Burial and Resurrection of Jesus

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Scripture Reference:
Luke 23:50-24:49

Suggested Emphasis: God has power over death. He raised Jesus from the dead and gave Him new life. Through Jesus, we have new life too.

Memory Verse: “Christ was raised from death. And we know that he cannot die again. Death has no power over him now.” Romans 6:9 ICB

Story Overview:

Jesus was buried in a tomb, and on the third day, some women arrived and were shocked to find the tomb empty. Two angels appeared to explain that Jesus had risen from the dead. Jesus went on to appear to a number of people, including the disciples. God raised Jesus back to life just as Jesus said He would.

Background Study:

1 Corinthians chapter 15 is good to read for your own personal devotion time before you teach today’s lesson. The resurrection provides context for the death of Jesus. Without the resurrection of Christ, our whole Christian life has no meaning. What an honour to teach the children this incredible lesson!

Each of the gospel writers mentions different details, so reading each one independently helps to see what each writer is emphasising in telling the story of Jesus’ resurrection. The other versions of this event are found in the following:

Crucifixion was a shameful death reserved for the worst criminals. Usually, those who had been crucified did not have the benefit of a decent burial. Sometimes, the body was released to a very close relative, like a mother. Usually, the remains were left unburied or, at best, put in a pauper’s field.

Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the Sanhedrin but had not agreed with the other leaders when they had called for Jesus’ death. He was the one who sought permission to take Jesus’ body down from the cross and prepare it for burial. John’s gospel mentions Nicodemus also taking part (John 19:39-40).

According to Jewish custom, he would have used 30-75 pounds of myrrh and aloes between linen strips. After wrapping the body, he placed it in a tomb that was cut into a wall of rock.

Matthew and Mark mention the large stone that was rolled in front of the opening. Matthew also writes about the Jewish leaders approaching Pilate and convincing him that soldiers should guard the tomb so no one would steal the body. Pilate granted them what they wanted, but the plan backfired when the soldiers subsequently became witnesses to the resurrection. Later, the guards had to be bribed to hide the truth (Matthew 28:11-15).

Early on Sunday morning, women came to tend the body of Jesus. They would have been able to buy spices and cloth after six the night before because that was the official end of the Sabbath. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was not in this group. Women had been among the followers of Jesus (Luke 8:2-3), and they had been at the cross (Mark 15:39-40).

When they arrived at the tomb, the women found the stone rolled away and no guards present. Looking inside the tomb, they saw that it was empty. Two men in shining clothes (referred to as angels in the other gospels) explained that Jesus had risen just as He said He would.

The women ran to tell the other disciples, but this seemed too incredible to believe. Peter ran to the tomb and looked in. He could only see the linen cloths that Jesus had been wrapped in. Peter wanted to understand what had happened, but did not until later.

The risen Jesus appeared to two followers on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). After this, He appeared to the remaining apostles (Luke 24:36-49). To help the apostles understand that He was actually alive, He showed them his hands and feet and invited them to touch Him. He erased all doubt by asking for food and eating it before them. Ghosts do not do all of that.

Appearances mentioned in other accounts were:

Jesus eventually appeared to many people before He returned to heaven forty days after the resurrection (I Corinthians 15:3-8). Later, He made a special appearance to Paul on the road to Damascus (recorded in both Acts 9:1-19 and Acts 22:6-21).

A simple way to explain the overarching story of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus to children…

“God created the whole world, and He wanted everyone to love Him. He wanted to show everyone His love for them. Sadly, people make bad choices, which has caused many bad things in this world. Sometimes, people even die.

God was very sad that people had caused the earth to be so bad. Even though many people did not follow Him, He still loved them. So God sent His Son, Jesus, from heaven to earth to show everyone His love and how to obey and love Him. 

Sadly, many people did not believe what Jesus said about God’s love and how to follow Him. They got so angry that they made Him die on the cross.

But even though this was terrible, Jesus’ death had a purpose. When He died, He took all of our sins so that we could be forgiven. He died because He loves us. When people die, they do not come back to life. But God had a plan, and He planned to do a miracle. After three days, God made Jesus come alive again! Jesus showed us that He is stronger than death and stronger than any bad thing that can ever happen. Because Jesus died, the world will one day be good and beautiful again, and we will live with God forever. 

