Sermon Text: John 20:1-29

John 20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene *came early to the tomb, while it *was still dark, and *saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.
John 20:2 So she *ran and *came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and *said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
John 20:3 So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb.
John 20:4 The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first;
John 20:5 and stooping and looking in, he *saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in.
John 20:6 And so Simon Peter also *came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he *saw the linen wrappings lying there,
John 20:7 and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.
John 20:8 So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.
John 20:9 For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.
John 20:10 So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
John 20:11 But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb;
John 20:12 and she *saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.
John 20:13 And they *said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She *said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
John 20:14 When she had said this, she turned around and *saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
John 20:15 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she *said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
John 20:16 Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turned and *said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
John 20:17 Jesus *said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”
John 20:18 Mary Magdalene *came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.
John 20:19 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace be with you.”
John 20:20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
John 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
John 20:23 “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”
John 20:24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
John 20:25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
John 20:26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
John 20:27 Then He *said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
John 20:28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
John 20:29 Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”