LESSON SIXTEEN
JESUS BECOMES ALIVE AGAIN
Matthew 28:1-15; John 20:2-10
Three days after Jesus died three women went to Jesus’ tomb. They brought spices to put on Jesus’ dead body to preserve it. As they were walking to the tomb they said, “Who can we ask to roll the stone away from the door?” They knew the stone was much too heavy for them to move.
Suddenly there was a terrible earthquake. An angel came and rolled the stone away from the door of the tomb. The soldiers who were guarding the tomb were so afraid that they fainted.
The women came to the tomb. They saw that the stone was already rolled away from the door. They saw the angel.
The angel said, “Why are you looking for Jesus here? He is not dead. He is alive. Look at the place where his body lay.”
The women looked into the tomb. The strips of cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus body were there. But Jesus was gone.
The angel said, “Go quickly and tell Jesus’ disciples that he is alive.”
The women were very happy, but they were afraid, too. They ran to tell Jesus’ disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. Now they knew Jesus really was alive. The women bowed down to Jesus and worshipped him.
Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid. Go and tell my disciples that I am alive.”
The disciples came and saw the tomb. They saw the strips of cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ body. The tomb was empty except for the strips of cloth. When John saw the empty tomb, he believed that Jesus was alive again.
After the women went to tell the disciples, the guards went into town. They told the religious leaders what had happened. The leaders did not want people to know that Jesus was alive again. If people knew Jesus was alive again, they would know he was God. They would follow him. But the religious leaders didn’t want people to follow Jesus. So they gave the guards a lot of money. They told the guards, “If any one asks you about Jesus’ body, tell them that the disciples came during the night and stole the body. Tell them that you fell asleep. We will make sure that you do not get in trouble.”
So the soldiers took the money. They lied and said that the disciples stole Jesus’ body while they were sleeping.
VOCABULARY
spice (n)
preserve (v)
terrible (adj)
faint (v)
bow (v)
empty (adj)
make sure
get into trouble
QUESTIONS
- What problem did the women worry about as they walked to the tomb?
- Who rolled the stone away from the door of the tomb?
- What did the soldiers who were guarding the tomb do when they saw what happened?
- What was in the tomb?
- Did the religious leaders want people to know that Jesus was alive?
- What did the religious leaders tell the guards to say?