Lesson 4 – Jesus rose from the dead
➡️ Best News Ever
A while back, I told you that I had the best… news… ever… to tell you. This good news is so good, it’s taken me quite a while to explain it to you!
➡️ Seven Parts
If you remember, my good news is so big, I had to break it down into seven parts! And we’ve talked about five of them so far. Let’s look back at them.
➡️ Big Idea 1
God is our maker and king.
➡️ Big Idea 2
We are all sinners.
➡️ Big Idea 3
The pay for sin is forever death.
We are all sinners. And the pay for sin is forever death. This, of course, is the…
➡️ Worst News
Worst… news… ever! But last time, I had great news to tell you.
➡️ Big Idea 4
God loved the world and sent his Son to save us.
❓Do you remember the name of God’s Son?
➡️ Jesus
His name was Jesus. And he was the perfect, miracle-working God-man! And he came to our world to save us!
➡️ Big Idea 5
God’s Son Jesus died to pay for our sins.
➡️ Jesus’ Mission
Sinners like you and me were facing forever death. But Jesus came to save us from that terrible future. And he did it by paying sin’s price of forever death for us!
❓Do you remember how Jesus died?
➡️ Cross
Jesus died a painful and shameful death. His hands and feet were nailed to a wooden cross and he hung there until he died.
➡️ Our Sins
By going through this terrible death, Jesus the God-Man paid the price for the sins of the world.
Because of Jesus, we can be forgiven, saved from the punishment of forever death. That’s pretty great news. But still, it’s not…
➡️ Best News
… the best… news… ever! Why?
➡️ How Do We Know?
Because how do we know Jesus really finished his mission? How do we know he really saved the world? How do we know he really died for our sins? After all, you can’t see sins! How do we really know we are forgiven?
➡️ Liar
When Jesus said he was God’s Son, when he said he came to save lost sinners, he could have been a big fat liar. I mean, I could say I’m the Son of God. But that wouldn’t make it true. Maybe Jesus was lying!
➡️ Loony
Or maybe, when Jesus said he was God’s Son, he was just loony! Maybe there was something strange going on in his brain that made him think he was God’s Son. I mean, it’s a pretty crazy thing to say… “I’m God’s Son!”
So how do we know Jesus wasn’t lying or loony? Well, that’s where my good news gets really good!
➡️ Friday
It was a Friday when Jesus died on the cross. And after he died, they placed him inside a tomb, a grave cave for keeping dead bodies.
❓What day comes after Friday?
➡️ Saturday
Now, if you placed a dead body in a tomb on a Friday, where would you expect it to be on a Saturday? (In the tomb.)
And that’s exactly where Jesus was on Saturday. He was a lifeless body laying in a tomb.
❓What day comes after Saturday?
➡️ Sunday
Of course, Sunday comes after Saturday. Again, if you left a dead guy in a tomb on a Friday, where would you expect him to be on Sunday? (In the tomb.)
Now, this is where we’ll pick up the story in the Bible, from the book of Matthew.
➡️ Matthew 28 – 1 …Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
On Sunday morning, two ladies went to visit Jesus’ tomb. What were their names? (Mary and Mary.)
➡️ Matthew 28 – 1 There was a powerful earthquake. An angel of the Lord came down from heaven. The angel went to the tomb. He rolled back the stone and sat on it…
When Mary and Mary arrived at Jesus’s tomb, they were in for a big surprise.
❓What unusual things happened?
➡️ Angels
In case you didn’t know already, angels are spirits – body-less beings created to serve God. Normally angels are invisible. But on special occasion, God makes them see-able to humans. And this Sunday morning was one of those special occasions. Why? Let’s keep reading!
➡️ Matthew 28 – 5 The angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here! He has risen, just as he said he would!” 7 Go quickly! Tell his disciples…
Let’s look at the angel’s message to the Marys.
➡️ Jesus has Risen
The angel said, “Jesus isn’t here. He’s risen!”
❓What do you think “risen” means?
“Risen” means to come back to life after you die. Not living dead like a zombie, but alive again – good as new! Now, this is a crazy message to hear: people don’t rise from the dead! But this crazy news is being told by an angel. And seeing an angel is also a crazy thing to happen!
➡️ Ran
So the Marys did what the angel told them to do. They ran back to tell this news to Jesus’ friends, a group of men we call the “disciples.” And when the disciples heard their crazy story, I’m sure these men thought…
➡️ Liars? Loony?
