Mark 16:3-5

16:3 They had been asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 16:4 But ¹  when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled back. 16:5 Then ²  as they went into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe ³  sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.

Luke 24:2-5

24:2 They ⁴  found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, ⁵  24:3 but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁶  24:4 While ⁷  they were perplexed ⁸  about this, suddenly ⁹  two men stood beside them in dazzling ¹⁰  attire. 24:5 The ¹¹  women ¹²  were terribly frightened ¹³  and bowed ¹⁴  their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living ¹⁵  among the dead?

John 20:1

The Resurrection

20:1 Now very early on the first day of the week, ¹⁶  while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene ¹⁷  came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance. ¹⁸ 

John 20:12-13

20:12 And she saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet. 20:13 They said ¹⁹  to her, “Woman, ²⁰  why are you weeping?” Mary replied, ²¹  “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!”

John 20:1

The Resurrection

20:1 Now very early on the first day of the week, ²²  while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene ²³  came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance. ²⁴ 

John 3:16

3:16 For this is the way ²⁵  God loved the world: He gave his one and only ²⁶  Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish ²⁷  but have eternal life. ²⁸ 

John 3:1

Conversation with Nicodemus

3:1 Now a certain man, a Pharisee ²⁹  named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council, ³⁰ 

John 1:12

1:12 But to all who have received him – those who believe in his name ³¹  – he has given the right to become God’s children

[16:4]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[16:5]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[16:5]  ³ sn Mark does not explicitly identify the young man dressed in a white robe as an angel (though the white robe suggests this), but Matthew does (Matt 28:2).

[24:2]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:2]  ⁵ sn Luke tells the story of the empty tomb with little drama. He simply notes that when they arrived the stone had been rolled away in a position where the tomb could be entered. This large stone was often placed in a channel so that it could be easily moved by rolling it aside. The other possibility is that it was merely placed over the opening in a position from which it had now been moved.

[24:3]  ⁶ tc The translation follows the much better attested longer reading here, “body of the Lord Jesus” (found in {Ì⁷⁵ א A B C L W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 565 700 Ï}), rather than simply “the body” (found in D it) or “the body of Jesus” (found in 579 1241 pc). Further, although this is the only time that “Lord Jesus” occurs in Luke, it seems to be Luke’s normal designation for the Lord after his resurrection (note the many references to Christ in this manner in Acts, e.g., 1:21; 4:33; 7:59; 8:16; 11:17; 15:11; 16:31; 19:5; 20:21; 28:31). Although such a longer reading as this would normally be suspect, in this case some scribes, accustomed to Luke’s more abbreviated style, did not take the resurrection into account.

[24:4]  ⁷ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[24:4]  ⁸ tn Or “bewildered.” The term refers to a high state of confusion and anxiety.

[24:4]  ⁹ tn Grk “behold.”

[24:4]  ¹⁰ sn The brilliantly shining clothing (dazzling attire) points to the fact that these are angels (see 24:23).

[24:5]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:5]  ¹² tn Grk “they”; the referent (the women) has been specified in the translation for clarity (the same has been done in v. 8).

[24:5]  ¹³ tn Or “They were extremely afraid.”

[24:5]  ¹⁴ sn Bowed their faces to the ground. Such respect for angels is common: Dan 7:28; 10:9, 15.

[24:5]  ¹⁵ sn By referring to Jesus as the living, the angels make it clear that he is alive. There should be no surprise.

[20:1]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “from the tomb.”

[20:13]  ¹⁹ tn The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here.

[20:13]  ²⁰ sn Woman was a polite form of address (see BDAG 208-9 s.v. γυνή 1), similar to “Madam” or “Ma’am” used in English in different regions. This occurs again in v. 15.

[20:13]  ²¹ tn Grk “She said to them.”

[20:1]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Grk “from the tomb.”

