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John 20 opens with sorrow and confusion, but it quickly turns into joy and faith. Early on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb and finds the stone taken away (John 20:1). She assumes someone has moved Jesus’ body, not that He has risen (John 20:2). Peter and the beloved disciple run to the tomb and find the linen cloths lying there, with the face cloth folded separately (John 20:3–8). These details matter. This was not grave robbery or hurried removal. The empty tomb and the grave clothes quietly testify that Jesus truly rose from the dead (John 20:6–8). John says the disciples still did not yet understand from the Scriptures that Jesus must rise (John 20:9), which reminds us that the resurrection was not something they expected and invented. It was something God did that they had to come to understand.
Then Jesus reveals Himself personally. Mary stays near the tomb weeping until the risen Jesus speaks her name, and everything changes (John 20:11–16). The Shepherd’s sheep know His voice (cf. John 10:3–4), and Mary moves from grief to joyful witness: “I have seen the Lord” (John 20:18). That same day Jesus appears to the disciples behind locked doors and greets them with peace (John 20:19). He shows them His hands and His side, proving that the crucified One is now alive (John 20:20). Then He commissions them: “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21). The risen Christ does not only comfort His people; He sends them out with His message of forgiveness in His name (John 20:21–23). Resurrection peace becomes resurrection mission.
The chapter then narrows in on Thomas, who refuses to believe unless he sees and touches for himself (John 20:24–25). When Jesus appears again, He meets Thomas in mercy, not scorn, and calls him to believe (John 20:26–27). Thomas answers with one of the clearest confessions in all Scripture: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). John ends by telling us why he wrote this Gospel: so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in His name (John 20:30–31). John 20 is not just about an empty tomb in the past. It is about the living Christ who still calls people from unbelief to faith, from fear to peace, and from death to life.
🌀 Reflection:
The resurrection of Jesus is not an added detail to the gospel; it is the proof that Jesus is who He said He is and that His saving work is complete. Where are you tempted to live like hope is gone, like Mary at the tomb or Thomas in his doubt? Let John 20 call you again to believe that Jesus is alive and that life is found in Him alone.
💬 Mission Challenge:
Tell someone today why the resurrection of Jesus matters, and use John 20:31 to explain that eternal life is found by believing in His name.
Continue reading in our NT260 plan in the rest of Phase 4 — That You May Believe.
Just Keith Harris 