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The Empty Tomb
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was
still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the
stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came
running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus
loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,
and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the
tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran
Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked
in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6
Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight
into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as
well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head.
The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the
linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the
tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They
still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to
rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to where
they were staying.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she
wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two
angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at
the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They
have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where
they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw
Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was
Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it
you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she
said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you
have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him
and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means
“Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not
yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and
tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to
my God and your God.’ ”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news:
“I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said
these things to her.
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when
the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear
of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and
said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed
them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when
they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father
has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed
on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you
forgive the sins of anyone, their sins are forgiven; if you
do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus ), one of the
Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So
the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But
he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands
and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into
his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again,
and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked,
Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with
you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see
my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop
doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you
have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet
have believed.”
The Purpose of John’s Gospel
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of
his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But
these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the
Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have
life in his name.
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Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