[3:16]  ²⁵ tn Or “this is how much”; or “in this way.” The Greek adverb οὕτως (Joutws) can refer (1) to the degree to which God loved the world, that is, to such an extent or so much that he gave his own Son (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:133-34; D. A. Carson, John, 204) or (2) simply to the manner in which God loved the world, i.e., by sending his own son (see R. H. Gundry and R. W. Howell, “The Sense and Syntax of John 3:14-17 with Special Reference to the Use of Οὕτως…ὥστε in John 3:16,” NovT 41 [1999]: 24-39). Though the term more frequently refers to the manner in which something is done (see BDAG 741-42 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως), the following clause involving ὥστε (Jwste) plus the indicative (which stresses actual, but [usually] unexpected result) emphasizes the greatness of the gift God has given. With this in mind, then, it is likely (3) that John is emphasizing both the degree to which God loved the world as well as the manner in which He chose to express that love. This is in keeping with John’s style of using double entendre or double meaning. Thus, the focus of the Greek construction here is on the nature of God's love, addressing its mode, intensity, and extent.

[3:16]  ²⁶ tn Although this word is often translated “only begotten,” such a translation is misleading, since in English it appears to express a metaphysical relationship. The word in Greek was used of an only child (a son [Luke 7:12, 9:38] or a daughter [Luke 8:42]). It was also used of something unique (only one of its kind) such as the mythological Phoenix (1 Clement 25:2). From here it passes easily to a description of Isaac (Heb 11:17 and Josephus, Ant. 1.13.1 [1.222]) who was not Abraham’s only son, but was one-of-a-kind because he was the child of the promise. Thus the word means “one-of-a-kind” and is reserved for Jesus in the Johannine literature of the NT. While all Christians are children of God (τέκνα θεοῦ, tekna qeou), Jesus is God’s Son in a unique, one-of-a-kind sense. The word is used in this way in all its uses in the Gospel of John (1:14, 1:18, 3:16, and 3:18).

[3:16]  ²⁷ tn In John the word ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi) can mean either (1) to be lost (2) to perish or be destroyed, depending on the context.

[3:16]  ²⁸ sn The alternatives presented are only two (again, it is typical of Johannine thought for this to be presented in terms of polar opposites): perish or have eternal life.

[3:1]  ²⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[3:1]  ³⁰ tn Grk “a ruler of the Jews” (denoting a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[1:12]  ³¹ tn On the use of the πιστεύω + εἰς (pisteuw + ei") construction in John: The verb πιστεύω occurs 98 times in John (compared to 11 times in Matthew, 14 times in Mark [including the longer ending], and 9 times in Luke). One of the unsolved mysteries is why the corresponding noun form πίστις (pistis) is never used at all. Many have held the noun was in use in some pre-Gnostic sects and this rendered it suspect for John. It might also be that for John, faith was an activity, something that men do (cf. W. Turner, “Believing and Everlasting Life – A Johannine Inquiry,” ExpTim 64 [1952/53]: 50-52). John uses πιστεύω in 4 major ways: (1) of believing facts, reports, etc., 12 times; (2) of believing people (or the scriptures), 19 times; (3) of believing “in” Christ” (πιστεύω + εἰς + acc.), 36 times; (4) used absolutely without any person or object specified, 30 times (the one remaining passage is 2:24, where Jesus refused to “trust” himself to certain individuals). Of these, the most significant is the use of πιστεύω with εἰς + accusative. It is not unlike the Pauline ἐν Χριστῷ (en Cristw) formula. Some have argued that this points to a Hebrew (more likely Aramaic) original behind the Fourth Gospel. But it probably indicates something else, as C. H. Dodd observed: “πιστεύειν with the dative so inevitably connoted simple credence, in the sense of an intellectual judgment, that the moral element of personal trust or reliance inherent in the Hebrew or Aramaic phrase – an element integral to the primitive Christian conception of faith in Christ – needed to be otherwise expressed” (The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, 183).