"I am sending you, just as the Father sent me."

On Sunday morning while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.  She ran to Simon Peter and to Jesus' favorite disciple and said, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb!  We don't know where they have put him."

Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.  They ran side by side, until the other disciple ran faster than Peter and got there first.  He bent over and saw the strips of linen cloth lying inside the tomb, but he did not go in.

When Simon Peter got there, he went into the tomb and saw the strips of cloth.  He also saw the piece of cloth that had been used to cover Jesus' face.  It was rolled up and in a place by itself.  The disciple who got there first then went into the tomb, and when he saw it, he believed.  At that time Peter and the other disciple did not know that the Scriptures said Jesus would rise to life.  So the two of them went back to the other disciples.

Mary Magdalene stood crying outside the tomb.  She was still weeping, when she stooped down and saw two angels inside.  They were dressed in white and were sitting where Jesus' body had been.  One was at the head and the other was at the foot.  The angels asked Mary, "Why are you crying?"

She answered, "They have taken away my Lord's body!  I don't know where they have put him."

As soon as Mary said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there.  But she did not know who he was.  Jesus asked her, "Why are you crying?  Who are you looking for?"

She thought he was the gardener and said, "Sir, if you have taken his body away, please tell me, so I can go and get him."

Then Jesus said to her, "Mary!"

She turned and said to him, "Rabboni."  The Aramaic word "Rabboni" means "Teacher."

Jesus told her, "Don't hold on to me!  I have not yet gone to the Father.  But tell my disciples that I am going to the one who is my Father and my God, as well as your Father and your God."  Mary Magdalene then went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord.  She also told them what he had said to her.

The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room.  Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group.  He greeted them and showed them his hands and his side.  When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy.

After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, "I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me."  Then he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone's sins, they will be forgiven.  But if you don't forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven."

Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn't with the others when Jesus appeared to them.  So they told him, "We have seen the Lord!"

But Thomas said, "First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger.  I must put my hand where the spear went into his side.  I won't believe unless I do this!"

A week later the disciples were together again.  This time, Thomas was with them.  Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group.  He greeted his disciples and said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and look at my hands!  Put your hand into my side.  Stop doubting and have faith!"

Thomas replied, "You are my Lord and my God!"

Jesus said, "Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me?  The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!"

                                                                                         John 20:1-29

Contemporary English Version The Holy Bible (New York , NY: American Bible Society 1995)