John 19; John 20; John 21

John 19

1 Then Pilate had Jesus taken away and whipped.

2 The soldiers twisted some thorny branches into a crown, placed it on his head, and put a purple cape on him.

3 They went up to him, said, "Long live the king of the Jews!" and slapped his face.

4 Pilate went outside again and told the Jews, "I'm bringing him out to you to let you know that I don't find this man guilty of anything."

5 Jesus went outside. He was wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cape. Pilate said to the Jews, "Look, here's the man!"

6 When the chief priests and the guards saw Jesus, they shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Pilate told them, "You take him and crucify him. I don't find this man guilty of anything."

7 The Jews answered Pilate, "We have a law, and by that law he must die because he claimed to be the Son of God."

8 When Pilate heard them say that, he became more afraid than ever.

9 He went into the palace again and asked Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus didn't answer him.

10 So Pilate said to Jesus, "Aren't you going to answer me? Don't you know that I have the authority to free you or to crucify you?"

11 Jesus answered Pilate, "You wouldn't have any authority over me if it hadn't been given to you from above. That's why the man who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."

12 When Pilate heard what Jesus said, he wanted to free him. But the Jews shouted, "If you free this man, you're not a friend of the emperor. Anyone who claims to be a king is defying the emperor."

13 When Pilate heard what they said, he took Jesus outside and sat on the judge's seat in a place called Stone Pavement. (In Hebrew it is called Gabbatha.)

14 The time was about six o'clock in the morning on the Friday of the Passover festival. Pilate said to the Jews, "Look, here's your king!"

15 Then the Jews shouted, "Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Should I crucify your king?" The chief priests responded, "The emperor is the only king we have!"

16 Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took Jesus.

17 He carried his own cross and went out [of the city] to a location called The Skull. (In Hebrew this place is called Golgotha.)

18 The soldiers crucified Jesus and two other men there. Jesus was in the middle.

19 Pilate wrote a notice and put it on the cross. The notice read, "Jesus from Nazareth, the king of the Jews."

20 Many Jews read this notice, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. The notice was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.

21 The chief priests of the Jewish people told Pilate, "Don't write, 'The king of the Jews!' Instead, write, 'He said that he is the king of the Jews.'"

22 Pilate replied, "I have written what I've written."

23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them four ways so that each soldier could have a share. His robe was left over. It didn't have a seam because it had been woven in one piece from top to bottom.

24 The soldiers said to each other, "Let's not rip it apart. Let's throw dice to see who will get it." In this way the Scripture came true: "They divided my clothes among themselves. They threw dice for my clothing." So that's what the soldiers did.

25 Jesus' mother, her sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary from Magdala were standing beside Jesus' cross.

26 Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there. He said to his mother, "Look, here's your son!"

27 Then he said to the disciple, "Look, here's your mother!" From that time on she lived with that disciple in his home.

28 After this, when Jesus knew that everything had now been finished, he said, "I'm thirsty." He said this so that Scripture could finally be concluded.

29 A jar filled with vinegar was there. So the soldiers put a sponge soaked in the vinegar on a hyssop stick and held it to his mouth.

30 After Jesus had taken the vinegar, he said, "It is finished!" Then he bowed his head and died.

31 Since it was Friday and the next day was an especially important day of worship, the Jews didn't want the bodies to stay on the crosses. So they asked Pilate to have the men's legs broken and their bodies removed.

32 The soldiers broke the legs of the first man and then of the other man who had been crucified with Jesus.

33 When the soldiers came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they didn't break his legs.

34 However, one of the soldiers stabbed Jesus' side with his spear, and blood and water immediately came out.

35 The one who saw this is an eyewitness. What he says is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth so that you, too, will believe.

36 This happened so that the Scripture would come true: "None of his bones will be broken."

37 Another Scripture passage says, "They will look at the person whom they have stabbed."

38 Later Joseph from the city of Arimathea asked Pilate to let him remove Jesus' body. (Joseph was a disciple of Jesus but secretly because he was afraid of the Jews). Pilate gave him permission to remove Jesus' body. So Joseph removed it.

39 Nicodemus, the one who had first come to Jesus at night, went with Joseph and brought 75 pounds of a myrrh and aloe mixture.

40 These two men took the body of Jesus and bound it with strips of linen. They laced the strips with spices. This was the Jewish custom for burial.

41 A garden was located in the place where Jesus was crucified. In that garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed.

42 Joseph and Nicodemus put Jesus in that tomb, since that day was the Jewish day of preparation and since the tomb was nearby.

John 20

1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary from Magdala went to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb's entrance.

2 So she ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus loved. She told them, "They have removed the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they've put him."

