I. Prologue, Genealogy, and Births
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning, and through him all things were made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, it is right to write an orderly account, so that the certainty of the things taught may be known.
In the time of Herod, king of Judea, there was a righteous and blameless priest named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, who were childless and very old. As Zechariah was burning incense in the temple, the angel Gabriel appeared, promising him a son to be named John, who would be great in the sight of the Lord, filled with the Holy Spirit, and would prepare the way for the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah. For his disbelief, Zechariah was struck mute until the promise was fulfilled. Elizabeth conceived and remained in seclusion for five months.
In the sixth month, Gabriel was sent to a virgin in Nazareth named Mary, who was pledged to be married to Joseph of the house of David. The angel announced she had found favor with God and would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit, giving birth to a son to be named Jesus. He would be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God would give him the throne of his father David to reign over an eternal kingdom. The angel also revealed that her relative Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy. Mary accepted this, saying, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."
Mary then hurried to the hill country of Judea to visit Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and filled with the Holy Spirit, she blessed Mary and her child. Mary responded with a song of praise, the Magnificat. After about three months, she returned home. Elizabeth gave birth to a son, and on the eighth day, at his circumcision, she insisted his name be John. Zechariah, still unable to speak, confirmed the name in writing. Immediately, his speech returned, and filled with the Holy Spirit, he prophesied in a song of praise, the Benedictus. The child grew and became strong in spirit, living in the wilderness until his public appearance to Israel.
This is the lineage of Jesus Christ, descendant of David and Abraham. There were fourteen generations from Abraham to King David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ. The line of descent includes Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Perez, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David, Solomon, and continues to Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom Jesus was born.
Mary was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit before she and Joseph came together. Joseph, a just man, planned to divorce her quietly. However, an angel appeared to him in a dream, explaining the child was from the Holy Spirit and that he should name him Jesus, for he would save his people from their sins, fulfilling the prophecy of a virgin conceiving and bearing a son, Emmanuel ("God with us"). Joseph obeyed, taking Mary as his wife but not consummating their marriage until she gave birth.
In those days, a decree from Caesar Augustus required a census of the entire Roman world. Joseph went from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea, the town of David, to register with Mary. While there, the time came for her to give birth, and she brought forth her firstborn son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, as there was no room for them in the inn. In the nearby fields, shepherds keeping watch over their flocks were terrified by an angel of the Lord who appeared, announcing the birth of a Savior, Christ the Lord, in the city of David. A multitude of the heavenly host then appeared, praising God. The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem, found the baby in the manger, and spread the news.
On the eighth day, the child was circumcised and named Jesus. After the time for their purification, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, offering the prescribed sacrifice. There, a righteous and devout man named Simeon, who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before seeing the Messiah, was guided by the Spirit into the temple. He took Jesus in his arms, praised God, and prophesied that the child was destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and would be a sign that would be spoken against, revealing the thoughts of many hearts. An elderly prophetess named Anna also gave thanks to God and spoke of the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. After fulfilling all legal requirements, the family returned to Nazareth, where the child grew in wisdom, stature, and the grace of God.
After Jesus's birth, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, having seen his star. They asked King Herod where the king of the Jews had been born. Troubled, Herod consulted the chief priests and scribes, who identified Bethlehem from the prophecies. Herod sent the Magi to Bethlehem, secretly asking them to report back. The star guided them to the house, where they worshiped the child and presented gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Warned in a dream, they returned to their country by another route.
An angel then warned Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt with Mary and Jesus, as Herod intended to kill the child. They escaped by night and stayed until Herod's death, fulfilling the prophecy, "Out of Egypt I called my son." Enraged at being outwitted, Herod ordered the slaughter of all boys in Bethlehem two years old and under. After Herod's death, an angel instructed Joseph to return to Israel. Hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judea, Joseph, warned again in a dream, went to the district of Galilee and settled in Nazareth, fulfilling the prophecy that he would be called a Nazarene.
