Here is a teaching on chapter 20 of the book of John. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.
First I want to say a quick prayer.... Lord I pray that you lift up every single person reading this right now. I pray that you open up our eyes to see the truth of your words. I pray that you open up our ears to hear the truth, and you open up our hearts to see the love that you have for us Lord. I pray that you guide us through every aspect of our lives and that we take what we learn from this Bible study, we implement it in our daily life, and we spread love and light and the gospel to others. I love you with my whole heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.
John Chapter 20:
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
So I'm going to stop right there and discuss these verses with the guys here. So first I just wanted to point out that it is Easter Sunday, Happy Easter guys, but the importance of Easter is Jesus Christ' resurrection. We just went over the crucifixion, death, and burial of Jesus Christ on Friday and now we're going into his resurrection. Three days later Jesus raises from the dead. Death has no hold on Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the King above all kings. Even though these Jews had hatred in their hearts and they wanted to condemn Jesus and crucify him, they couldn't put a hold over him. Jesus died on the cross to forgive us of our sins, but he rose three days later, and whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. And whenever Jesus comes back to get us, whoever believes in him will come to heaven with him and have eternal life with God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Father.
In verses 1-2 of chapter 20 of the book of John, Mary Magdalene went to Jesus' tomb. I would say she probably went to go pay her respects and see Jesus, but she had no idea that the tomb would be empty. So Mary ran to Simon Peter, and we know from last Bible study that the disciple that Jesus loved in here is John. So she went to Simon Peter and John and told them that they had taken the Lord out of the tomb, but she didn't know where they put him. So in verses 3-9 Peter and John got to the empty tomb and they saw and believed. It says in verse 9 that they still didn't understand from scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
In order for us to be forgiven of our sins, to have a new life, a new heart, and eternal life in Jesus Christ, he had to be crucified, make that ultimate sacrifice, and then rise from the dead three days later. Whenever we believe in him and we ask Jesus Christ to come into our heart then we have the Holy Spirit within us and we have eternal life through Christ.
10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
So Mary saw two angels at Jesus' tomb and they asked her why she was crying and she didn't understand why his tomb was empty. Mary thought that someone had taken Jesus or moved him somewhere and she was sad about it because she didn't know where they had taken him. Then Mary turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn't realize that it was him. But then whenever Jesus said her name she recognized him. I just want to point out a verse from chapter 10 of the book of John. It's verse 4 and it says, "When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice." Now if you don't remember from our Bible study on chapter 10 of the book of John, this was Jesus saying that he was the good shepherd and talking about the shepherd and his flock (which Jesus is the shepherd and we are his sheep). It says that they follow him because they know his voice. So in this Bible study of chapter 20 in verses 15-16, Mary didn't recognize Jesus but she recognized his voice. Then in verse 17 what Jesus says to Mary, he didn't want Mary to hold onto him because he knew that he would be going back to heaven and he would see them again. But Jesus had to go back to heaven, so he didn't want her to get used to him being there. Then he told her to go to his brothers (which are the disciples) and tell them that he's returning to God the Father.
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for the fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you!" As the Father has sent me, I'm sending you." 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.
So I'm going to stop right there and discuss these verses here. So the doors were locked, but Jesus stood among them. So he didn't knock on the door, no one let him in, he just stood among them. That is the power of Jesus Christ. That's part of the power, there's more power in Jesus Christ and God the Father than we can ever imagine. But that just goes to show that he doesn't have to be let in, he doesn't have to knock, he just comes, he just stands there, he's just there with us, always. Now the disciples were afraid of the Jews because they were afraid what they were going to do to them. They were the disciples of Jesus Christ and also his tomb was empty, so maybe they thought that the Jews thought that they took Jesus from the tomb and they were afraid.
When Jesus stood among his disciples he said, "Peace be with you!" I've said this before a few different times in my Bible studies and also in other episodes, but true inner peace is only found through Jesus Christ and he gives us peace. In John 14:27 Jesus tells his disciples "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." So Jesus Christ gives us that peace and he's telling his disciples here in chapter 20 of the book of John, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I'm sending you." Now what he means here by he is sending them, he sending them out into the world to spread the gospel and teach other people the things that Jesus has taught them. They have been learning from Jesus Christ, he has led by example, he's showed them how to love and serve other people, they have been witnesses to Jesus Christ ,and they can serve as a testimony. So he's sending them out into the world to tell about Jesus Christ, because he knows he's going back to the Father. Even though they're not going to physically have him anymore, they can still testify about him, he's still going to be right there with them, and they have the Holy Spirit within them. So this is the moment here where they turned from disciples into apostles. Once Jesus goes back to heaven, we see in acts that the apostles go and spread the gospel and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And then in verse 22 he breathed on them and said "Receive the Holy Spirit".
