This Bible reading plan takes you through most of the Holy Scriptures each weekday of the year. Each day has three Bible readings:
You're welcome to read one, two, or all three of the readings every weekday. And if you fall behind, don't worry! You can either use the weekends to catch up or you can simply dive in to the reading for that day, even if you've missed a few days, weeks, or even months!
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20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’1 head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic,2 “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews,3 Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,4 was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
[1] 20:7
[2] 20:16
[3] 20:19
[4] 20:24
(ESV)
At the turn of the millennium, a crush of reality home redecorating shows flooded the airwaves of both network and cable television. "Clean House," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," and "Trading Spaces" were just a few. Out of the three shows just mentioned, "Trading Spaces" always struck me as the most risky. The premise of the program is relatively simple. In each episode, two sets of neighbors get to redecorate a room in each other's home with the help of a team of designers. Each team has no say over what happens in its own home, but is allowed to decorate its neighbor's house with a fair amount liberty. Hence, the name "Trading Spaces." I hope these folks knew - and trusted - their friends well.
Our reading for today from John 20 is most certainly the culmination of his gospel. Here is the story of resurrection. John's account, however, is unique from those in the synoptics. Mary Magdalene is presented as the first witness to the empty tomb. But unlike the other accounts, there are no angels to greet her (cf. Matthew 28:2, Mark 6:5, Luke 24:4). This is probably because Mary's venture to the tomb in John's gospel took place "while it was still dark" (verse 1) while her foray into the tomb in the synoptics took place "just after sunrise" (Mark 16:2). But not to worry, Mary will return in John's gospel in just a bit after light has dawned to be greeted by the angels of the other gospels. But for now, she finds nothing. No sign of Jesus. No hint of what might have happened. She is only bewildered and befuddled. So she hurries to Peter and John and announces, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him" (verse 2)! Simon and John go to see for themselves, but, after a bit of sleuthing, they wind up just as perplexed. And so, "the disciples went back to their homes" (verse 10). They give up trying to solve the mystery of their missing Messiah.
The disciples leave. But Mary stays: "Mary stood outside the tomb crying," verse 11 says. Now, cue the angels: "As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been" (verses 11-12). This is fascinating to me. Mary has already looked inside the tomb. She's already observed the vacant cavern. She's already noted the rolled away stone. She's already surveyed the laundered linen resting where Jesus once lay. And yet, she bends over to take a second look. Why? She's already seen what she needed to see.
I suppose we will never know why Mary bent over a second time to peer inside the empty tomb, but I'm sure glad she did. Because when she did, she saw the angels. And when she did, she heard their resurrection message. And when she did, she saw that there was not just an empty tomb, but a risen Messiah.
The Greek word for "bent over" is parakupto. And this is quite a rare word. In fact, it is used only four other times in the entire New Testament, two of those times being in the accounts of the resurrection. One of the times when it is used away from the empty tomb comes in 1 Peter 1:10-12: "Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things." This final phrase, concerning that which angels "long to look into," uses the word parakupto. In other words, Peter is saying that the angels at the empty tomb, if they would have had their choice, would have "traded spaces" with Mary. They would have chosen her vantage point, bent over outside the tomb, bewildering and befuddling as it might have been. Mary, Peter says, got to see what the angels were longing to look into: the wondrous glories of Christ in his resurrection. And this is exactly what she sees. For as soon as she turns away from the angels, she turns into Jesus. And Jesus says to her, "Mary." And she responds, "Rabboni" (verse 16)! She now sees the resurrected Christ.
This, then, is one of the many glories of Easter: that we have a vantage point of Christ that any angel would be happy to "trade spaces" with us for. Indeed, as lowly as our earthly vantage point of Christ may sometimes seem to us, Scripture would remind us that, from heaven's vantage point, we maintain a most privileged position to watch God's superior salvation unfold. We have the best seats in the house, as it were. For we live on the back side of the tomb. And, trusting in this tomb, we trade our space in eternal death for a space in eternal life. So, this Easter, bend over and, by faith, peer inside the empty tomb. For Christ is risen!
19 “‘I said,
How I would set you among my sons,
and give you a pleasant land,
a heritage most beautiful of all nations.
And I thought you would call me, My Father,
and would not turn from following me.
20 Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband,
so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel,
declares the LORD.’”
21 A voice on the bare heights is heard,
the weeping and pleading of Israel’s sons
because they have perverted their way;
they have forgotten the LORD their God.
22 “Return, O faithless sons;
I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to you,
for you are the LORD our God.
23 Truly the hills are a delusion,
the orgies1 on the mountains.
Truly in the LORD our God
is the salvation of Israel.
24 “But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our fathers labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”
4:1 “If you return, O Israel,
declares the LORD,
to me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
and do not waver,
2 and if you swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then nations shall bless themselves in him,
and in him shall they glory.”
3 For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Break up your fallow ground,
and sow not among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of the evil of your deeds.”
5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
“Blow the trumpet through the land;
cry aloud and say,
‘Assemble, and let us go
into the fortified cities!’
6 Raise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from the north,
and great destruction.
7 A lion has gone up from his thicket,
a destroyer of nations has set out;
he has gone out from his place
to make your land a waste;
your cities will be ruins
without inhabitant.
8 For this put on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for the fierce anger of the LORD
has not turned back from us.”
9 “In that day, declares the LORD, courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, 12 a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them.”
13 Behold, he comes up like clouds;
his chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are swifter than eagles—
woe to us, for we are ruined!
14 O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil,
that you may be saved.
How long shall your wicked thoughts
lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares from Dan
and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim.
16 Warn the nations that he is coming;
announce to Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come from a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.
17 Like keepers of a field are they against her all around,
because she has rebelled against me,
declares the LORD.
18 Your ways and your deeds
have brought this upon you.
This is your doom, and it is bitter;
it has reached your very heart.”
[1] 3:23
(ESV)
God's desire was to have a close, loving, and familial relationship with His chosen people, but they proved entirely unfaithful. God's people cried out in repentance and He promised, "I will heal your faithlessness." Only God can heal us from our sinful rebellion against Him. In response to His promise of healing, God's people said, "Behold, we come to you for you are the Lord our God." They recognized that the idols they served on the high places were a delusion, and confessed their sinful disobedience to the LORD. God commanded them to return to Him in genuineness, not swearing by the idols they had served, but swearing "'as the LORD lives,' in truth, in justice and in righteousness." God commanded them to pursue a circumcision that was not simply of the flesh, but to "circumcise your hearts." Paul used this picture to describe the new birth that God's Holy Spirit gives to believers in Christ. On the other hand, God warned that if they refused to repent, His wrath would come upon them like fire and "burn with none to quench it." Sadly, Jeremiah had to go on to predict that disaster would indeed come upon Judah from the north. God's people were to lament in sackcloth because God's fierce anger had not turned away. It seemed to kings, priests and prophets alike—Jeremiah himself included—that God had deceived them with His promise of healing, but, in fact, there was not widespread genuine repentance, and instead the people listened to the false prophets who promised peace when there was none. God reminded His people that it was not His fault that He could not offer them the healing He had promised. Rather God said, "Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your doom, and it is bitter; it has reached your very heart."
57:1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
4 My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
6 They set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
7 My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
8 Awake, my glory!2
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
(ESV)