John
Chapter 20
(John 20:1 NASB) 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 20:1: Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early Sunday morning before the sun came up. If we look at all four accounts of what happened here, we would see the full account of everything that happened on that morning.
(John 20:2 NASB) And 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 20:2: There were other women with Mary Magdalene, but they were told to go back to tell the other disciples (Matt. 28:5-8). In the meantime, Mary reached Peter and John with the disturbing news that the body of Yeshua was taken away by somebody.
It is interesting that Mary Magdalene thought the religious rulers stole the body of Yeshua. But later, the religious rulers would accuse the disciples of Yeshua of stealing the body. The fact is, the religious rulers would have given anything for possession of the body of Yeshua.
(John 20:3 NASB) Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple and they were going to the tomb.
(John 20:4 NASB) And the two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter, and came to the tomb first;
John 20:4: Simon Peter and John were not expecting the resurrection of Yeshua. They wanted to see for themselves whether or not anything like this had really happened. Maybe we are too tough on ol’ “Doubting Thomas.” That may have been the case for the two most influential and notable of the disciples.
(John 20:5 NASB) and stooping and looking in, he saw^ the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in.
John 20:5: John was astonished at what he was looking at. He stopped there. He probably had to stoop down to see into the small mouth of the cave.
(John 20:6 NASB) Simon Peter therefore also came^, following him, and entered the tomb; and he beheld^ the linen wrappings lying there,
John 20:6: The body of Yeshua was wrapped in many herbs and aloes. This would make the cloths stick to His body like glue and would have sealed them. These linens were not just loosely wrapped rags. They were tightly wrapped, sealed and glued to his body. To see them just lie there was totally unbelievable. John saw this and stopped at the entrance. Peter was following, probably because he was an older man. John was possibly only a teenager at this time. But Peter went in to verify this strange occurrence.
(John 20:7 NASB) 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 20:7: The scene of the grave cloths still intact, but they were probably collapsed inward, was an obvious proof that the body disappeared from within the clothing. There was a handkerchief that they would hang over the face and it was separate from the rest of the cloths, but was folded by itself.
(John 20:8 NASB) So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb entered then also, and he saw and believed.
John 20:8: The Greek word in verse 6 that says Peter “saw” is the word “theoreo” which means to look at as a spectator. The word used here to say that John “saw” is the Greek word “horaw” which has a connotation to perceive and understand. John looked at the cloths and knew right away what had happened.
(John 20:9 NASB) For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.
(John 20:10 NASB) So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
John 20:10: There are several passages in the Tanakh pointing to the resurrection of Messiah (Psalm 16:9-10) and there were many times Yeshua told them exactly what would happen, but they still did not understand.
They ran back home after they saw this they wanted to tell the others they were close to and especially Mary, the mother of Yeshua.
(John 20:11 NASB) But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb;
(John 20:12 NASB) and she beheld^ 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 NASB) 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 20:13: Remember that Mary Magdalene was under the impression that the Pharisees or the Romans stole Yeshua’s body.
(John 20:14 NASB) When she had said this, she turned around, and beheld^ Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
(John 20:15 NASB) 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 20:15: He was standing right in front of her and she didn’t recognize Him. Some people have said that He was standing in His glorified body and the glorified body is somehow unrecognizable. I do not think that is true at all.
The reason Mary didn’t recognize Yeshua is because she didn’t believe He had resurrected. She was looking for a dead body that was beaten beyond recognition that someone had stolen. She was not looking for the resurrected Messiah.
(John 20:16 NASB) Jesus said^ to her, “Mary!” She turned^ and said^ to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
John 20:16: When she hears Him call her name, then she instantly recognizes Him. This is because she has been called by the Father (John 10:3). Yeshua (the Word of the Father made flesh) said this because it is stated in the Tanakh (Isa. 43:1). This same calling by name happened to others (Gen. 22:1, Ex. 3:4, and others)
(John 20:17 NASB) 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 20:17: Yeshua tells her not to cling to Him because He has to ascend to His Father. He will go to His Father, probably as High Priest to present His blood of the sacrifice. He wants her to go to His brethren and tell them He is alive.