3 So Peter and the other disciple headed for the tomb.

4 The two were running side by side, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first.

5 He bent over and looked inside the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there but didn't go inside.

6 Simon Peter arrived after him and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there.

7 He also saw the cloth that had been on Jesus' head. It wasn't lying with the strips of linen but was rolled up separately.

8 Then the other disciple, who arrived at the tomb first, went inside. He saw and believed.

9 They didn't know yet what Scripture meant when it said that Jesus had to come back to life.

10 So the disciples went back home.

11 Mary, however, stood there and cried as she looked at the tomb. As she cried, she bent over and looked inside.

12 She saw two angels in white clothes. They were sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying. One angel was where Jesus' head had been, and the other was where his feet had been.

13 The angels asked her why she was crying. Mary told them, "They have removed my Lord, and I don't know where they've put him."

14 After she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. However, she didn't know that it was Jesus.

15 Jesus asked her, "Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?" Mary thought it was the gardener speaking to her. So she said to him, "Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I'll remove him."

16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" Mary turned around and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (This word means "teacher.")

17 Jesus told her, "Don't hold on to me. I have not yet gone to the Father. But go to my brothers and sisters and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

18 Mary from Magdala went to the disciples and told them, "I have seen the Lord." She also told them what he had said to her.

19 That Sunday evening, the disciples were together behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jews. Jesus stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you!"

20 When he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were glad to see the Lord.

21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you."

22 After he had said this, he breathed on the disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

23 Whenever you forgive sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you don't forgive them, they are not forgiven."

24 Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, who was called Didymus, wasn't with them when Jesus came.

25 The other disciples told him, "We've seen the Lord." Thomas told them, "I refuse to believe this unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my fingers into them, and put my hand into his side."

26 A week later Jesus' disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"

27 Then Jesus said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Take your hand, and put it into my side. Stop doubting, and believe."

28 Thomas responded to Jesus, "My Lord and my God!"

29 Jesus said to Thomas, "You believe because you've seen me. Blessed are those who haven't seen me but believe."

30 Jesus performed many other miracles that his disciples saw. Those miracles are not written in this book.

31 But these miracles have been written so that you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and so that you will have life by believing in him.

John 21

1 Later, by the Sea of Tiberias, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples. This is what happened.

2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee's sons, and two other disciples of Jesus were together.

3 Simon Peter said to the others, "I'm going fishing." They told him, "We're going with you." They went out in a boat but didn't catch a thing that night.

4 As the sun was rising, Jesus stood on the shore. The disciples didn't realize that it was Jesus.

5 Jesus asked them, "Friends, haven't you caught any fish?" They answered him, "No, we haven't."

6 He told them, "Throw the net out on the right side of the boat, and you'll catch some." So they threw the net out and were unable to pull it in because so many fish were in it.

7 The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It's the Lord." When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put back on the clothes that he had taken off and jumped into the sea.

8 The other disciples came with the boat and dragged the net full of fish. They weren't far from the shore, only about 100 yards.

9 When they went ashore, they saw a fire with a fish lying on the coals, and they saw a loaf of bread.

10 Jesus told them, "Bring some of the fish you've just caught."

11 Simon Peter got into the boat and pulled the net ashore. Though the net was filled with 153 large fish, it was not torn.

12 Jesus told them, "Come, have breakfast." None of the disciples dared to ask him who he was. They knew he was the Lord.

13 Jesus took the bread, gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.

14 This was the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples after he had come back to life.

15 After they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than the other disciples do?" Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus told him, "Feed my lambs."

16 Jesus asked him again, a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus told him, "Take care of my sheep."

17 Jesus asked him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt sad because Jesus had asked him a third time, "Do you love me?" So Peter said to him, "Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you." Jesus told him, "Feed my sheep.

18 I can guarantee this truth: When you were young, you would get ready to go where you wanted. But when you're old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will get you ready to take you where you don't want to go."

19 Jesus said this to show by what kind of death Peter would bring glory to God. After saying this, Jesus told Peter, "Follow me!"

20 Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved. That disciple was following them. He was the one who leaned against Jesus' chest at the supper and asked, "Lord, who is going to betray you?"

21 When Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, "Lord, what about him?"

22 Jesus said to Peter, "If I want him to live until I come again, how does that concern you? Follow me!"

23 So a rumor that that disciple wouldn't die spread among Jesus' followers. But Jesus didn't say that he wouldn't die. What Jesus said was, "If I want him to live until I come again, how does that concern you?"

24 This disciple was an eyewitness of these things and wrote them down. We know that what he says is true.

25 Jesus also did many other things. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the world wouldn't have enough room for the books that would be written.