Every year, his parents went to Jerusalem for Passover. When Jesus was twelve, he stayed behind in the temple after the festival. His parents, after a day's journey, searched for him and found him three days later, sitting among the teachers, listening and asking questions, amazing all with his understanding. His mother questioned him, and he replied, "wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" He then returned to Nazareth and was obedient to them, and his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
II. Preparation for Ministry
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, with Pontius Pilate as governor, the word of God came to John, son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. He came preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy as "the voice of one crying in the wilderness" to prepare the Lord's way. People from all over Judea and Jerusalem came to the Jordan River, confessed their sins, and were baptized by him. John, clothed in camel's hair with a leather belt and eating locusts and wild honey, confronted the Pharisees and Sadducees, calling them a "generation of vipers" and demanding they produce fruit in keeping with repentance. He preached that one mightier than he was coming, whose sandals he was unworthy to handle, who would baptize not with water, but with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Jesus came from Nazareth to the Jordan to be baptized by John. Though John initially protested, Jesus insisted it was to "fulfil all righteousness." As Jesus came up from the water, the heavens opened, and the Spirit of God descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. A voice from heaven declared, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." John later testified that he saw the Spirit descend and remain on Jesus, and he bore record that this is the Son of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Immediately after, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, where he fasted for forty days and forty nights and was tempted by the devil. Satan tempted him to turn stones into bread, to which Jesus replied, "Man shall not live by bread alone." He then tempted him with authority over all the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worship, to which Jesus answered, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Finally, he challenged Jesus to throw himself from the temple's pinnacle, but Jesus responded, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." After the devil left, angels came and ministered to him.
III. The Early Ministry
After Jesus's temptation, John the Baptist, still at Bethabara, again pointed out Jesus as the "Lamb of God" to two of his own disciples, Andrew and another. They followed Jesus and spent the day with him. Andrew then found his brother, Simon, and told him, "We have found the Messias," bringing him to Jesus. Jesus looked at Simon and said he would be called Cephas (Peter). The next day, Jesus called Philip of Bethsaida to follow him. Philip found Nathanael, who was initially skeptical that anything good could come from Nazareth. But when Jesus saw Nathanael and declared him an Israelite without guile, and revealed he had seen him under the fig tree, Nathanael confessed, "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel."
On the third day, Jesus, his mother, and his disciples attended a wedding in Cana of Galilee. When the wine ran out, Mary informed Jesus. At his instruction, servants filled six large stone jars with water, which Jesus turned into wine. This first of his signs revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
When Jesus heard that John had been imprisoned by Herod Antipas, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He had to pass through Samaria, where he stopped at Jacob's well near Sychar. Tired, he asked a Samaritan woman for a drink, breaking social customs. He spoke to her of "living water" that would become a spring welling up to eternal life. He revealed his prophetic knowledge of her life, leading her to perceive he was a prophet. Their conversation turned to the true nature of worship, and Jesus declared that true worshipers worship the Father "in spirit and in truth." When she spoke of the coming Messiah, Jesus revealed, "I that speak unto thee am he." The woman left to tell her townspeople, many of whom believed in Jesus first because of her testimony, and then because they heard him themselves, proclaiming him the Savior of the world.
After two days, Jesus went to Galilee. In Cana, a royal official from Capernaum begged him to heal his dying son. Jesus told him, "Go thy way; thy son liveth." The man believed, and on his way home, his servants met him with the news that his son was well. He learned the fever had left at the very hour Jesus had spoken. This was the second sign Jesus performed.
Leaving Nazareth, where he was rejected after reading from Isaiah in the synagogue and proclaiming its fulfillment, he made his headquarters in Capernaum. As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he called the fishermen Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, telling them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." They immediately left their nets. A little farther on, he called James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who also left their boat and their father to follow him.
In Capernaum on the Sabbath, Jesus taught in the synagogue with an authority that astonished the people. He healed a man possessed by an unclean spirit, which cried out, "I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God." His fame spread quickly. He then went to Simon's house and healed Simon's mother-in-law of a high fever. That evening, the whole town gathered, and he healed many with various diseases and cast out many demons.
The next morning, he went to a solitary place to pray. He then traveled throughout Galilee, preaching and healing. One day, as a crowd pressed in to hear him by the Lake of Gennesaret, he taught from Simon's boat. Afterward, he told Simon to go into deep water for a catch. Despite a fruitless night of fishing, Simon obeyed, and they enclosed such a multitude of fish that their nets began to break. Awestruck, Simon Peter fell at Jesus's knees, crying, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Jesus reassured him, and they, along with their partners James and John, left everything to follow him.
IV. The Height of the Galilean Ministry
While in a certain city, a man full of leprosy pleaded with Jesus, "If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." Moved with compassion, Jesus touched him and healed him instantly. Though instructed to remain silent, the man spread the news widely. Jesus's fame grew, and he often withdrew to pray.
