Parenting Resources for Elementary

Jesus predicted that one of the twelve would betray him. That happened. He predicted that Peter would deny him. That happened. He predicted that twelve out of twelve would forsake him. That happened. He predicted that he would suffer and die. That happened. And he predicted that in three days he would rise from the dead. Did that happen? It sure did!

On Friday Jesus died. So dark and sad. On Saturday his body lay in the tomb. Totally dark, sad, and silent. On Sunday, however, as the sun rose in the sky, the Son of God rose from the grave. The first to witness this miracle of miracles were a few women. They didn’t expect Jesus to be alive. We know this because they brought spices to the tomb. Dead bodies don’t smell so good, so they wanted to make Jesus’s body smell better. But when they arrived at the tomb, they found that the huge stone in front of the tomb was rolled away and Jesus’s body was not there. Surprise of all surprises! Just then, another surprise. Two angels stood before them in dazzling white clothes and announced, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you . . . that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise” (Luke 24:5–7).
Only then did they remember.

After the women spoke with the angels, they ran back to tell the other disciples. The disciples thought they were crazy, but Peter and John ran to the tomb to see for themselves. When they got there, they looked inside and saw Jesus’s grave clothes but not his body. Jesus was indeed alive! They ran back and told the others, but at this time “they did not [yet] understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead” (John 20:9). It took a few appearances from Jesus (where they both saw him and touched him!) and his own teaching on the Old Testament for them to understand and believe the amazing news.