John 20:5

20:5 He bent down ¹  and saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, ²  but he did not go in.

John 1:29

1:29 On the next day John ³  saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God ⁴  who takes away the sin of the world!

John 9:19

9:19 They asked the parents, ⁵  “Is this your son, whom you say ⁶  was born blind? Then how does he now see?”

John 9:21

9:21 But we do not know how he is now able to see, nor do we know who caused him to see. ⁷  Ask him, he is a mature adult. ⁸  He will speak for himself.”

John 11:9

11:9 Jesus replied, ⁹  “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks around in the daytime, he does not stumble, ¹⁰  because he sees the light of this world. ¹¹ 

John 20:1

The Resurrection

20:1 Now very early on the first day of the week, ¹²  while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene ¹³  came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance. ¹⁴ 

John 21:20

Peter and the Disciple Jesus Loved

21:20 Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. ¹⁵  (This was the disciple ¹⁶  who had leaned back against Jesus’ ¹⁷  chest at the meal and asked, ¹⁸  “Lord, who is the one who is going to betray you?”) ¹⁹ 

[20:5]  ¹ sn In most instances the entrance to such tombs was less than 3 ft (1 m) high, so that an adult would have to bend down and practically crawl inside.

[20:5]  ² sn Presumably by the time the beloved disciple reached the tomb there was enough light to penetrate the low opening and illuminate the interior of the tomb sufficiently for him to see the strips of linen cloth lying there. The author does not state exactly where the linen wrappings were lying. Sometimes the phrase has been translated “lying on the ground,” but the implication is that the wrappings were lying where the body had been. The most probable configuration for a tomb of this sort would be to have a niche carved in the wall where the body would be laid lengthwise, or a low shelf like a bench running along one side of the tomb, across the back or around all three sides in a U-shape facing the entrance. Thus the graveclothes would have been lying on this shelf or in the niche where the body had been.

[1:29]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:29]  ⁴ sn Gen 22:8 is an important passage in the background of the title Lamb of God as applied to Jesus. In Jewish thought this was held to be a supremely important sacrifice. G. Vermès stated: “For the Palestinian Jew, all lamb sacrifice, and especially the Passover lamb and the Tamid offering, was a memorial of the Akedah with its effects of deliverance, forgiveness of sin and messianic salvation” (Scripture and Tradition in Judaism [StPB], 225).

[9:19]  ⁵ tn Grk “and they asked them, saying”; the referent (the parents) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:19]  ⁶ tn The Greek pronoun and verb are both plural (both parents are addressed).

[9:21]  ⁷ tn Grk “who opened his eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

[9:21]  ⁸ tn Or “he is of age.”

[11:9]  ⁹ tn Grk “Jesus answered.”

[11:9]  ¹⁰ tn Or “he does not trip.”

[11:9]  ¹¹ sn What is the light of this world? On one level, of course, it refers to the sun, but the reader of John’s Gospel would recall 8:12 and understand Jesus’ symbolic reference to himself as the light of the world. There is only a limited time left (Are there not twelve hours in a day?) until the Light will be withdrawn (until Jesus returns to the Father) and the one who walks around in the dark will trip and fall (compare the departure of Judas by night in 13:30).

[20:1]  ¹¹ sn The first day of the week would be early Sunday morning. The Sabbath (and in this year the Passover) would have lasted from 6 p.m. Friday until 6 p.m. Saturday. Sunday would thus mark the first day of the following week.

[20:1]  ¹² sn John does not mention that Mary Magdalene was accompanied by any of the other women who had been among Jesus’ followers. The synoptic accounts all mention other women who accompanied her (although Mary Magdalene is always mentioned first). Why John does not mention the other women is not clear, but Mary probably becomes the focus of the author’s attention because it was she who came and found Peter and the beloved disciple and informed them of the empty tomb (20:2). Mary’s use of the plural in v. 2 indicates there were others present, in indirect agreement with the synoptic accounts.

[20:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “from the tomb.”

[21:20]  ¹³ tn The word “them” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[21:20]  ¹⁴ tn The words “This was the disciple” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied for clarity.

[21:20]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:20]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and said.”

[21:20]  ¹⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.