Study Desk

And he (John, the eyewitness) who has seen it has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also [who read this] may believe.

For these things took place to fulfill the Scripture, "NOT A BONE OF HIS SHALL BE BROKEN."

And after this, Joseph of Arimathea—a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews—asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away His body.

After He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with great joy.

So the other disciples kept telling him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the marks of the nails, and put my finger into the nail prints, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe."

Eight days later His disciples were again inside the house, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, though the doors had been barred, and stood among them and said, "Peace to you."

but these have been written so that you may believe [with a deep, abiding trust] that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of God; and that by believing [and trusting in and relying on Him] you may have life in His name.

Simon Peter, and Thomas who is called Didymus (the twin), and Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, as well as [John and James] the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.

Then that disciple (John) whom Jesus loved (esteemed) said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer tunic (for he was stripped for work) and threw himself into the sea [and swam ashore].

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His chest at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray You?"

So when Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, "Lord, and what about this man [what is in his future]?"

This is the same disciple who is testifying to these things and has recorded them; and we know [without any doubt] that his testimony is true.

To these [men] He also showed Himself alive after His suffering [in Gethsemane and on the cross], by [a series of] many infallible proofs and unquestionable demonstrations, appearing to them over a period of forty days and talking to them about the things concerning the kingdom of God.

He said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.

When they had entered the city, they went upstairs to the upper room where they were staying [indefinitely]; that is, Peter, and John and [his brother] James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew (Nathanael) and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas (Thaddaeus) the son of James.

All these with one mind and one purpose were continually devoting themselves to prayer, [waiting together] along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

"For he (Judas) was counted among us and received his share [by divine allotment] in this ministry."

(Now Judas Iscariot acquired a piece of land [indirectly] with the [money paid him as a] reward for his treachery, and falling headlong, his body burst open in the middle and all his intestines poured out.

"For in the book of Psalms it is written, 'LET HIS PLACE OF RESIDENCE BECOME DESOLATE, AND LET THERE BE NO ONE TO LIVE IN IT'; and [again], 'LET ANOTHER TAKE HIS POSITION AS OVERSEER.'

beginning with the baptism by John [at the outset of Jesus' ministry] until the day when He was taken up from us—one of these men must become a witness with us [to testify] of His resurrection."