John 20:1-18

Read John 20:1-18 Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter, and the Beloved Disciple find that the tomb is empty

Verses 1-10 The empty tomb

Why do you think Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb on the first day after the Sabbath rest while it is still dark?

Mary finds that the tomb open – the stone has been removed.  John does not say whether she saw that there was no body inside; but based on verse 2, what does Mary think has happened?

In verse 2, Mary says, “we” don’t know where they have laid him.  In the other Gospels, she goes to the tomb with one or more other women.  The “we” here suggests that John is simplifying his telling of the story to focus on the key moments he wants to tell us, while recognizing that the story has also been handed down with several women at the tomb.

Mary runs and tells Peter and “the discipled whom Jesus loved” (scholars call him the “Beloved Disciple”).  The simplest explanation is that he is the apostle John, but many scholars have other views.  Some think that the Beloved Disciple was another follower of Jesus, not one of the twelve apostles (see Introduction to John).  And some think that the Gospel writer is inserting an anonymous person as a stand in for his readers – including us – as a challenge to us to have the level of faith that the Beloved Disciple has.  We will keep things simple by calling him John in the following questions, but you are free to interpret it along the lines of the other hypotheses.

Although Luke mentions only Peter going to the tomb in Luke 24:12, he indicates in Luke 24:24 that, in the full story that was passed on to him, more than one man went to the tomb.  It is quite common for different people to tell the same story in different ways, depending on their perspective.  And since the Gospels stories were circulating for decades before they were written down, different Gospels writers had access to different tellings of the story.  The Gospel of John indicates that it includes eyewitness testimony (19:35; 21:24) from the Beloved Disciple that many not have been as accessible to the writers of the other Gospels.

When Peter and John hear what Mary says, they run to the tomb.  Why do you think they run?

John is faster and gets there first.  What does he see, and what does he not do (verses 4-5)?

When Peter arrives, what does he do, and what does see (verse 6-7)?

What do you think is going through their minds?

John’s Gospel is very specific about the appearance of the linen burial cloths (verse 7).  Why are these details important?

If someone had come to steal away the body, they would not have removed the body wrappings, which would have kept the limbs close to the body and made it easier to carry the body.  If they were in the act of stealing the body, they would not have taken the time to roll up the head cloth.  Also, some people think that John’s description fits what it would look like if Jesus’s body simply disappeared from within the burial cloths: the cloth around the head would be separate from the strips of cloth that went around the body, and the head cloth would appear folded as it settled in place when there was no longer a head holding it up.

Jews had strict rules about not being made unclean by contact with a tomb.  Why do you think Peter and John go into the tomb?

In verse 8, we are told that John went into the tomb and he “saw and believed” – meaning that he believed that Jesus had risen from the dead.  What do you think convinced him at that moment?

What makes you believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

In verse 9, John’s Gospel tells us that the disciples didn’t yet understand that it was necessary that Jesus rise from the dead.  Why do you think they didn’t understand that?

John uses the word “scriptures” here, which for him would be the Old Testament, but it isn’t clear that he has any particular passages in mind.  Christians later saw resurrection images in various Old Testament passages such as Moses’s lifting up of the serpent to heal the people (Num. 21:9; quoted in John 3:14); the experience of Isaac when his father was preparing to sacrifice him and it was on the third day that he was saved (Gen. 22:4-13); Jonah being saved after 3 days in the belly of the great fish (Jonah 2:1); Hosea’s reference to God saving Israel on the third day (Hos. 6:2); Psalm 22, which has descriptions very similar to Jesus’s suffering on the cross; and Psalm 16:10-11, where the psalmist says that God will not abandon his soul to Sheol (the realm of the dead).

What do you think are the biggest reasons why people today have trouble believing that Jesus rose from the dead?

Verse 9 says that it was necessary that Jesus rise from the dead: that he “had to” or “must.”  Why do you think it was so important that Jesus rise from the dead?  Why is that so central to the Christian faith?

What difference does it make in your life that Jesus rose from the dead – that he is still alive?

Verses 11-18 Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene

While Peter and John go home, Mary stays at the tomb, weeping.  What does she see as she looks in the tomb?

Then, in verse 14, she turns around.  What does she see, and who does she think it is?

In verse 16, Jesus says, “Mary,” and suddenly she knows.  Think back to our study of chapter 10, where Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd,” and tells us that the sheep follow the shepherd “because they know his voice” (10:4).  Mary knew Jesus’s voice.  How did she  come to know Jesus’s voice?

She spent time with him.  She paid attention when he was speaking.  She nurtured her love for him so that she was attuned to his voice.

How can we imitate Mary in knowing Jesus’s voice?

In verse 17, Jesus says he has not yet ascended to the Father.  We have noted before that, for John, Jesus’s Passion, crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension into glory are all part of one great action by which Jesus fulfills the work for which he has been sent (for example, John 2:4; 12:32-33; 13:1).  John compresses the resurrection and ascension into one day; he is focused on the spiritual significance of what is happening, not the literal timeline.  In what ways do Jesus’s death, resurrection and ascension fit together as one, coordinated event?

In verse 17, Jesus tells Mary, “Go to my brothers....”  This is the first time Jesus has explicitly called the disciples his “brothers” (he uses the word “brothers” in a similar way right after his resurrection in Matthew 28:10).  Jesus has previously called them “friends” in John 15:15, and he has said generically that whoever does the will of his Father is his brother or sister (Matthew 12:50; Mark 3:35), but here he explicitly calls them his brothers.  Why is it significant that he calls them his “brothers”?

We, too, have become brothers and sisters of Jesus, adopted into his family by faith.  What effect might it have on your faith to know that Jesus calls you his brother or sister?

Also in verse 17, Jesus calls God “my Father and your Father.”  John told us at the beginning of this Gospel (1:12) that Jesus gives to those who accept him the power to become children of God.  We have the same Father Jesus has.  How is our relationship with the one Father similar to Jesus’s relationship with his Father, and how is our relationship different than his?

What questions does this exploration of the early events after the Resurrection raise for you?

How does this part of John 20 offer answers to questions that you or others might have about the Resurrection?

How can you let the wonder of the Resurrection strengthen your faith?

Take a step back and consider this:

The disciples lived with Jesus for 3 years, yet they did not understand that he would rise from the dead.   We have a better understanding of it because of the many years of reflection that followers of Jesus have devoted to it through the centuries.

How is the disciples’ confusion a caution for us to be careful about thinking we understand everything about Jesus?

What is the role of devoted followers of Jesus in helping us to understand Jesus better, and how can we stay connected to those who can help us understand our faith better?