Upon his return to Capernaum, a house where he was preaching became so crowded that four men carrying a paralyzed man on a mat could not get in. They went up on the roof, opened it, and lowered the man down. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the man, "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee." Some scribes present silently accused him of blasphemy. Knowing their thoughts, Jesus, to prove the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, told the man to rise, take his bed, and walk. He did so immediately, to everyone's amazement.
After this, Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi (or Matthew), son of Alphaeus, at his booth and said, "Follow me." Levi left everything and followed him, holding a great feast for Jesus at his house with many other tax collectors and sinners. When the Pharisees and their scribes complained, Jesus responded, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on a mountainside, where he delivered the Sermon on the Mount. He began with the Beatitudes, blessing the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, and those who hunger for righteousness. He called his disciples the salt of the earth and the light of the world. He taught that he came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it, deepening its meaning by addressing the roots of sin like anger and lust. He gave radical commands for discipleship: to turn the other cheek, love one's enemies, and pray for persecutors, aiming for the perfection of the heavenly Father. He instructed on practicing righteousness—alms, prayer, and fasting—in secret, not for public praise. He taught the Lord's Prayer and warned against storing up earthly treasures, urging his followers to seek first the kingdom of God and not to worry about their daily needs. He concluded with the Golden Rule, warnings against false prophets, and the parable of the wise and foolish builders, teaching with an authority that astonished the people.
His authority was continually challenged. When his disciples plucked grain on the Sabbath, Jesus defended them, citing David's example and declaring, "The Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath." On another Sabbath, he healed a man with a withered hand in the synagogue, angering the Pharisees, who then began to plot with the Herodians to destroy him.
Jesus withdrew to the sea, followed by great multitudes. He went up on a mountain and appointed twelve of his disciples as apostles: Simon (Peter), Andrew, James, and John (the sons of Zebedee, whom he called "sons of thunder"), Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot. When his family heard of the crowds, they thought he was "beside himself," and scribes from Jerusalem accused him of casting out demons by Beelzebub. Jesus refuted this with the parable of a kingdom divided against itself and warned of the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. He then redefined his family, stating that whoever does the will of God is his brother, sister, and mother.
He taught the crowds in parables, including the parable of the sower, which he later explained to his disciples as representing the different responses to the word of God. He also told the parables of the weeds among the wheat, the mustard seed, and the yeast, all illustrating aspects of the kingdom of heaven.
He demonstrated his power over nature by calming a great storm on the Sea of Galilee with the words, "Peace, be still." On the other side, in the country of the Gadarenes, he healed a man possessed by a "Legion" of demons, casting them into a herd of swine. He crossed back and healed a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years and who touched his garment in faith. At the same time, he raised the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus, a synagogue leader, from the dead.
King Herod heard of Jesus and, perplexed, thought he was John the Baptist, whom he had beheaded. This had occurred after Herodias's daughter danced at his birthday feast and, prompted by her mother, requested John's head on a platter as her reward.
Jesus sent out the twelve apostles to preach, heal, and cast out demons. Upon their return, he took them to a deserted place near Bethsaida. A crowd of about five thousand men, plus women and children, followed them. With only five barley loaves and two fish, Jesus fed the entire multitude, with twelve baskets of leftovers collected. Seeing this sign, the people wanted to make him king by force, but he withdrew.
That night, the disciples were in a boat, straining against the wind, when they saw Jesus walking on the sea. They were terrified, but he calmed them. Peter attempted to walk on the water to Jesus but sank due to his doubt and was saved by Jesus. The next day in Capernaum, Jesus delivered the Bread of Life discourse, declaring, "I am the bread of life," and "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." Many disciples found this teaching too hard and left him. When Jesus asked the Twelve if they also would leave, Peter confessed, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life... thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God."
In Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples who people said he was. After they gave various answers, he asked, "But whom say ye that I am?" Peter again confessed, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus affirmed Peter's confession as a divine revelation and declared he would build his church upon this rock. He then began to teach them openly that he, the Son of Man, must go to Jerusalem to suffer, be rejected, be killed, and rise on the third day. Peter rebuked him for this, earning a sharp reprimand from Jesus: "Get thee behind me, Satan." Jesus then taught about the cost of discipleship, saying whoever wants to follow him must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him.
Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a high mountain and was transfigured. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzlingly white. Moses and Elijah appeared and spoke with him about his departure in Jerusalem. A bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son: hear him." As they came down, he commanded them to tell no one until after his resurrection. At the base of the mountain, he healed a boy with a mute spirit whom his disciples could not heal, explaining that "This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting."
