Father" (20:17). To cling means to hold on tight. To ascend means to go up.
Then Jesus gave Mary a job. "But go and tell My brothers, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God'" (20:17).
Jesus called his disciples "brothers." Two of them had gone home. All of them had run away when he was arrested (Mark 14:50). Jesus still called them his family.
So Mary went. She found the disciples. She told them, "I have seen the Lord!" (20:18).
Then she told them everything Jesus had said to her.
In John's Gospel, Mary was the first person to see Jesus alive. She was also the first to carry the news. The longer ending of Mark's Gospel says the same thing: Jesus "appeared first to Mary Magdalene" (Mark 16:9).
That morning Mary came to the garden looking for a dead body. She left with news that Jesus was alive.
17“Do not cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what He had said to her.
Between scenesVerses 19 to 31
This part isn't retold as its own scene.
19It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you!” He said to them. 20After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.” 22When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” 24Now Thomas called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe.” 26Eight days later, His disciples were once again inside with the doors locked, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But these are 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.
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