“Are these ladies lying about seeing an angel? Are they loony in the head, saying crazy things about Jesus rising from the dead? Or could they possibly be telling the truth?” Well, they didn’t have to wait long to get an answer to those questions.
➡️ Disciples Together
That Sunday evening, those same disciples gathered all together in a locked room. And here’s what happened.
➡️ Luke 24 – 36 …Jesus himself suddenly stood among them…37 They were surprised and terrified.
Jesus, the guy they saw die on a cross a couple of days ago, was suddenly standing in front of them, alive as ever!
❓If you saw someone that was supposed to be dead standing in front of you, what emotions would you feel?
Let’s read how the disciples reacted.
➡️ Luke 24 – 37 …They thought they were seeing a ghost.
❓Why would they think Jesus was a ghost?
➡️ 38 Jesus said to them, “…39 Look at my hands and my feet. It’s really me!…” 41 But they still did not believe it…
❓What would Jesus’s hands and feet have looked like?
Even after seeing Jesus alive, after touching his nail-scarred hands and feet, they still couldn’t believe he was real!
➡️ So Jesus asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of cooked fish. 43 He took it and ate it in front of them.
❓Why would eating fish prove he wasn’t a ghost?
➡️ Women
Wer started with two women telling an incredible story about angels and earthquakes and Jesus rising from the dead.
➡️ Disciples
And now we have eleven of Jesus’ friends saying, “We saw Jesus. We touched his scars! We even saw him eat!” But again…
➡️ Lying or Loony
They could be lying about all this. They could have made it all up to make people pay attention to them. Or they could all have been loony in the head, too! But eleven people all lying or loony at the same time? That’s a lot! Still, in case you didn’t believe their word, listen to what the Bible book of 1 Corinthians 15 says…
➡️ 1 Corinthians 15 – 3 [Jesus] Christ died for our sins… 4 He was buried. He was raised from the dead on the third day… 5 …he appeared to the 12 apostles. 6 After that, he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at the same time…
❓How many other people saw Jesus run from the dead?
➡️ 500 People
500 people saw Jesus alive again after he died on the cross. This picture shows you just how many people that would be! And when this Bible verse was written, many of those people were still living. If you wanted, you could have asked them, “Did you really see Jesus? What was it like?”
➡️ Liars? Loony?
Now, it’s hard to believe that all 500 of these people could agree to tell the same lie. And 500 people all going loony at the same time – that’s practically impossible! At this point, I think it’s pretty clear…
➡️ Jesus Rose
Jesus rose from the dead! I know it’s a loony thing to say. But when two women, eleven disciples, and half a thousand people all say, “We saw him with our own eyes!” it makes it a whole lot easier to believe!
And with that, let’s go back to where we started.
➡️ How Do We Know?
How do we know Jesus really was the Son of God? How do we know he really saved the world? How do we know he really died to pay for our sins?”
➡️ Liar? Loony?
How do we know Jesus wasn’t lying or loony when he said he was the Son of God, sent to rescue us from forever death? The answer to all those questions is the next part of the best… news… ever!
➡️ Big Idea 6
Jesus rose back to life. It proved he was our God-sent savior.
Jesus did many miracles during his life. But no miracle was more wondrous than raising himself back to life after dying on a cross! It was something only the Son of God could do!
➡️ Liar? Loony?
By rising from the dead, Jesus proved he wasn’t lying or loony. He proved he really was who he said he was.
➡️ Son of God
It proved that he really was the all-powerful God-Man, the Son of God! And if that is true (and it is)…
➡️ Sins Paid For
Then it also proved that sin’s price of forever death had been paid for on Jesus’ cross. And if that’s true (and it is)…
➡️ Forever Death
Then it also proves Jesus has saved us from sin and rescued us from forever death. And knowing that we’ve truly been saved from forever death…
➡️ Best News
…that’s truly the best… news… ever! So with that, let’s look back at the six parts we’ve learned so far.
➡️ Big Idea 1
The Lord God is our maker and king.
➡️ Big Idea 2
We are all sinners.
➡️ Big Idea 3
The pay for sin is forever death.
We are all sinners. And the pay for sin is forever death. This, of course, is the…
➡️ Worst News
Worst… news… ever! But last time, I had great news to tell you.
➡️ Big Idea 4
God loved the world and sent his Son to save us.
➡️ Big Idea 5
God’s Son Jesus died to pay for our sins.
➡️ Big Idea 6
Jesus rose back to life. It proved he was our God-sent savior.
➡️ Seven Parts
As you can see, we have one part left. And next time, I’ll get a chance to share it with you!