V. The Journey to Jerusalem and Final Teachings
As the time for him to be taken up to heaven approached, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. He sent messengers to a Samaritan village, but the people there did not welcome him. James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven, but Jesus rebuked them. As they traveled, he challenged would-be followers on the radical demands of discipleship.
He appointed seventy-two others and sent them out two by two with instructions similar to those given to the Twelve. They returned with joy, reporting that even the demons submitted to them in his name. An expert in the law tested him, asking how to inherit eternal life. This led to Jesus telling the parable of the Good Samaritan to define who one's "neighbor" is. In a village, he visited the home of Martha and Mary, where he gently corrected Martha for being distracted by preparations, affirming that Mary had chosen the better part by listening to his word.
He taught his disciples the Lord's Prayer and encouraged persistence in prayer. He again cast out a demon and was accused of doing so by the power of Beelzebub, leading him to warn against a divided house. He pronounced woes on the Pharisees and experts in the law for their hypocrisy, neglect of justice, and for taking away the key to knowledge. He warned the crowds against greed, telling the parable of the rich fool, and urged them not to worry but to seek God's kingdom. He spoke of his coming bringing division, not peace, and urged the people to repent, telling the parable of the barren fig tree.
On a Sabbath, he healed a woman crippled for eighteen years, defending his action against the indignant synagogue leader. He likened the kingdom of God to a mustard seed and to yeast. Someone asked if only a few would be saved, and he urged them to enter through the narrow door. He lamented over Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets.
At the house of a prominent Pharisee, he healed a man with dropsy on the Sabbath and taught parables on humility, advising guests to take the lowest seat and hosts to invite the poor and marginalized. This led to the parable of the great banquet, where the invited guests made excuses and their places were filled by people from the streets and countryside. He again emphasized the high cost of discipleship.
The tax collectors and sinners gathered to hear him, prompting the Pharisees to mutter. In response, Jesus told three parables of the lost: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost (or prodigal) son, all highlighting God's joy over one sinner who repents. He followed this with the parable of the shrewd manager, urging wise use of worldly wealth, and the story of the rich man and Lazarus, illustrating the great chasm between the fates of the righteous and the wicked in the afterlife.
He taught on sin, forgiveness, and faith. On his way through Samaria and Galilee, he healed ten lepers, only one of whom, a Samaritan, returned to give thanks. When asked about the coming of the kingdom, he said it is "within you" and described the eventual coming of the Son of Man as sudden and visible, like lightning.
As he neared Jerusalem, the sisters Mary and Martha of Bethany sent word that their brother Lazarus was sick. Jesus delayed his journey, arriving four days after Lazarus had been buried. To a grieving Martha, he declared, "I am the resurrection, and the life." He went to the tomb and, after praying, cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." The dead man came out, alive. This miracle caused many Jews to believe in him, but it also solidified the plot of the Sanhedrin, led by the high priest Caiaphas, to put Jesus to death, arguing it was "expedient for us, that one man should die for the people."
Near Jericho, Jesus healed a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, who cried out, "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me." In Jericho, he encountered Zacchaeus, a wealthy chief tax collector, who climbed a tree to see him. Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus's house, leading to the man's joyful repentance and pledge of restitution. Jesus declared that salvation had come to his house, "for the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." He told the parable of the ten minas to correct the expectation that the kingdom would appear immediately.
VI. The Final Week: Confrontation, Passion, and Crucifixion
Six days before the Passover, Jesus was in Bethany at a dinner where Mary anointed his feet with expensive perfume. The next day, he entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey's colt, as prophesied. Great crowds spread cloaks and palm branches on the road, shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!" As he approached the city, he wept over it, foretelling its destruction. He entered the temple and drove out the money changers and merchants, declaring it a house of prayer, not a "den of thieves."
In the temple, his authority was challenged by the chief priests and elders. He responded with parables against them, including the parable of the two sons and the parable of the wicked tenants. They tried to trap him with questions about paying taxes to Caesar, to which he famously replied, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." The Sadducees questioned him about the resurrection, and he affirmed it, silencing them. A scribe asked about the greatest commandment, and Jesus answered: to love God with all one's being, and to love one's neighbor as oneself. He then questioned them about the Christ being David's son, yet also David's Lord. He warned the disciples against the hypocrisy of the scribes and praised a poor widow who gave two small coins to the treasury, saying she had given more than all the others.
