John 20 (New International Version)

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

John 20 – Listen to passage here

The Empty Tomb

1Early 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. 2So 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!” 3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally 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.)

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13They 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.” 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15“Woman,” he said, “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.”

16Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).

17Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

18Mary 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

19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas

24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So 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 it.” 26A 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!” 27Then 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.”

28Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may^[a] believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Footnotes:

1. John 20:31 Some manuscripts may continue to

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaD1TsjGR0w[/video]The power of video on the internet will never cease to amaze me. I had not heard anything about Randy Pausch until I was voting on video’s at YouTube 2007 Video Awards. I realize that I am a bit behind the curve on this one, as Randy mentions in the video to the left that there are over 6,000,000 people who have viewed his Last Lecture video which can be seen on YouTube.

The video included in this article is Randy’s testimony in front of Congress on March 13, 2008. Randy’s Last Lecture struck a cord with me because it is inline with the recent article I wrote titled How Are You Spending The Time You Have?

Isn’t it interesting that at times like these old proverbs ring especially true – that when the student is willing the master (teacher) appears. Perhaps, in a larger sense, pancreatic cancer is on its last leg.

On Randy’s site, he suggests that you support curing pancreatic cancer by supporting or getting involved with the Lustgarten foundation and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

As many of my subscribers know, I am a HUGE supporter of the March of Dimes – and after watching the work that Randy is doing in spite of the horrific disease which is killing his body but not succeeding in killing his Spirit, I find myself inspired to do my part to help – if you feel moved in your Spirit – please listen and do your part, no matter how large or small, whether you are lead to provide financial or moral support…

TOGETHER WE CAN HELP RANDY AND OTHERS AFFLICTED WITH PANCREATIC CANCER TO BEAT IT BACK SO IT WILL NO LONGER HAVE PURCHASE OVER ANY OTHER LIFE

Please post your comments here to let us and the world know what you will do.

I have spent some time thinking about this over the past year – How am I spending the time I have left on the planet?

I have a wonderful family who I am very proud of – my kids still ask me to be involved with them every day (which I love and at the same time know will eventually stop as they grow and have their own families). Even though I realize this, I still have to work, which pulls me away from them, but provides for them, which is necessary – so even though, the majority of my day is spent away from them, I always find myself fighting for more time so that I can etch out a few quality moments with them.

More often than not, I find that there is a conflict within myself about how to allocate each of the 24 hours that make up the measuring stick by which we choose to divide our days – At 38 years old, I find myself working earlier and sleeping less. The days, weeks, months and years have, perceptually, started to fly by faster and faster. I don’t know about you, but I still want to do it all, run my businesses, spend time with my family, spend time with friends, I really would like to spend more time with my wife… a conundrum wrapped in a riddle, a seemingly easy question with infinite answers – “How should we spend our time?”

It is an interesting phrase, isn’t it… “spending time”

Time is more than something we use to measure the day, it is a form of currency, one that we all on some deep hidden level understand as a limited resource – we don’t like to think about it as limited, because who wants to admit their own mortality… I think it is because of this denial that we can find ourselves spending this currency without regard to our true desires – Let’s face it, most of us do not use our time wisely?

I think over the next few weeks and months, I will explore some of my own findings about how I spend my time, and I hope to discover some things which, may help myself come to grips with and possibly even find more meaningful ways to figure out what really matters maybe I will discover a way to create more of what I have always thought of as limited – My time…