Soon after He came back to life, the time came for Jesus to leave this earth to go and live with His Father again in heaven. Before Jesus left, He told his followers to be sure to tell other people the good news.

The good news is that “Jesus died, but He came alive again!” God loved the world so much that He gave us His only son, Jesus, so that if we believe in Him, we can have eternal life. If you follow Jesus, you can be forgiven, and after you die, you can come alive again too and live with God and Jesus forever!”

Way to Introduce the Story:

Be sure to practice this one at home! You will need water, two clear tall drinking glasses, two identical medium-sized plastic buttons, and an unopened bottle or can of clear fizzy drink (like Sprite). Wash your hands and clean all items. Fill each glass 2/3 full (one with water and the other with the fizzy drink). Drop one button into the glass of water and the other into the fizzy drink. Both will first sink to the bottoms of the glasses, but fizzy drink bubbles will collect underneath the button and make it float to the surface. (If the button has oil on it or the drink is not fizzy, this will not work.)

Ask the children what will happen when you put the button in the glass. Drop the first button into the glass of water. “Remember how sad it was when Jesus died on the cross? Jesus’ friends thought that they would never see Jesus again. Everything seemed just to sink and get worse like this button.”

Sometimes, we feel like Jesus’ friends. We think things are very bad and that they cannot change. But God is powerful. He can make things good even when they seem very bad. God can do impossible things! God makes things happen like this button (Drop the second button into a fizzy drink and watch it rise). In today’s story, we are going to learn about how God made a very bad thing good. With God, things look up!
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The Story:

The followers of Jesus were glad that Jesus was their friend. He was the best person they knew, and the kindest person they’d met. They never wanted their days with Jesus to end.

Jesus was a very good teacher. He taught His followers many important things. Sometimes, His followers understood the teachings, and sometimes, they did not.

For example, they were confused when Jesus said He would die on the cross and then be raised up again on the third day. “Why would Jesus have to die on the cross?” they must have wondered. Only bad people had to die on crosses, and Jesus never did bad things.

But then, a day came when everything happened just as Jesus said it would. Jesus was killed on a cross. His followers were so very sad. It was the saddest day that had ever been. Jesus was dead.

A kind Jewish leader named Joseph, from Arimathea, saw Jesus die on the cross. He was sad that Jesus was dead, but he wanted to treat the body of Jesus with respect. Joseph asked for permission to take Jesus’ dead body down from the cross.

The Jewish teacher, Nicodemus, came with Joseph. Together, Joseph and Nicodemus washed Jesus’ body and wrapped it in long strips of cloth with lots and lots of spices in between the cloths. Joseph and Nicodemus were sad. They knew that Jesus had been a great teacher. Now Jesus was dead.

Joseph put the body into a tomb carved out of solid rock. A big stone was rolled in front to block the opening of the tomb, and then guards came to stand in front of it.

Jesus had died on the cross and was buried in a tomb all on the same terrible day. That day was a Friday. Friday passed, and then Saturday passed. All was quiet. Then, early in the morning on the third day (Sunday), some women made their way to the tomb.

It was a custom for women to put sweet-smelling spices on the body of a person who died. But the women were worried. They had heard about the big stone in front of the tomb. Who would move the stone so they could put spices on the body of Jesus?

When the women arrived at the tomb, they discovered that the stone had already been moved away from the opening. There were no soldiers nearby, so who could have moved the stone?
The women knew Jesus’ dead body had been placed in the tomb. But now, they were shocked to see that Jesus’ body was gone! The tomb was empty. Where was Jesus’ dead body?

As the women were thinking about this, two men in shining clothes appeared beside them. These men were angels.

Then, one of the angels asked them a very strange question. “This tomb is a place for dead people. Why are you looking here?” he asked.

Then the angel said something incredible, “Jesus is not here. He has risen from the dead!”
“Remember what Jesus said before?” the angel continued. “Jesus said He would be killed on a cross but then rise back alive on the third day. Today is the third day!”

