Memorial Bible Reading Schedule 2025 and Invitation

Tuesday, April 15. Sunrise

[Image:] Guards taking Jesus into custody in the garden of Gethsemane.

Matthew 28:1 through 15

[Click to read scripture]|[Matthew 28:1 through 15:] After the Sabbath, when it was growing light on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to view the grave. And look! a great earthquake had taken place, for Jehovah’s angel had descended from heaven and had come and rolled away the stone, and he was sitting on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. Yes, out of their fear of him, the watchmen trembled and became as dead men. But the angel said to the women: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was executed on the stake. He is not here, for he was raised up, just as he said. Come, see the place where he was lying. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he was raised up from the dead, for look! he is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there. Look! I have told you.” So, quickly leaving the memorial tomb, with fear and great joy, they ran to report to his disciples. And look! Jesus met them and said: “Good day!” They approached and took hold of his feet and did obeisance to him. Then Jesus said to them: “Have no fear! Go, report to my brothers so that they may go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” While they were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. And after these had gathered with the elders and had consulted together, they gave a considerable number of silver pieces to the soldiers and said: “Say, ‘His disciples came in the night and stole him while we were sleeping.’ And if this gets to the governor’s ears, we will explain the matter to him and you will not need to worry.” So they took the silver pieces and did as they were instructed, and this story has been spread abroad among the Jews up to this very day. [Click to close]

Mark 16:2 through 8

[Click to read scripture]|[Mark 16:2 through 8:] And very early on the first day of the week when the sun had risen, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another: “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb for us?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was very large. When they entered into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were stunned. He said to them: “Do not be stunned. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was executed on the stake. He was raised up. He is not here. Look, here is the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.’” So when they came out, they fled from the tomb, trembling and overwhelmed with emotion. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were in fear. [Click to close]

Luke 24:1 through 49

[Click to read scripture]|[Luke 24:1 through 49:] But on the first day of the week, they came very early to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, and when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, look! two men in shining garments stood by them. The women became frightened and kept their faces turned toward the ground, so the men said to them: “Why are you looking for the living one among the dead? He is not here, but has been raised up. Recall how he spoke to you while he was yet in Galilee, saying that the Son of man must be handed over to sinful men and be executed on the stake and on the third day rise.” Then they remembered his words, and they returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. They were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. Also, the rest of the women with them were telling these things to the apostles. However, these sayings seemed like nonsense to them, and they would not believe the women. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, and stooping forward, he saw only the linen cloths. So he went off, wondering to himself what had occurred. But look! on that very day, two of them were traveling to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were conversing with each other about all these things that had happened. Now as they were conversing and discussing these things, Jesus himself approached and began walking with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. He said to them: “What are these matters that you are debating between yourselves as you walk along?” And they stood still, looking sad. In answer the one named Cleopas said to him: “Are you a stranger dwelling alone in Jerusalem and do not know the things that have occurred there during these days?” He asked them: “What things?” They said to him: “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, who proved to be a prophet powerful in deed and word before God and all the people; and how our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they nailed him to the stake. But we were hoping that this man was the one who was going to deliver Israel. Yes, and besides all these things, this is the third day since these things occurred. Moreover, some women from among us also astonished us, for they went early to the tomb and when they did not find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a supernatural sight of angels, who said he is alive. Then some of those who were with us went off to the tomb, and they found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.” So he said to them: “O senseless ones and slow of heart to believe all the things the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?” And starting with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them things pertaining to himself in all the Scriptures. Finally they got close to the village to which they were traveling, and he made as if to travel on farther. But they urged him to remain, saying: “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is nearly over.” With that he went in to stay with them. And as he was dining with them, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and began handing it to them. At that their eyes were fully opened and they recognized him; but he disappeared from them. And they said to each other: “Were not our hearts burning within us as he was speaking to us on the road, as he was fully opening up the Scriptures to us?” And they got up in that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the Eleven and those assembled together with them, who said: “For a fact the Lord was raised up, and he appeared to Simon!” Then they related the events on the road and how he became known to them by the breaking of the bread. While they were speaking of these things, he himself stood in their midst and said to them: “May you have peace.” But because they were terrified and frightened, they imagined that they were seeing a spirit. So he said to them: “Why are you troubled, and why have doubts come up in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones just as you see that I have.” And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. But while they were still not believing for sheer joy and amazement, he said to them: “Do you have something there to eat?” So they handed him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it before their eyes. He then said to them: “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all the things written about me in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened up their minds fully to grasp the meaning of the Scriptures, and he said to them, “This is what is written: that the Christ would suffer and rise from among the dead on the third day, and on the basis of his name, repentance for forgiveness of sins would be preached in all the nations, starting out from Jerusalem. You are to be witnesses of these things. And look! I am sending upon you what my Father promised. You, though, stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” [Click to close]

