X-Dreamers
Bible chapter guide
John 20
Mary Magdalene finds the tomb empty early on the first day of the week; Peter and the beloved disciple run to see the grave cloths. Jesus meets Mary in the garden, appears to the disciples behind locked doors, and a week later Thomas confesses, 'My Lord and my God!'
Summary written for the Labs; read the chapter itself for the full text.
What happens in this chapter
Early on the first day of the week, while it is still dark, Mary Magdalene finds the stone taken away from the tomb and runs to tell Simon Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved. The other disciple outruns Peter, but Peter goes in first and sees the linen cloths lying and the head cloth rolled up by itself; then the other disciple goes in, sees and believes. Mary stays outside weeping, sees two angels, then turns and takes Jesus for the gardener until he says her name, and she goes to tell the disciples that she has seen the Lord. That evening Jesus stands among the disciples behind locked doors, and eight days later Thomas, who would not believe without touching the nail marks, says, "My Lord and my God!"
What the lab shows, and where to look
The tomb stop's Easter dawn moment shows what John 20:1 describes: early, the stone moved away, the tomb open in its garden. The notes set John's 'when it was yet dark' beside Mark's sunrise, and his two angels beside the other Gospels' messengers. The tomb follows the Golgotha choice made at the crucifixion stop, so switching to the Garden Tomb moves it there. Mary Magdalene meeting Jesus in the garden, the race of the two disciples and the locked room where Thomas sees him are not staged in the lab; for those, the chapter itself is the guide.
- The tomb and the resurrection morning: Easter dawn · Holy Week in Jerusalem
- The crucifixion: Garden Tomb · Holy Week in Jerusalem
Questions people ask
Was it still dark when Mary Magdalene came to the tomb?
John says she came early, while it was still dark (20:1); Matthew says as the day was dawning, and Mark very early, when the sun had risen. A natural reading is that the women set out in the dark and reached the tomb as the sun came up. Each writer picks a different point in the same early hour.
Why did Mary think Jesus was the gardener?
John has already said the tomb was in a garden at the place where Jesus was crucified (19:41), so a man there early in the morning could be the gardener. Mary was weeping and expected to find a body, and she thought someone had moved it (20:13, 15). The text does not explain further why she did not know him; she recognises him when he says her name.
How many angels were at the tomb?
John tells of two angels in white whom Mary saw sitting where the body had lain, one at the head and one at the feet (20:12). Mark has a young man in white sitting inside, Matthew an angel who rolled back the stone and sat on it, and Luke two men in dazzling clothes. Each writer tells what he chose to focus on; mentioning one does not deny a second.
See it in the Labs
- Holy Week in JerusalemThe tomb and the resurrection morning: Easter dawn · Holy Week in JerusalemOpen
- Holy Week in JerusalemHoly Week in JerusalemOpen
- The Biblical Family TreeJesus · The Biblical Family TreeOpen
- The Bible Time MapJesus · The Bible Time MapOpen
- The Feast of TabernaclesThe last and greatest day · The Feast of TabernaclesOpen
- Holy Week in JerusalemThe tomb and the resurrection morning · Holy Week in JerusalemOpen
People in this chapter
Also in this chapter
How sure can we be?
- Plausible
Still dark, or sunrise?: John says Mary Magdalene came while it was still dark; Matthew as the day was dawning; Mark very early, when the sun had risen. A natural reading is that the women set out in the dark and reached the tomb as the sun came up.
- Plausible
Inside, a bench cut in the rock where the body lay; the young man sat on the right side.
- Plausible
One messenger or two?: Mark tells of a young man in white sitting inside; Matthew of an angel who rolled back the stone and sat on it; Luke of two men in dazzling clothes; John of two angels whom Mary saw later. Each writer tells what he chose to focus on; mentioning one does not deny a second.