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John 20 — An empty tomb, a spoken name, and the moment doubt became worship
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Jesus chose a woman as the first resurrection witness in a culture that wouldn't accept her testimony in court — if someone were inventing this story, they never would have written it that way.
Three days. That's how long the silence lasted. was dead. Buried. A heavy stone sealed across the entrance to a borrowed tomb. His followers were scattered, grieving, terrified. Everything they'd built their lives around for the past three years had been nailed to a Roman and buried in a garden.
And then came Sunday morning. What happens in this chapter isn't just the most important moment in — it's the hinge that the entire story has been swinging toward. Every sign, every "" statement, every confrontation with the religious leaders — it all pointed here. To an empty tomb. To a name spoken in a garden. To locked doors that couldn't keep someone out.
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came to the tomb while it was still dark. Not at sunrise. Not at a reasonable hour. She came in the dark — because grief doesn't wait for daylight.
And when she got there, the stone was already moved.
She didn't go in. She didn't investigate. She ran. Straight to and the other — — and said:
"They've taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they've put him."
Her first thought wasn't . It was theft. Someone moved the body. That's important to notice — nobody showed up that morning expecting what actually happened. Not a single person in this story had "risen from the dead" on their radar. They were preparing for more grief, not less.
and took off running. And there's this almost cinematic detail: John outran Peter. Got there first. (John is the one telling this story, by the way — you can feel him not being able to resist mentioning that he was faster.)
But here's what's interesting. John got there first, stooped down, saw the linen burial cloths lying inside — and stopped. He didn't go in. Peter arrived right behind him and did what Peter always does — went straight in without hesitating.
Inside, Peter saw the burial cloths lying there. And the face cloth — the one that had been wrapped around head — wasn't with the . It was folded up, set apart by itself.
Think about that detail for a second. If someone had stolen the body, they wouldn't have carefully unwrapped the cloths and folded the face covering. Grave robbers don't tidy up. Something else happened here.
Then John went in too. And the text says simply: he saw and believed. Though even then, they didn't fully understand the that said Jesus had to rise from the dead. They went back home. Believing something, but not yet able to make sense of it.
Sometimes faith starts before understanding catches up. You see something you can't explain, and something in you shifts — even before your brain has words for what just happened.
Everyone else left. stayed.
She stood outside the tomb, weeping. And when she finally looked inside, she saw two in white — one sitting where head had been, one where his feet had been.
They asked her:
"Why are you crying?"
She answered them:
"They've taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they've put him."
Then she turned around. Jesus was standing right there. And she didn't recognize him. She thought he was the gardener.
Jesus asked her:
"Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?"
, still not recognizing him, said:
"Sir, if you've moved him, just tell me where you put him. I'll take him myself."
And then Jesus said one word.
"Mary."
That was it. Just her name. And she knew. She spun around and said:
"Rabboni!" — Teacher.
There's something here that stops you in your tracks. She didn't recognize his appearance. She didn't recognize his voice when he asked her a question. But when he said her name, she knew immediately. There's a moment earlier in this where Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." This is that moment, lived out in real time.
Jesus told her:
"Don't hold on to me — I haven't gone up to the Father yet. But go to my brothers and tell them: I am going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."
And Mary went and delivered the most important announcement in human history:
"I have seen the Lord."
Notice who got to say those words first. Not . Not . Not one of the twelve. A woman. In a culture where a woman's testimony wasn't even admissible in court, Jesus chose her as the first witness to the . If someone were fabricating this story, they never would have written it this way. Which is exactly why it rings true.
That evening, the were together — doors locked, shades drawn, terrified. They'd just watched their leader get executed by the state. They had every reason to think they were next.
And then was just... there. Standing among them. No knock. No door opening. Just suddenly present in the room.
The first thing he said:
"Peace be with you."
Not "why did you abandon me?" Not "where were you when I needed you?" . Then he showed them his hands and his side — the wounds were still there. And the text says they were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Then Jesus said it again:
"Peace be with you. The way the Father sent me — that's how I'm sending you."
And then he did something extraordinary. He breathed on them and said:
"Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's Sins, they are forgiven. If you don't release them, they aren't released."
He breathed on them. That language is intentional. The last time God breathed into someone was 2 — when he breathed life into . This is a new beginning. A new creation. The same God who breathed humanity into existence is now breathing his Spirit into his people and sending them out with his authority.
They walked into that room as survivors. They walked out as sent people. That's a massive difference.
missed it. He wasn't in the room when showed up. And when the others told him what happened, his response was blunt:
"Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side — I will not believe."
We've called him "" for two thousand years. But let's be honest — if your friends told you they'd seen someone come back from the dead, you'd want proof too. Thomas wasn't being difficult. He was being human.
Eight days later, they were gathered again. Doors locked. And again — Jesus appeared. Same greeting:
"Peace be with you."
Then he looked directly at Thomas and said:
"Put your finger here. Look at my hands. Reach out and touch my side. Stop doubting and believe."
Jesus didn't scold him. He didn't lecture him. He met the exact terms Thomas had set. You said you needed to see the wounds? Here they are. You said you needed to touch them? Go ahead.
And Thomas responded with the greatest confession of faith in the entire :
"My Lord and my God!"
Not "my teacher." Not "my ." My Lord. My God. This is the moment the whole book has been building toward. Back in chapter 1, wrote that "the Word was God." Twenty chapters later, a skeptical looks at the risen Jesus and says the same thing — out loud, to his face.
Then Jesus said something that reaches across the centuries — directly to anyone reading this:
"You believe because you've seen me. But blessed are those who haven't seen — and still believe."
That's you. If you're reading this, you haven't seen the wounds. You haven't been in the room. And Jesus says you're — not despite that, but because of it. that doesn't require proof isn't weaker faith. According to Jesus, it's the kind that carries a special blessing.
closes with what amounts to a purpose statement for his entire :
"Jesus performed many other signs in front of his Disciples that aren't recorded in this book. But these are written so that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God — and that by believing, you would have life in his name."
That's it. That's why John wrote all of this. Not to create a historical record. Not to win an argument. Not to build a religion. He wrote so that you — whoever you are, whenever you're reading this — would believe. And through believing, actually live.
Every story. Every sign. Every conversation. The water turned to wine, the man born blind, walking out of a tomb, this empty grave — all of it was recorded with one reader in mind: the person who hasn't seen it yet and is trying to decide what they believe. John isn't just telling you what happened. He's inviting you to stake your life on it.