Frameworks:
John's Gospel, chapter 20
(The
objective of these ‘Frameworks' is to provide an easy-to-read
layout of the text in order then to use these individual verses
for verse-by-verse study or meditation. To focus each
verse we have also added in italic a description of what is happening)
CHAPTER
20
v.1-10
The Empty Tomb
v.11-18
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
v.19-23
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
v.24-29
Jesus Appears to Thomas
v.30,31
The Purpose of John's Gospel
v.1-10
The Empty Tomb
v.1
(Mary M goes to the tomb) Early
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.
v.2
(she reports back) So
she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one
Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,
and we don't know where they have put him!”
v.3
(Peter & John go to look) So
Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.
v.4
(John outruns Peter) Both
were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached
the tomb first.
v.5
(he peers in) He
bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but
did not go in.
v.6,7
(Peter went in and saw just graveclothes) Then
Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb.
He saw the strips of linen lying there, as
well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head. The
cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen.
v.8
(John also went in and believed) Finally
the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went
inside. He saw and believed.
v.9
(they still hadn't understood prophecy) (They
still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise
from the dead.)
v.10
(they then returned home) Then
the disciples went back to where they were staying.
v.11-18
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
v.11,12
(Mary M stays, weeping and sees two angels)
Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying.
As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and
saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one
at the head and the other at the foot.
v.13
(she speaks with them) They
asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They
have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don't know where they
have put him.”
v.14
(she turns and sees a figure) At
this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she
did not realize that it was Jesus.
v.15
(she addresses him as the gardener) He
asked her, “Woman, why are
you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking
he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away,
tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
v.16
(only when he speaks her name does she realise it
is Jesus) Jesus said to her,
“Mary.” She
turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which
means “Teacher”).
v.17
(go and tell the others he says) Jesus
said, “Do not hold on to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers
and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to
my God and your God.'”
v.18
(Mary reports back) Mary
Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the
Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
v.19-23
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
v.19
(Jesus comes to them all gathered) On
the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples
were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders,
Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace
be with you!”
v.20
(they are overjoyed) After
he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples
were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
v.21
(he commissions them to go) Again
Jesus said, “Peace be with
you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
v.22
(he breaths
the Spirit on them) And with
that he breathed on them and said, “Receive
the Holy Spirit.
v.23
(he commissions them to forgive) If
you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do
not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
v.24-29
Jesus Appears to Thomas
v.24
(Thomas had been missing) Now
Thomas (also known as Didymus),
one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
v.25
(when he's told he doesn't believe) So
the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But
he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and
put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side,
I will not believe.”
v.26
(a week later Jesus appears again) A
week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was
with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood
among them and said, “Peace
be with you!”
v.27
(Jesus reassures him) Then
he said to Thomas, “Put your
finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into
my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
v.28
(Thomas accepts wholeheartedly) Thomas
said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
v.29
(Jesus say blessed will be those who believe without
seeing) Then Jesus told him,
“Because you have seen me,
you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet
have believed.”
v.30,31
The Purpose of John's Gospel
v.30
(John points out Jesus did much more he didn't record
here) Jesus performed many other
signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded
in this book.
v.31
(but these are written to enable us to believe)
But these are written that you may
believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by
believing you may have life in his name.