John 20 - The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible

20:1 first day of the week. The Lord’s Day (see note at Matt. 28:1). Mary Magdalene. A disciple of Jesus whom He had rescued from seven demons (19:25; Mark 16:9; Luke 8:1–3). sepulchre. Tomb. stone. A large stone used to cover the entrance to the tomb.

20:2 runneth. Demonstrates a sense of urgency (v. 4). They have taken. Mary did not assume Jesus had risen but that His body has been removed by someone else.

20:5–7 linen clothes. The burial cloth wrapped around the body (19:40). napkin. A cloth for covering the face of the deceased (11:44). The orderly arrangement of the clothes was evidence in itself that the body had not been stolen.

20:8–9 The disciple (John) believed that the tomb was empty, as Mary had said; he may also have believed that Christ had risen, though he did not yet understand the significance of the resurrection as the fulfillment of God’s revealed plan (knew not the scripture).

20:11 without. Outside. weeping. Mary loved Christ as her Savior and Lord.

20:14 knew not that it was Jesus. See 21:4; Luke 24:16.

20:15 borne him hence. Carried him away.

20:16 Rabboni. Aramaic for “my teacher” (Master).

20:17 Touch me not. Do not cling to Me or try to hold on to Me. Christ had been raised with His physical body and could be touched (v. 27; Luke 24:39). go. Jesus chose this woman to be the first eyewitness of His resurrection (Mark 16:9). my brethren. Christ receives His disciples as their loving elder brother (Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:11). I ascend unto my Father. Christ’s resurrection was the first step of the exaltation of His human nature into the glory of heaven (17:5) as the vindicated Servant who had fulfilled the covenant (my God ). your Father. Christ assured His disciples that despite their sins against Him, His death brings them into the family of God (1:12; see note at 19:26–27).

20:19 when the doors were shut. Christ, having been raised in the heavenly life of the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:42–49), now had bodily powers of a higher kind and could move quickly and freely, without hindrance (Luke 24:31,36; cf. Acts 8:39–40). Peace be unto you. The ordinary greeting is infused with new gospel meaning (v. 21) because Christ has completed the work of redemption and lives as the risen Savior (Eph. 2:16–17).

20:20 shewed . . . his hands and his side. The Lord confirmed the reality of His resurrection by offering irrefutable evidence, to which the apostles were witnesses (Luke 24:36–43; Acts 1:3).

20:21–23 send I you. Jesus commissioned the apostles, as the leaders of the church, to go forth and preach with His authority (Matt. 28:18–20; Luke 24:44–48). breathed on them. A prophetic action symbolizing the procession of the Spirit from the Son to the disciples in vital union with Him (14:19; 15:26; 16:7). Receive ye the Holy Ghost. The risen Lord made this statement in anticipation of Pentecost (Acts 2:1–47), by which they would receive power for their witness (Acts 1:8). Whose soever sins ye remit . . . retain. Whoever’s sins you declare either forgiven or not forgiven. Men have no authority in themselves to forgive sins (Mark 2:7), but the gospel as preached and then applied in biblical church membership, and discipline promises forgiveness to all who believe in Christ, and only to them (3:17–18).

20:24 Didymus. Means “twin.”

20:25 nails. Spikes used to crucify Jesus on the cross (cf. Col. 2:14). his side. Where the spear had pierced Him (19:34).

20:26 after eight days. By the inclusive method of reckoning time, this was a week later, the next Sunday (v. 1). doors being shut . . . said, Peace. See note at v. 19.

20:27 hither. Here. Christ graciously came to convince Thomas, offering him the plain evidence he had demanded.

20:28 My Lord and my God. Just as this gospel began by declaring that Christ is God (1:1), so it climaxes in Thomas’s adoring confession of the deity of the risen Lord. Although Christ is a real man with a body and soul, He is also God.

20:29 blessed are they. Jesus commended those who believe His gospel without such visible evidence as that which He presented to the apostles. Faith rests ultimately not on observed miracles but in the divine testimony of God’s Word (3:33; 4:42; 5:37–39).

20:30 many other signs. We do not have a record in the Gospels of every miracle of Christ (21:25).

20:31 that ye might believe. John tells us the purpose of his gospel: to proclaim Jesus as the incarnate Lord (Son of God; 1:14,18; 5:19–23) sent by God to save sinners (Christ; 4:42; 17:2–3), so that people might receive eternal life by faith in Him.

Thoughts for Personal/Family Worship: Chapter 20

1. It is absurd to argue that the resurrection of Christ was a fabrication of the disciples. They were all inclined not to believe it until compelled by the evidence of the risen Jesus. These apostles of Christ have not given us myths or legends but solid, historically reliable accounts of our Lord. Our wisdom is to believe them and to build our lives upon them. What difference would it make to you if Jesus had never risen from the dead? What does that say about your faith?
2. The resurrection appearances of Jesus pulsate with love between Him and His disciples. We see it in the rush of Peter and John to the empty tomb and in the tears of Mary Magdalene. We feel it in the pathos of Jesus’ simple address to her—“Mary”—and in her devoted response—“Master.” We hear it as Jesus called those who had abandoned Him “my brethren,” and reminded them that God is “your Father.” He appeared to them with “Peace” on His lips and gently condescended to meet Thomas in his skepticism. Thomas cried out with adoration to the Savior, “My Lord and my God.” Do you know the love of the living Lord Jesus? If so, how has His love created in you an answering love for Him?