(John 20:18 NASB) Mary Magdalene came^, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.
(John 20:19 NASB) When therefore 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 20:19: The resurrected and glorified body of Messiah is not subject to the same physical limitations that we are subject to. Yeshua could pass through walls and go from the Father back to earth instantly. We do not know much about what our resurrected bodies will be like. Neither did John (1 John 3:2). Paul also says we will be like Him Philippians 3:20-21).
(John 20:20 NASB) And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
John 20:20: The wounds of Yeshua will apparently remain with Him as an eternal reminder of the price He paid for His people. Those who are His but still do not know Him will look at Him whom they have pierced at His return and they will mourn over their sin (Zech 12:10).
The disciples believed Him and they recognized Him.
(John 20:21 NASB) Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
(John 20:22 NASB) And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said^ to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
John 20:22: Yeshua breathed on them and they received the Spirit of Elohim. The Greek word of “spirit” is pneuma. It also means “breath.” The Hebrew word for “Spirit” is ruach. It also means “breath.” The disciples received the breath of the Father through Yeshua. The mediator of the Breath of the Father is His Word made flesh.
(John 20:23 NASB) “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 20:23: This is a strange passage. It seems to be saying that whomever the disciples want to forgive, they are forgiven of whatever sin they have committed. But the context of this passage is just after His resurrection. He is likely speaking of those who were involved in His death (Luke 23:34).
Yeshua has granted them His Spirit to discern what has just happened to Him. It is highly unlikely that He has suddenly appeared to them after His death, just appearing to them after His resurrection for the first time, and given them a new theological declaration. I think He is telling them that they will be able to tell who was actually responsible for the sin of what happened and who was not.
(John 20:24 NASB) But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
(John 20:25 NASB) The other disciples therefore were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I shall 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 20:25: I think we tend to put Thomas down at the bottom of the list of the disciples because he doubted that Yeshua had resurrected. Well, the other disciples probably didn’t have true faithfulness and realization until Yeshua appeared to them also. We were told that Peter and John didn’t believe until they saw the resurrection cloths for themselves. I don’t believe there is not much of a difference between the faithfulness of Thomas and the rest of them.
(John 20:26 NASB) And after eight days again His disciples were 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 NASB) Then He said^ to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.”
John 20:27: Thomas had the opportunity to touch Yeshua in His wounds which He still bore. He still bore those wounds to assure them that He is the One who went through the torturous death and He is now alive again.
(John 20:28 NASB) Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
John 20:28: Thomas proclaims Yeshua as Elohim Himself. He is a skeptic, but he is an honest one. When presented with sound evidence, He is thoroughly convinced.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses and many Messianics make the sad and false claim that Yeshua isn’t a manifestation of Elohim Himself. Yeshua claimed deity throughout His ministry. Notice that He applies the names of deity to Himself (8:58; Matt. 22:42-45). He claims the attributes of Elohim such as holiness, John 8:46; omnipotence and omnipresence, Matt. 28:20; omniscience, John 11:11-14). He claimed to be able to do things that only Elohim can do (forgive sins, Mark 2:5-7; raise the dead, John 11:43; judge all men, 5:22, 27).
(John 20:29 NASB) Jesus said^ to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
John 20:29: Thomas, like many of us, did not believe until the Holy Spirit literally stripped him of his pride and denial. We have not seen Yeshua, but we can believe, or entrust Him. We have the Torah of Elohim in front of us and it speaks to our hearts and minds as loud as any physical presence of Elohim.
(John 20:30 NASB) Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
(John 20:31 NASB) but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
John 20:31: John did not write this Gospel to fill in the holes left behind by the other Gospels. He wasn’t interested in finishing any kind of a biography.
Here is the reason for the writing of this wonderful book. It is “written that you may believe that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of Elohim, and that believing (entrust in Him) you may have life in His name (character).” The Greek word for “believing” is pisteou, which means “to commit or entrust.” The Greek word for “name” is onoma, which also means “character” or “authority.”
Patrick McGuire
Copyright 2015
Patrick McGuire and Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly
All rights reserved, no portion of this Lesson may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews.
Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly
Fort Smith, Arkansas