John 20:1 through 25

[Click to read scripture]|[John 20:1 through 25:] On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and she saw that the stone had already been taken away from the tomb. So she came running to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, for whom Jesus had affection, and she said to them: “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out for the tomb. The two of them began running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. Stooping forward, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter also came, following him, and he went into the tomb. And he saw the linen cloths lying there. The cloth that had been on his head was not lying with the other cloth bands but was rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead. So the disciples went back to their homes. Mary, however, kept standing outside near the tomb, weeping. While she was weeping, she stooped forward to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet. And they said to her: “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them: “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have laid him.” After saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She, thinking it was the gardener, said to him: “Sir, if you have carried him off, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her: “Mary!” On turning around, she said to him in Hebrew: “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher!”) Jesus said to her: “Stop clinging 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 and to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came and brought the news to the disciples: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what he had said to her. When it was late that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them: “May you have peace.” After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced at seeing the Lord. Jesus said to them again: “May you have peace. Just as the Father has sent me, I also am sending you.” After saying this he blew on them and said to them: “Receive holy spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you retain those of anyone, they are retained.” But Thomas, one of the Twelve, who was called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were telling him: “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them: “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and stick my finger into the print of the nails and stick my hand into his side, I will never believe it.” [Click to close]

Jesus The Way, the Truth, the Life, chapter 134

[Click to read Jesus The Way]|[Chapter 134. An Empty Tomb, Jesus Is Alive!]
Matthew 28:3 through 15; Mark 16:5 through 8; Luke 24:4 through 12; John 20:2 through 18

Chapter Overview. Jesus is resurrected. Experiences at Jesus’ tomb. He appears to various women.

What a shock it is for the women to discover what appears to be an empty burial place! Mary Magdalene runs off to “Simon Peter and to the other disciple, for whom Jesus had affection”, the apostle John. (John 20:2) However, the other women at the tomb see an angel. And inside the memorial tomb is another angel, who is “clothed in a white robe.” (Mark 16:5) One of the angels tells them: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was executed on the stake. He is not here, for he was raised up, just as he said. Come, see the place where he was lying. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he was raised up from the dead, for look! he is going ahead of you into Galilee.” (Matthew 28:5 through 7) So “trembling and overwhelmed with emotion,” the women run to report to the disciples. (Mark 16:8) By now, Mary has found Peter and John. Breathlessly, she reports: “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” (John 20:2) Peter and John take off running. John is faster and reaches the tomb first. He peers into it and sees the bandages, but he remains outside. When Peter arrives, he goes right in. He sees the linen cloths and the cloth used to wrap Jesus’ head. John now enters, and he believes Mary’s report. Despite what Jesus said earlier, neither of them understands that he has been raised up. (Matthew 16:21) Puzzled, they head home. But Mary, who has come back to the tomb, remains there. Meanwhile, the other women are on their way to tell the disciples that Jesus has been raised. While they are running to do so, Jesus meets them and says: “Good day!” They fall at his feet and ‘do obeisance to him.’ Then Jesus says: “Have no fear! Go, report to my brothers so that they may go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” (Matthew 28:9 and 10) Earlier, when the earthquake occurred and the angels appeared, the soldiers at the tomb “trembled and became as dead men.” After recovering, they entered the city and “reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened.” The priests then consulted with elders of the Jews. The decision was made to bribe the soldiers to hide the matter and to claim: “His disciples came in the night and stole him while we were sleeping.” (Matthew 28:4, 11, 13) Roman soldiers can be put to death if they fall asleep at their post, so the priests promise: “If this [their lie about having been asleep] gets to the governor’s ears, we will explain the matter to him and you will not need to worry.” (Matthew 28:14) The soldiers take the bribe and do what the priests say. Thus the false story of Jesus’ body being stolen spreads widely among the Jews. Mary Magdalene is still grieving at the tomb. Stooping forward to look into it, she sees two angels in white! One sits at the head of where Jesus’ body had been lying and the other at the foot. “Woman, why are you weeping?” they ask. Mary answers: “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Turning around, Mary sees someone else. He repeats the angels’ question and adds: “Whom are you looking for?” Thinking that he is the gardener, she says: “Sir, if you have carried him off, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” (John 20:13 through 15) Actually, Mary is speaking to the resurrected Jesus, but at the moment she does not recognize him. However, when he says, “Mary!” she knows that it is Jesus, recognizing him by the familiar way he speaks to her. “Rabboni!” (meaning, “Teacher!”), Mary exclaims joyfully. Yet, afraid that he is about to ascend to heaven, she grabs hold of him. Hence, Jesus urges her: “Stop clinging 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 and to my God and your God.’” (John 20:16 and 17) Mary runs to the place where the apostles and other disciples are gathered. She tells them: “I have seen the Lord!” adding her account to what they have heard from the other women. (John 20:18) Yet, the reports ‘seem like nonsense to them.’ (Luke 24:11)

[Box, Questions for review]
After Mary Magdalene finds the tomb empty, what experiences do she and the other women have?
How do Peter and John react at finding the tomb empty?
Whom do the other women encounter on their way to the disciples, and what happens when Mary Magdalene is again at the tomb?
How do the disciples respond to the reports they get? [End of Box] [Click to close]

Jesus The Way, the Truth, the Life, chapter 135

[Click to read Jesus The Way]|[Chapter 135. The Resurrected Jesus Appears to Many]
Luke 24:13 through 49; John 20:19 through 29

Chapter Overview. Jesus appears on the road to Emmaus. He repeatedly opens up the scriptures to his disciples. Thomas ceases to doubt.