24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Alright, so that's all the verses of chapter 20 of the book of John, but I'm going to discuss these verses with you guys here. So in verses 24-29 the other disciples told Thomas that they had seen the Lord, but he didn't believe them. Thomas said that unless he sees the nail marks, puts his finger where the nails were, and his hand into Jesus' side, that he's not going to believe it. So a week later Jesus came, and again the doors were locked, but he came and stood among them. He didn't knock, he didn't ask to come in, he was just there with them, and he said "Peace be with you!" Then Jesus told Thomas to put his finger where the nails were and to reach out his hand and put it in his side and to stop doubting and believe. Once Thomas did that he believed and he knew that it was Jesus Christ. Then what Jesus says in verse 29, we as believers of Jesus Christ, have not seen Jesus Christ and we have not seen God the Father, but we still believe. Through the words of this Bible, through Bible study, praying, and understanding the truth of God's words, we can believe and we can spread the gospel, let other people know about Jesus Christ, and about these words that he spoke in the Bible.
So in verse 31, when we believe in Jesus Christ we have eternal life and we have a new life in him. So all these miraculous signs that we see and everything that's written in here is so that we may believe that Jesus is Christ, that he is the Son of God, and so that through us other people may know that we're Jesus' disciples and we can let other people know about Jesus so that they may believe also and have eternal life.
I hope you were able to really soak it in and understand how important all of these words are. All of these chapters that we've done in the book of John, but especially this past couple of Bible studies, are so important to really soak in and understand. We saw throughout the book of John all of the things that Jesus did, all the miraculous signs that he performed, and all the times that he told his disciples that he would be crucified, resurrected, and go back to heaven. He didn't specifically say it to them, but there were a lot of things that we read through the Bible studies that showed what was going to happen. Jesus knew that his mission was to come and to forgive us of our sins, and he made that ultimate sacrifice for us. Jesus shows pure sacrificial love and only wants the best for us, for his disciples, for the people that believe in him, and for the world. He came to save the world and not to condemn the world, and death had no hold on him. Jesus Christ died and he rose again three days later, and sent his disciples into the world to testify about him. And God the Father sent the Holy Spirit to testify about Jesus Christ, to show us truth, and to guide us through every aspect of our lives.
John Ch 20 Study Guide
In verse 11, why was Mary crying?
Why do you think that Mary didn’t recognize Jesus, but she recognized his voice?
In verse 17, why did Jesus not want Mary to hold on to him?
In verse 21, why did Jesus say this to his disciples?
How can we, without physically seeing Jesus, believe in him?
What is the importance of Easter?
What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible study?
Whenever you think about Easter, maybe you've already done your Easter egg hunt for the day, or maybe you've already went to Church, or whatever the case may be. Or maybe you're not even listening to this on Easter day, but I want to just take a minute to really realize and recognize the importance of Easter. Jesus rose from the dead, and before that he died on the cross to forgive us of our sins, and he rose three days later. Jesus has overcome the world and all the struggles, everything that we're going to face, all the sufferings that we're going to have in the name of Jesus, we can take heart in knowing that he's already overcome the world, Jesus has already fought the battle and he's already won the battle. Our true home is in heaven with Jesus and this world is just our temporary home. So whatever we face in this temporary home is not going to last forever. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we have Jesus right here to help us and we have the Holy Spirit within us to guide us, help us, and show us truth. We can lean on Jesus Christ, on God the Father, and on God the Holy Spirit, and he will guide us every step of the way.
I just feel so blessed today to know that we have a God that loves us so much that he sent his only Son to die on the cross for our sins, and that Jesus Christ loves us so much that he made that ultimate sacrifice to die on the cross for our sins. I just feel completely blessed and I just want you guys to know that I love you guys so much. I'm so grateful and thankful that God has placed this calling on my heart to do these Bible studies, this podcast, to be able to help you guys with your God led calling, to have a close relationship with Christ, and to spread the gospel. I'm just full of gratitude today and I'm so grateful and thankful for you guys.
Our next Bible study is going to be over chapter 21 of the book of John so make sure you stay tuned for that.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
p.s. If you'd rather listen to Faith-based, business, mindset, and mental health tips, then check out my podcast. There I will share my personal experiences, stories I've never told before, and bring you along with this hot mess life of mine. New episodes every week.
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
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