Of course, that is what Jesus had said. How could anyone forget that? The women rushed away to tell the other followers that Jesus was not dead. Jesus was alive!

But the followers had never heard such an amazing thing. They could not believe this could be true. Peter decided to come and see for himself. When he looked inside the tomb, he saw that it was empty. All that was left were the linen cloths that Jesus’ dead body had been wrapped in. Could this good news be true? Could Jesus be alive?

Peter did not know it yet, but someone else had already seen Jesus before him.
Earlier, when the other women had gone, Mary Magdalene had stayed near where Jesus’ body had been. She was so sad and confused. “How could the tomb be empty?” she thought, “Maybe someone had come and stolen Jesus’ body.”

But Mary was not alone in the tomb. The two angels spoke to her and asked her why she was crying.

Mary began to explain, but then heard another voice. At first, she didn’t know who was speaking. Perhaps it was a man tending the garden.

Then she heard the voice say, “Mary.” When she heard that voice say her name, Mary knew it was JESUS, her teacher, speaking. Jesus really had come back from the dead!

Mary was so happy. Jesus told her to go and tell the others that He would spend some time on earth with them, but that He would return to His Father soon.

After Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to many people. Two men were walking along a road, talking about Jesus, when Jesus just appeared right there with them. At first, they did not recognise him.

Once the men knew it was Jesus, they rushed to tell the eleven disciples the good news.

As the two men told the apostles what they had seen, Jesus appeared in the room with them all.

At first, they thought they were seeing a ghost! But Jesus told them that He was real. He ate food with them and even let them touch the scars on His hands and feet from when He died on the cross.

And then Jesus reminded them about the things He had been teaching His followers all along.
16. People think that death is the very end, but God has power stronger than the power of death. God brought Jesus back to life.

And now, Jesus wants EVERYONE to have a new life. If people change their hearts and lives, they can start over and have a new life with Jesus.

Life with Jesus does not even stop if our body dies. When we die, if we follow Jesus, we will be resurrected and have a new body, too. Our new life with Jesus will last forever.
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Ways to Tell the Story:

This story can be told using a variety of methods. Always remain true to the facts found in the Bible, but help children connect to its meaning by using drama, visual aids, voice inflection or other group participation.
Click here for visual aids and storytelling methods.


Click here to download the slideshow, or click here to download the pictures to print.
Be selective. Each teacher is unique, so use only the illustrations that best relate to how you tell the story in this lesson. Too many illustrations can be confusing, so eliminate any that cover other stories or details you do not wish to emphasise in this lesson.

Review and Reflect Questions:

Review questions help children remember and know the facts of a story, while reflection questions encourage them to internalise its meaning and implications for their lives. Asking at least one of each type of question can help strengthen a child’s spiritual development and help them connect to God. Click here to learn more about review and reflection questions.

Review:

  1. Where was Jesus buried? (In a tomb that a man named Joseph owned)
  2. What was put in front of the tomb where Jesus was buried? (A huge stone)
  3. On what day of the week was Jesus raised from the dead? (Sunday)
  4. Whom did Jesus first speak to when he had risen? (Mary Magdalene)
  5. Who did Mary think Jesus was at first? (The gardener of the tombs)
  6. What made Mary realise it was Jesus she saw? (Jesus said her name)
  7. What did Jesus do after He talked with Mary? (He appeared to more of His disciples, and ate and talked with them)
  8. What did the disciples learn about God when they realised Jesus had come back to life?
  9. What did you learn about God or Jesus from this story?
  10. What did you learn about people from this story?

