John 20 explained: The Empty Tomb and the Risen Jesus

The empty tomb (vv. 1-10)

Mary finds the stone moved and assumes the body was stolen, so Peter and the other disciple (traditionally thought to be John) run to check. The burial cloths lie neatly in place, not as a hurried thief would leave them, and the other disciple believes even before they understood that their Scriptures pointed to this.

Mary meets Jesus (vv. 11-18)

Mary takes Jesus for the gardener until he says her name, and then she knows him at once. His words about not holding on to him are puzzling and scholars are unsure of the exact sense, but they may mean the old way of being with him is ending; he sends her to be the first to tell the others he is alive.

Jesus among his followers (vv. 19-23)

Behind locked doors Jesus greets his frightened followers with peace and shows his wounds, showing he is the same man who was crucified. He breathes on them as he gives them God's Spirit (many readers see an echo of God breathing life into the first human in Genesis) and sends them out with a role in announcing forgiveness, though Christians differ on exactly what that authority involves.

Thomas wants proof (vv. 24-29)

Thomas will not believe secondhand and demands to touch the wounds, and a week later Jesus offers him exactly that. Thomas answers by calling Jesus "my Lord and my God," and Jesus speaks a blessing on those who will believe without having seen.

Why this book exists (vv. 30-31)

The writer admits he has left much out. He says he chose these accounts so readers would trust that Jesus is the Messiah, the King God had promised, and find real life through him.

Key verse: John 20:29

Something to think about

What kind of evidence would it take for you to accept something truly extraordinary, and is that the same standard you use for the other things you believe?