Jesus rises and lives again
1Early that Sunday morning Mary Magdalene went to the tomb where Jesus was buried. It was still dark but she saw that someone had rolled away the stone that had been in front of the tomb. 2She ran to Simon-Peter and to another disciple, the disciple that Jesus loved very much. She told them: ‘Someone has taken away the Lord's body from the tomb and we do not know where they have put Him.’
3Peter and the other disciple went to the tomb. 4They ran to the tomb but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and he got there first. 5He bowed over and looked into the tomb. He saw the pieces_of_cloth that were lying there but he did not go into the tomb. 6Then Simon-Peter also came there. Peter went into the tomb and he saw the long pieces_of_cloth. 7He also saw the cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded and it was not in the same place as the other cloths. 8Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went into the tomb. He saw that Jesus' body was not there and he believed. 9At that time the disciples did not understand the Old_Testament where it says that Jesus will live again.
Jesus talks to Mary Magdalene
10The 2 disciples went back but 11Mary went to the tomb and she cried. She did not stop crying and she bowed forward to look into the tomb. 12She saw 2 angels. They had white clothes. They were sitting where Jesus' body had been before. One angel sat where Jesus' head had been and the other angel sat where his feet had been. 13The angels asked her: ‘Why are you crying?’ She said: ‘They have taken away my Lord's body and I do not know where they have put Him.’
14After she had said this, she looked back and she saw Jesus. He was standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her: ‘Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?’
Mary thought that it was the man who worked in the garden and she asked Him: ‘Sir, have you taken away my Lord's body? If you took Him, please tell me where you put Him so I can go and get Him.’ 16Jesus said to her: ‘Mary.’
Then she turned to Jesus and said: ‘Rabboni.’ (Rabboni is a Hebrew word that means: My Lord). 17Jesus said to her: ‘Do not hold Me. I have to go to my Father in heaven. You must go back to my brothers, the disciples. Go and tell them that I am going to my Father and my God. He is also your Father and your God now.’
18Mary Magdalene told the disciples: ‘I have seen the Lord.’ She told them what Jesus had said to her.
Jesus talks to his disciples
19That Sunday evening the disciples were together. All the doors were closed and locked because they were afraid of the Jewish_leaders. Jesus came and He stood in front of them and He said: ‘God gives his peace to you.’
20After Jesus had said this, He showed them his hands and the side of his body where the soldier had pierced Him with his spear. The disciples were very happy when they saw the Lord. 21Again Jesus said to them: ‘I give you my peace. The Father has sent Me. Now I send you.’
22After Jesus had said this, He blew on them and said: ‘I give you the Holy_Spirit. 23If you forgive any person's sin, then God will also forgive him. If you do not forgive his sin, then God also will not forgive his sin.’
Jesus and Thomas
24Thomas, one of the 12 disciples, also had another name. His other name was the Twin. He was not with the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them. 25Later the disciples told Thomas: ‘We have seen the Lord.’
Thomas said to them: ‘No, I do not believe it. I will believe only when I see the wounds in his hands where the nails were and when I can put my finger into those wounds. I will believe only when I can put my hand into the wound on the side of Jesus' body.’
26A week later the disciples were together again and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came and He stood in front of them. He said to them: ‘I give my peace to you.’
27Then He said to Thomas: ‘Come, put your finger into my wounds and look at my hands. Come and put your hand into the wound on the side of my body. Do not doubt. You must believe.’
28Thomas said to Jesus: ‘You are my Lord and my God.’
29Jesus said to him: ‘You have seen Me now, and that is why you believe. But there will be a lot of people who do not see Me, but they will believe. They will be really happy.’
Why John wrote this book
30Jesus did a lot of other miracles that the disciples saw, but those miracles are not written in this book. 31The miracles that you read about in this book are written so that you can believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. If you believe in Him, you will have eternal_life because you belong to Him.