John 20 (HCSB)
The Empty Tomb
1 On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him!”
3 At that, Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first. 5 Stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in. 6 Then, following him, Simon Peter came also. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 The wrapping that had been on His head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself. 8 The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then entered the tomb, saw, and believed. 9 For they still did not understand the Scripture that He must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went home again.
Mary Magdalene Sees the Risen Lord
11 But Mary stood outside facing the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 She saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet, where Jesus’ body had been lying. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put Him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not know it was Jesus.
15 “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Supposing He was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve removed Him, tell me where you’ve put Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said, “Mary.”
Turning around, she said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!”—which means “Teacher.”
17 “Don’t cling to Me,” Jesus told her, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and tell them that I am ascending to My Father and your Father—to My God and your God.”
18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what He had said to her.
The Disciples Commissioned
19 In the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because of their fear of the Jews. Then Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”
20 Having said this, He showed them His hands and His side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 After saying this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Thomas Sees and Believes
24 But one of the Twelve, Thomas (called “Twin”), was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples kept telling him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in His hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe!”
26 After eight days His disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace to you!”
27 Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and observe My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Don’t be an unbeliever, but a believer.”
28 Thomas responded to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Those who believe without seeing are blessed.”
The Purpose of This Gospel
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 23): Lord, forgive me for only giving lip service to the words "you are forgiven." You tell us that when sins are forgiven, they are truly forgiven and I fail at this constantly. Please forgive me.
PROMISE (verse 29): You promise us that those who believe without seeing are the truly blessed ones, for our belief is through faith and the Holy Spirit, not through Your physical presence amongst us.
ATTITUDE (verse 23): Lord, please help me to change my attitude of unforgiveness, constantly bottling things up and holding grudges. Release me from these sinful ways, please.
COMMAND (verse 22): You command us to "receive the Holy Spirit." This tells me that although the Spirit is provided by You, it's up to us to be open to receive it. Please help me to always be open to receiving the Spirit's counsel.
EXAMPLE (verse 23): Lord, please help me to follow Your example of forgiveness. If I say someone is forgiven, help me to truly internalize that forever, so that I may be a forgiving person as You are. Help me to release this burden of unforgiveness, so that I may truly follow your example.
*DAILY NOTE: Unforgiveness is a self-inflicted jail cell that I've been sitting in for such a long time. My unforgiveness of so much has caused so much anger, irritability, depression, anxiety, and so many more issues along the way that have persisted in me my entire life. Thankfully my Christian men's group told be about an awesome book called called Forgiving Forward. This book has caused so much emotional response in me, but also opened my eyes to many things that I need to work on and release.
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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