Reflection:

  1. How do you think Joseph and Nicodemus felt as they took care of Jesus’ body?
  2. How do you think Mary and the other women visiting the tomb felt when they realised Jesus’ body wasn’t in the tomb?
  3. How do you think Mary felt when she realised Jesus was alive and with her?
  4. Imagine you are one of Jesus’ disciples. You know that He was crucified just two days ago. Suddenly, He is in the room with you! How would you feel? What would you think or want to do next?
  5. How do you think Jesus felt when He appeared to His disciples and greeted them?
  6. Jesus was killed, and that was very sad, but God brought Him back to life! Is there something sad or bad that has happened to you? Has God ever made something bad turn good in your life?
  7. Jesus’ disciples were very surprised when they saw Jesus alive again! When have you had a big surprise?
  8. When have you seen something with new life? Have you ever seen a flower bloom, or a newborn baby?
  9. If you follow Jesus, you’ll be resurrected one day and have a new body, too! What do you think our new bodies will be like?
  10. When Jesus returns, there will be no more death, sadness or sin at all. We will get to live with Him forever! What do you think our life with God will be like? What will we do?
  11. What part of living forever with God are you most excited about?

Prayer:

It is important to guide children in learning how to pray. In prayer, children can connect with God and learn that He hears and answers them. God can become a lifelong friend who is with them every moment of their lives. Try using a variety of prayer methods from time to time so that the children can learn to connect with God in different ways. Note that you can pray at any time throughout your lesson. A variety of prayer methods are found here.

Song Suggestions:

Activities and Crafts:

(How to choose the best learning activities for my teaching situation)

Activities:

  • Place a dark cloth over a small table to form a “tomb”. Ask someone to be the body inside. Place a cardboard rock at the entrance. Let the children see the body inside and then put the stone in place. “Body” crawls out of the back, and the children remove the stone to see an empty tomb. Young ones love this obvious re-enactment.
  • Before the session begins, tape verses or clues to large stones and place them around the room for children to find.
  • Black out the windows of the room to make it dark like a tomb.
  • Share a time in your life when something really bad ended up good.
  • This lesson is one of several that tell the story of Jesus’ Death, Burial and Resurrection. These events are often grouped or taught together and called “The Passion Week.” If you or the children want to explore this group of events, you can look below at the related lessons:
  • Invite the children to respond to this story using the adaptable “God’s Story” printable reflection page. Free printables for this story.

Crafts:

  • 9-torn-cross-instructUse these instructions for The Story of the Cross to learn a simple way to tell the story using one sheet of paper.
  • Guide the children in reading today’s scripture references. Then, have them draw about what they have read.
  • Use a blank piece of paper or print this worksheet: The Burial and Resurrection of Jesus: Drawing Response
  • Guide the children in reading today’s scripture references. Then, have them draw about what they have read. Use a blank piece of paper or print this worksheet: The Burial and Resurrection of Jesus: Writing Response
  • Tomb Craft: If you have access to a space where you can leave crafts to dry, children can make a craft tomb and then use it for review next time you meet. (We made the tomb craft one week ago and reviewed it the next.) Guide children in making a tomb and placing the “body of Jesus” inside. Leave the craft to dry. Before the next session, remove the “bodies” from the tomb and place them aside. When the children arrive for the next session, they will naturally check inside their craft tombs and find them empty. Let them conjecture where the body might have gone. By allowing the children to experience this empty tomb, you will find them reacting the same way the women did when Jesus’ body was gone. This is a great introduction to the story of the resurrection. After reviewing the resurrection story, I returned the “bodies” so the children could take the craft home and recreate the event for their families.
    • To make the tomb cut, a paper plate should be cut in half, painted if desired, and then stapled together at the top rim.
    • To make the body of Christ, cut a simple body shape from cardboard, wrap it with one layer of toilet paper and dampen it with water from a spray bottle. Repeat this so the body is wrapped in multiple layers. Allow to dry.
    • The stone is simply crumpled brown paper.
  • This story is part of a bigger story about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. A simple way to tell the story is to open plastic Easter Eggs one at a time. Each egg reveals something about the story. If you tell stories about the death, burial and resurrection over a few weeks, you might try repeating this method weekly. The children will really know the story after this! Click here to learn how to do it.
  • Print bookmarks, trading cards or timelines (printable pages).
  • Visit the Teaching Ideas page for additional activities and crafts.

Other Online Resources:




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4 thoughts on “Burial and Resurrection of Jesus”

  1. Very helpful in planning for a daily vacational bible school for our children’s church in Nairobi, Kenya

    Reply

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