Every Woman's Bible Journaling Edition, Filament Enabled - Book - Page 51
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JOHN 21
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing
there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.
15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked
her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said,
“if you have taken him away, tell me where you have
put him, and I will go and get him.”
16 “Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!”
(which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet
ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and
tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told
them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his
message.
26 Eight days later the disciples were together
again, and this time Thomas was with them. The
doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was
standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and
look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in
my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you
have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without
seeing me.”
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
Epilogue: Jesus Appears
to Seven Disciples
That Sunday evening* the disciples were meeting
behind locked doors because they were afraid of
the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing
there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said.
20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his
hands and his side. They were filled with joy when
they saw the Lord! 21Again he said, “Peace be with
you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending
you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive
the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they
are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are
not forgiven.”
19
Jesus Appears to Thomas
One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed
the Twin),* was not with the others when Jesus
came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the
nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them,
and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
24
Purpose of the Book
The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous
signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book.
31 But these are written so that you may continue to
believe* that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,
and that by believing in him you will have life by the
power of his name.
30
Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples
beside the Sea of Galilee.* This is how it happened. 2Several of the disciples were there—Simon
Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),* Nathanael
from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two
other disciples.
3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”
“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in
the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
4At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the
disciples couldn’t see who he was. 5 He called out,
“Fellows,* have you caught any fish?”
“No,” they replied.
6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the righthand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they
did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there
were so many fish in it.
7 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s
the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the
21
20:19 Greek In the evening of that day, the first day of the week. 20:24 Greek Thomas, who was called Didymus. 20:31 Some
manuscripts read that you may believe. 21:1 Greek Sea of Tiberias, another name for the Sea of Galilee. 21:2 Greek Thomas,
who was called Didymus. 21:5 Greek Children.
20:14-15 After Mary mistook him for the gardener, Jesus
repeated the angel’s question and added, “Who are you looking for?” Jesus’ question was to provoke Mary’s thinking: At
this point Mary was looking for the body of Jesus, but she was
about to meet the living Christ. Was she truly ready to meet
her Lord?
20:17 Mary may have assumed that with the resurrection,
things would go back to normal with Jesus and his disciples. She
was trying to cling to the joy she discovered in her resurrected
Lord, but he would relate to her in a new way (20:22). Jesus had
not “yet ascended” to complete his return to the Father, but the
process was underway (see Acts 1:6-11). Before his final departure,
he would give the Holy Spirit (John 20:22; see also 14:15-21, 26;
15:26-27; 16:5-15).
20:18 Mary was the first eyewitness to see the Lord following
his resurrection. She not only saw him, but she also heard him
and touched him (see 1 John 1:1-4). This great privilege was given
to a woman whose broken life had experienced healing (Luke
8:2). In Jewish culture this was astounding because a woman
could not even be a witness in court. No Jew in this period would
make up such a story because no one would be naturally inclined
to believe it. God chose a woman to deliver his most important
message, a choice that reinforces God’s special preference for
those marginalized by society. God’s Kingdom does not abide
by the rules and structures erected by humans for power and
control over others.