As he left the temple, he foretold its utter destruction. On the Mount of Olives, he gave the Olivet Discourse, a lengthy prophecy about the end times, warning of false messiahs, wars, famines, persecution, the "abomination of desolation," and the great tribulation. He spoke of his glorious return on the clouds and urged watchfulness with the parables of the ten virgins and the talents. He concluded by describing the final judgment, where the Son of Man will separate the nations as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, based on their acts of mercy to "the least of these my brethren."
Two days before Passover, the chief priests and scribes plotted to arrest Jesus. Judas Iscariot went to them and agreed to betray him for thirty pieces of silver. On the day of preparation, Jesus sent Peter and John to prepare the Passover meal in a large upper room in Jerusalem.
That evening, during the Last Supper, Jesus washed his disciples' feet as an example of servant leadership. He was troubled in spirit and revealed that one of them would betray him, identifying Judas by giving him a piece of bread. After Judas left, Jesus gave a new commandment: "That ye love one another." He then instituted the Lord's Supper, taking bread and a cup, declaring them to be his body and his blood of the new covenant, shed for the forgiveness of sins. He foretold that all the disciples would fall away and that Peter would deny him three times before the rooster crowed. He then gave the Farewell Discourse, comforting his disciples, promising the Holy Spirit (the Comforter or Advocate), and speaking of himself as the true vine. He concluded with the High Priestly Prayer, praying for himself, for his disciples, and for all future believers.
They went to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. There, in deep agony, Jesus prayed three times for the cup of suffering to pass, yet submitted to his Father's will. He returned each time to find Peter, James, and John asleep. Judas then arrived with an armed crowd and betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest's servant, Malchus, but Jesus healed the man and rebuked Peter. All the disciples fled.
Jesus was arrested and led first to Annas, then to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the Sanhedrin had gathered. They sought false testimony and finally condemned him for blasphemy when he affirmed that he was the Christ, the Son of God. Meanwhile, in the courtyard, Peter, as Jesus had predicted, denied knowing him three times, and when the rooster crowed, he went out and wept bitterly.
In the morning, Jesus was taken to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. Judas, filled with remorse, returned the thirty pieces of silver and hanged himself. Before Pilate, Jesus was accused of subverting the nation and claiming to be a king. Pilate, finding no fault in him, sent him to Herod Antipas, who mocked him and sent him back. Pilate offered to release Jesus, but the crowd, stirred up by the chief priests, demanded the release of Barabbas and shouted for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate washed his hands of the matter, had Jesus flogged, and handed him over.
The soldiers mocked Jesus, dressing him in a purple robe and a crown of thorns. He was led away to Golgotha, "the place of the skull." Simon of Cyrene was compelled to carry his cross. Jesus was crucified between two thieves. From the cross, he spoke seven times, including, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do," and "It is finished." At the ninth hour, after darkness had covered the land for three hours, he cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" and gave up his spirit. At that moment, the temple curtain was torn in two, the earth shook, and a Roman centurion declared, "Truly this man was the Son of God." That evening, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the council, with the help of Nicodemus, took Jesus' body, wrapped it in linen with spices, and laid it in his own new tomb, rolling a large stone against the entrance.
VII. The Resurrection and Great Commission
At dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and other women went to the tomb with spices. They found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. An angel (or two angels) announced to them, "He is not here, but is risen," and instructed them to tell the disciples. The women fled with a mixture of fear and great joy. Peter and another disciple (John) ran to the tomb and found only the linen burial cloths.
The risen Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene near the tomb. That same day, he appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, explaining the Scriptures concerning himself. Later that evening, he appeared to the eleven disciples in a locked room in Jerusalem, showing them his hands and side and giving them his peace. Thomas, who was absent, doubted until Jesus appeared again a week later and invited him to touch his wounds, prompting Thomas's confession, "My Lord and my God."
Afterward, Jesus appeared to seven of his disciples by the Sea of Galilee. After a miraculous catch of 153 fish, he ate breakfast with them on the shore. There, he restored Peter, who had denied him three times, by asking him three times, "lovest thou me?" and commissioning him to "Feed my sheep."
The disciples then went to a mountain in Galilee, where Jesus appeared to them and gave the Great Commission: "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
He led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, where he lifted up his hands, blessed them, and was taken up into heaven, where he sat at the right hand of God. The disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy, continually praising God in the temple. They then went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming his word by the accompanying signs. Many other things Jesus did, so many that if they were all written down, the world itself could not contain the books. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life through his name.