On Sunday, Nisan 16, the disciples are in low spirits. They do not grasp the meaning of the empty tomb. (Matthew 28:9 and 10; Luke 24:11) Later in the day, Cleopas and another disciple leave Jerusalem for Emmaus, which is about seven miles (11 kilometers) away. As they walk, they discuss what has occurred. Then a stranger joins them. He asks: “What are these matters that you are debating between yourselves as you walk along?” Cleopas replies: “Are you a stranger dwelling alone in Jerusalem and do not know the things that have occurred there during these days?” The stranger asks: “What things?” (Luke 24:17 through 19) “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene,” they say. “We were hoping that this man was the one who was going to deliver Israel.” (Luke 24:19 through 21) Cleopas and his companion go on to relate things that happened that very day. They say that some women who went to the tomb where Jesus was buried found it empty and that these women were eyewitnesses to a supernatural event—the appearance of angels who said that Jesus is alive. They report that others also went to the tomb and “found it just as the women had said.” (Luke 24:24) The two disciples are clearly bewildered as to the meaning of what has occurred. The stranger responds with authority to correct their wrong thinking, which is affecting their hearts: “O senseless ones and slow of heart to believe all the things the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25 and 26) He goes on to interpret for them many Scriptural passages pertaining to the Christ. Finally the three arrive near Emmaus. The two disciples want to hear more, so they urge the stranger: “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is nearly over.” He agrees to stay, and they have a meal. As the stranger says a prayer, breaks bread, and hands it to them, they recognize him, but then he disappears. (Luke 24:29 through 31) Now they know for sure that Jesus is alive! The two disciples excitedly comment on what they experienced: “Were not our hearts burning within us as he was speaking to us on the road, as he was fully opening up the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32) They hurry back to Jerusalem, where they find the apostles and others with them. Before Cleopas and his companion can give a report, they hear others say: “For a fact the Lord was raised up, and he appeared to Simon!” (Luke 24:34) Then the two tell how Jesus appeared to them. Yes, they too are eyewitnesses. Now all are shocked, Jesus appears in the room! This seems unbelievable because they locked the doors out of fear of the Jews. Still, Jesus is standing right in their midst. He calmly says: “May you have peace.” But they are frightened. As they did once before, they are ‘imagining that they are seeing a spirit.’ (Luke 24:36 and 37; Matthew 14:25 through 27) To prove that he is no apparition or something they merely imagine but, rather, that he does have a fleshly body, Jesus shows them his hands and feet and says: “Why are you troubled, and why have doubts come up in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones just as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:36 through 39) They are overjoyed and amazed but still somewhat reluctant to believe. Further attempting to help them to see that he is real, he asks: “Do you have something there to eat?” He accepts a piece of broiled fish and eats it. Then he says: “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was yet with you [before my death], that all the things written about me in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and Psalms must be fulfilled.” (Luke 24:41 through 44) Jesus had helped Cleopas and his companion to understand the Scriptures, and he does so now for all those gathered there: “This is what is written: that the Christ would suffer and rise from among the dead on the third day, and on the basis of his name, repentance for forgiveness of sins would be preached in all the nations, starting out from Jerusalem. You are to be witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:46 through 48) For some reason the apostle Thomas is not present. In the following days, others joyfully tell him: “We have seen the Lord!” Thomas responds: “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and stick my finger into the print of the nails and stick my hand into his side, I will never believe it.” (John 20:25) Eight days later, the disciples are again meeting behind locked doors, but this time Thomas is present. Jesus appears in their midst in a materialized body and greets them: “May you have peace.” Turning to Thomas, Jesus says: “Put your finger here, and see my hands, and take your hand and stick it into my side, and stop doubting but believe.” Thomas exclaims: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:26 through 28) Yes, he now has no doubts that Jesus is alive as a divine being who is Jehovah God’s representative. “Because you have seen me, have you believed?” Jesus says. “Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.” (John 20:29)

[Box, Questions for review]
A stranger makes what inquiry of two disciples going to Emmaus?
Why do the hearts of the disciples soon burn within them?
When Cleopas and his companion return to Jerusalem, what exciting report do they hear, and what then happens?
How is Thomas finally convinced that Jesus is alive? [End of Box] [Click to close]