JOHN 20:1 – 31
Bible Study Notes Rev. Betsy Perkins
The Tomb is Empty!
- What is the best news you have heard recently? Why was this good news for you?
Joe Boyd, Bible Experiment – Gospel of John (RightNowMedia), 1:57:45 – 2:02:40
The Tomb is Open and Empty (20:1-10)
- What time of day was it when Mary walked to the place where Jesus was buried? Why do you think she chose that time? Why does John mention it specifically?
- What would Mary have been thinking and feeling she walked to the tomb?
- How did she react when she saw that the tomb was open? What did she think happened?
- How did Peter and the other disciple (John?) react when they were told the tomb was open?
- What did they see in the tomb? Had they ever experienced a body being unwrapped of its grave clothes before? What did it mean and what did they believe?
Then comes the moment. The younger man, the beloved disciple, goes into the tomb after Peter. And the idea they had had to that point about what must have happened – someone taking the body away, but unwrapping it first – suddenly looks stupid and irrelevant. Something quite new surges up in the young disciple, a wild delight at God’s creative power. He remembers the moment ever afterwards. A different sensation. A bit like falling in love; a bit like sunrise; a bit like the sound of rain at the end of a long drought. A bit like faith. Oh, he’s had faith before. He had believed that Jesus was the Messiah. He had believed that God had sent him, that he was God’s man for God’s people and God’s world. But this was different. ‘He saw and believed.’ Believed that new creation had begun. Believed that the world had turned the corner, out of its long winter and into spring at last. Believed that God had said ‘Yes’ to Jesus, to all that he had been and done. Believed that Jesus was alive again. N.T. Wright
Jesus Appears to Mary (20:11-18):
Enter into Mary’s experience: Read N.T. Wright, John for Everyone – Part 2, page 145-146
- What is upsetting Mary as she returns to the tomb? What does she see in the tomb?
- What do the angels and Jesus ask Mary? Does it seem like a strange question?
- How did Jesus reveal himself to Mary?
- What did Jesus mean when he said, “Don’t cling to me”? What other instructions did he give her?
- What is the new relationship that Jesus speaks of as he directs her to tell the others? (See 1:12)
- Who is the first to meet the risen Christ and the first to share the good news? Why is that significant?
Jesus Appears to the Disciples (20:19-23):
- Why did the disciples have the doors locked? How did Jesus enter?
- What is the greeting that Jesus gives to the disciples and then repeats? Why was it important that they hear it? (What did Jesus promise in 14:27 and 16:33?)
- What was Jesus’ directive for them? How were they to accomplish it?
- What did God’s breath deliver in Genesis 2:7? What does Jesus’ breath deliver now?
- If only God can forgive sins, what does Jesus mean in verse 23? What did Jesus include about forgiving sins in the prayer he taught his disciples?
There is all the difference in the world between something being achieved and something being implemented. The composer achieves the writing of the music; the performers implement it. The clockmaker designs and builds the wonderful clock. The owner now has to set it to the right time and keep it wound up. Jesus has accomplished the defeat of death, and has begun the work of the new creation (notice how John again stresses that it was the first day of the week)… Jesus’ mission to Israel, reaching its climax in his death and resurrection, is thus to be implemented by the disciple’ mission to the world. That’s why they need the Holy Spirit: Jesus’ breath, God’s breath, to enable them to do the job they could otherwise never dream of doing…
They are to pronounce, in God’s name and by his spirit, the message of forgiveness to all who believe in Jesus. They are also to ‘retain sins’: to warn the world that sin is a serious, deadly disease, and that to remain in it will bring death. They are to rebuke and warn – not because they don’t like people, or because they are seeking power or prestige for themselves, but because this is God’s message to a muddled, confused and still rebellious world. N.T. Wright
Jesus Appears to Thomas (20:24-31):
- What was the good news that the disciples shared with Thomas? What was his response?
- What is Jesus’ attitude toward Thomas, knowing that he had disbelieved and harbored doubts?
- What is Thomas’ stunning response to the evidence Jesus presents?
- Why does Jesus’ resurrection body still carry the wounds of his suffering? Why isn’t it healed?
- Do you think we will still carry the wounds of earthly life in our resurrection bodies?
- How is Thomas’ story a fitting conclusion to John’s book after his opening statements in John 1:10 and 1:18?
Read Max Lucado, Life Lessons from John, pages 96-97
- Why is Jesus’ resurrection good news for believers? What would Christianity be like without the resurrection?
- Why is it so hard for some people to believe that Jesus rose from the dead? What helps you believe?
- How does the victory of Christ’s resurrection bring victory to your life?
- Why did John write his book? Is there anything that keeps you from sharing this good news too?
In light of this passage and our discussion, what one truth about God and about yourself stand out as something to “take to heart” this week?
Are there steps you will take, by God’s grace, to more fully apply it to your life?
Resources: NIV Zondervan Study Bible, 2015
N.T. Wright, John for Everyone, 2002
Max Lucado, Life Lessons from John, 2018
Joe Boyd, Bible Experiment – Gospel of John (RightNowMedia), 2014
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