Bible Reading Plan – Day 358

₂₈Jesus knew that by now everything had been completed; and in order to make the scripture come true, he said, “I am thirsty.”

₂₉A bowl was there, full of cheap wine; so a sponge was soaked in the wine, put on a stalk of hyssop, and lifted up to his lips. ₃₀Jesus drank the wine and said, “It is finished!”

Then he bowed his head and died.

₃₁Then the Jewish authorities asked Pilate to allow them to break the legs of the men who had been crucified, and to take the bodies down from the crosses. They requested this because it was Friday, and they did not want the bodies to stay on the crosses on the Sabbath, since the coming Sabbath was especially holy. ₃₂So the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other man who had been crucified with Jesus. ₃₃But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they did not break his legs. ₃₄One of the soldiers, however, plunged his spear into Jesus' side, and at once blood and water poured out. ₃₅(The one who saw this happen has spoken of it, so that you also may believe. What he said is true, and he knows that he speaks the truth.) ₃₆This was done to make the scripture come true: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” ₃₇And there is another scripture that says, “People will look at him whom they pierced.”

₃₈After this, Joseph, who was from the town of Arimathea, asked Pilate if he could take Jesus' body. (Joseph was a follower of Jesus, but in secret, because he was afraid of the Jewish authorities.) Pilate told him he could have the body, so Joseph went and took it away. ₃₉Nicodemus, who at first had gone to see Jesus at night, went with Joseph, taking with him about thirty kilogrammes of spices, a mixture of myrrh and aloes. ₄₀The two men took Jesus' body and wrapped it in linen with the spices according to the Jewish custom of preparing a body for burial. ₄₁There was a garden in the place where Jesus had been put to death, and in it there was a new tomb where no one had ever been buried. ₄₂Since it was the day before the Sabbath and because the tomb was close by, they placed Jesus' body there.

₁Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the entrance. ₂She went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!”

₃Then Peter and the other disciple went to the tomb. ₄The two of them were running, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. ₅He bent over and saw the linen wrappings, but he did not go in. ₆Behind him came Simon Peter, and he went straight into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there ₇and the cloth which had been round Jesus' head. It was not lying with the linen wrappings but was rolled up by itself. ₈Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in; he saw and believed. ₉(They still did not understand the scripture which said that he must rise from death.) ₁₀Then the disciples went back home.

₁₁Mary stood crying outside the tomb. While she was still crying, she bent over and looked in the tomb ₁₂and saw two angels there dressed in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and the other at the feet. ₁₃“Woman, why are you crying?” they asked her.

She answered, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!”

₁₄Then she turned round and saw Jesus standing there; but she did not know that it was Jesus. ₁₅“Woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who is it that you are looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener, so she said to him, “If you took him away, sir, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

₁₆Jesus said to her, “Mary!”

She turned towards him and said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (This means “Teacher”.)

₁₇“Do not hold on to me,” Jesus told her, “because I have not yet gone back up to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am returning to him who is my Father and their Father, my God and their God.”

₁₈So Mary Magdalene went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and related to them what he had told her.

₁₉It was late that Sunday evening, and the disciples were gathered together behind locked doors, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Then Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. ₂₀After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord. ₂₁Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.” ₂₂Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ₂₃If you forgive people's sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

₂₄One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (called the Twin), was not with them when Jesus came. ₂₅So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the scars of the nails in his hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

₂₆A week later the disciples were together again indoors, and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ₂₇Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands; then stretch out your hand and put it in my side. Stop your doubting, and believe!”

₂₈Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

₂₉Jesus said to him, “Do you believe because you see me? How happy are those who believe without seeing me!”

₃₀In his disciples' presence Jesus performed many other miracles which are not written down in this book. ₃₁But these have been written in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through your faith in him you may have life.

₁After this, Jesus appeared once more to his disciples at Lake Tiberias. This is how it happened. ₂Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael (the one from Cana in Galilee), the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples of Jesus were all together. ₃Simon Peter said to the others, “I am going fishing.”

“We will come with you,” they told him. So they went out in a boat, but all that night they did not catch a thing. ₄As the sun was rising, Jesus stood at the water's edge, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ₅Then he asked them, “Young men, haven't you caught anything?”

“Not a thing,” they answered.

₆He said to them, “Throw your net out on the right side of the boat, and you will catch some.” So they threw the net out and could not pull it back in, because they had caught so many fish.

₇The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Peter heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment round him (for he had taken his clothes off) and jumped into the water. ₈The other disciples came to shore in the boat, pulling the net full of fish. They were not very far from land, about a hundred metres away. ₉When they stepped ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it and some bread. ₁₀Then Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”

₁₁Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore full of big fish, 153 in all; even though there were so many, still the net did not tear. ₁₂Jesus said to them, “Come and eat.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. ₁₃So Jesus went over, took the bread, and gave it to them; he did the same with the fish.

₁₄This, then, was the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from death.

₁₅After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Take care of my lambs.” ₁₆A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.” ₁₇A third time Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was sad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” so he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!”

Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep. ₁₈I am telling you the truth: when you were young, you used to get ready and go anywhere you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will bind you and take you where you don't want to go.” ₁₉(In saying this, Jesus was indicating the way in which Peter would die and bring glory to God.) Then Jesus said to him, “Follow me!”

₂₀Peter turned round and saw behind him that other disciple, whom Jesus loved — the one who had leaned close to Jesus at the meal and had asked, “Lord, who is going to betray you?” ₂₁When Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”

₂₂Jesus answered him, “If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!”

₂₃So a report spread among the followers of Jesus that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he said, “If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you?”

₂₄He is the disciple who spoke of these things, the one who also wrote them down; and we know that what he said is true.

₂₅Now, there are many other things that Jesus did. If they were all written down one by one, I suppose that the whole world could not hold the books that would be written.