Bible Study – Easter “Come and See”
Share: Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.
“I have seen the Lord!” exclaimed Mary Magdalene. At first she does not recognize who is standing beside her. When she realizes it is the risen Jesus she wants to grasp him. He holds her off and tells her to go and share what has happened: He has walked through death and has created a path for us to follow, now and on through our own death.
In these 50 days of Easter, celebrating what Jesus has done for us, we are invited to recognize Jesus standing beside us, as he did with Mary. What is he calling us to do? Perhaps we can train our eyes to look in the direction that this Jesus, standing beside us is looking. What might he be looking at? Do we dare follow where he is leading? Can we notice and honor the various ways Jesus “appears” to people?
First Mary Magdalene, then Peter and another disciple, peer into the tomb. The body is gone but not stolen. Remaining in the tomb were the clothes, just as the women had placed them around their Lord’s broken body. Jesus is now transformed into his resurrected body. What transformation is Jesus calling us to in our time and place?
We are going to pretend you know nothing about Christianity and to help you to understand by tracking this last week’s events, from Palm Sunday (last Sunday) through Holy Week, the Crucifixion, and now Easter. What happened on Palm Sunday? Do you know what Maundy Thursday means? (The day Jesus had the last supper with his disciples and showed us how to have Holy Communion). What happened on Good Friday? Why in the world would we call it Good Friday? (Jesus’ message was that violence does not work. There has to be a better way.) What would you say that Resurrection means? (Jesus showed us that death is not the end and that we can change the way we do things while we are still alive.)
Opening Prayer: Thank you, God, for the gift of Jesus whom we can trust. Amen.
It is the custom of Jewish people to bury the dead within 24 hours. It was also the custom to wash the body and wrap it in clean cloth. None of this could be done during Passover. Jesus was crucified, we believe, on the afternoon when Passover would begin at sundown. When they had to leave, they hurriedly rolled a stone over the opening of the tomb to be sure no one disturbed the body of their beloved Jesus. So the women had very little time to complete the preparation of Jesus’ body and may well have been returning to the tomb three days later, after Passover, to complete the anointing with spices that they would have completed had not Passover intervened.
Please open your Bibles to John 20:1-18 and read or read the scriptures below.
John 20:1-18
The Empty Tomb
20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Reflection Questions (Answers Below):
- Who do you believe was the first person to get to the tomb on Easter morning?
- What did she find?
- What did she do?
- Who got there next and what did he do?
- Who got there after John, and what did he do?
- What did verse 7 mean to the disciples?
- What does John figure out in verse 8-9?
- What did the disciples do then and what do we suppose was the reason?
- What happens for Mary as she stands there crying?
- Why do we suppose that Mary did not recognize Jesus when she saw him standing there nor did she recognize his voice when he spoke to her?
- What happens to Mary when Jesus obviously recognizes her?
- What does Jesus respond to Mary when she calls him “Rabbouni” which means teacher?
- Now what does Mary tell the others?
Memory Bible Verse: John 20:18 – “Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.”
Click here for the young learner’s lesson.
Videos (Click on url)
LUMO Project -Gospel of John 20:1-18 Empty Tomb & Jesus appears to Mary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9__R1pWzH0
Jesus Resurrection: The Empty Tomb – Johns 20 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe50_LaJgWE
Gospel of John Summary: A Complete Animated Overview Part 2 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUfh_wOsauk
Song: He Lives – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFz_jHPJh-g or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35Ent0R25Pg&list=RD35Ent0R25Pg&start_radio=1
Activities:
Easter Day is today and Easter Season and celebration lasts for 7 more weeks. We want to help remind everyone, including ourselves, that we are Easter people all the time, not just today. Today we celebrate Jesus being raised from the dead. Today’s story is one of miracles and joy.
What are some ways that we can show joy?
When Jesus called Mary’s name, she responded with such joy and excitement because she realized that Jesus was right in front of her. What are some ways that we know Jesus is with us?
Eastertide banner: Take a sheet off of a large roll of paper (like butcher paper or poster paper you buy on a roll) and write “Alleluia” in very large letters in the middle. Underneath, write “Christ is Risen and calls us by Name.” You could also print out the message on sheets of colorful paper and tape them to the banner. Then decorate the banner and write your name on the banner as well as anything you want to remember from the Easter story. Have this banner hang in your room so you will see it throughout the season of Easter.
Cross Book Markers: Draw and cut out a cross from card stock. Decorate it with stickers and colored markers to make a book marker. Write I HAVE SEEN THE LORD or JESUS LIVES on the cross. Add a ribbon that will be put through a hole at the top of the cross. https://kr.pinterest.com/pin/106397609942703793/
Bookmarks to Print and Color: https://kr.pinterest.com/pin/3377768467734581/
The Resurrection - Crossword: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/the-resurrection
The Resurrection - Word Search: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/the-resurrection-3
Easter – Multiple Choice: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/easter-2009-2
The Resurrection – Maze: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/the-resurrection-2
The Resurrection- Jumble: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/the-resurrection-1
Getting Closure: Can remember what Jesus said to Mary once she recognized him. (Do not hold onto me.) How can we follow Jesus without holding on to him? If we trust that Jesus is beside us, even if we cannot see him, how will that make it easier for us to do the work we have of growing up, learning what we need to learn, and being who we are?
Prayer: Thank you, God, that we can trust Jesus. Amen.
Answers to the Above Questions:
- Who do you believe was the first person to get to the tomb on Easter morning? (Mary Magdalene)
- What did she find? (The stone rolled away)
- What did she do? (She raced to get Peter and John)
- Who got there next and what did he do? (John, who was younger than Peter and simply outran Peter and when he got there, he stood and looked into the tomb.)
- Who got there after John, and what did he do? (Peter, who went into the tomb)
- What did verse 7 mean to the disciples? (Jesus’ body had escaped without the linen cloths being unwound so Jesus clearly had not been stolen but had been transformed into the resurrected Christ.)
- What does John figure out in verse 8-9? (He remembered that Jesus had promised he would rise from the dead, and now he could believe it.)
- What did the disciples do then and what do we suppose was the reason? (They left. They went home. This was hard stuff to figure out. Maybe they needed time to figure out what they were going to do next.)
- What happens for Mary as she stands there crying? (verse 13) They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
- Why do we suppose that Mary did not recognize Jesus when she saw him standing there nor did she recognize his voice when he spoke to her? (His appearance was changed. We do not know exactly what this means, but he is recognized when people spend time with him.)
- What happens to Mary when Jesus obviously recognizes her? (His recognition of her makes it possible for her to “see” Jesus.)
- What does Jesus respond to Mary when she calls him “Rabbouni” which means teacher? (Don’t hang onto me. I will be with you in a different way than before.)
- Now what does Mary tell the others? (verse 18b) “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
