Lesson 8 – The Empty Tomb

On the first Easter, Jesus revealed to Mary Magdalene and to His disciples that He was alive. Through the Word, the Spirit gives us faith to believe in Christ’s resurrection and comforts us when we mourn the death of loved ones. 

Opening

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

This lesson will use the Bible and the Lesson 8 Leaflet from the Student Pack. The front cover shows how the artist sees two of the disciples in the tomb after the resurrection. Also paper and pencil or crayons will be needed.

Read the Faith Words on page 4 of the leaflet

Alleluia! Christ is risen! "He is risen indeed! Alleluia!"

This lesson is again about the chief festival of the Christian Church, Easter.

Listen to the hymn "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today" .

Prayer:  Dear risen Lord and Savior, we say "Alleluia!" today because, by faith, we know that You rose triumphantly from the grave and won the victory over sin, death, and the devil for us. Help us wait patiently for You to take us to be with You in heaven. Bless our study of Your Word and bless our families. In Your name we pray. Amen.

God Speaks

In this lesson an important message got passed around very quickly. Although Jesus' disciples had a difficult time believing the message, it was definitely true!  Scripture tells us so.

The message started at Golgotha, the place of the crucifixion and the tomb.  Use the map in the Bible Discovery Guide page on pages 2 and 3 to find Golgotha

Read John 20:1-18

The text refers to "the disciple whom Jesus loved”.  Historically, we know this to be John. John always refers to himself in his writings in this manner.

Here is a review of the story:

• Where was Mary Magdalene going? To the tomb.
• What happened next? She found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty.
• What had Mary expected to find at the tomb? How did she react? She expected to find the body of Jesus and intended to prepare the body for proper burial. She thought Jesus' body had been moved, and she was upset.
• What happened next? She ran to tell Peter and John.
• What did Peter and John do? They ran to the tomb to see if what Mary said was true. John looked in first, but Peter boldly ran in.
• What happened next? They found the tomb empty except for the grave cloths.
• What was unusual about how they found things? Why didn't it look like someone had broken into the tomb to steal Jesus away? Things were orderly, with the cloth that covered Jesus' head and face folded and placed neatly.
• What happened next? Peter and John went home.
• What did Mary see in the tomb that was different from what Peter and John saw? She saw two angels who asked whom she sought. She told them she was looking for Jesus, and she was crying.
• What happened next? She saw Jesus, but she thought He was the gardener or a caretaker.
• Why didn't Mary recognize Jesus right away? We don't know exactly. Maybe she was crying too hard. Maybe the risen Jesus looked different. Maybe she was kept from recognizing Jesus for some reason, just as the disciples on the road to Emmaus in next week's story were kept from recognizing Jesus.
• What happened next? Jesus called her by name, and she recognized Him.
• How did Mary react when Jesus called her by name? She was joyful, and called Him "Teacher.
• What happened next? Jesus told her not to cling to Him, but to go to the other disciples and give them a message.
• What was especially important about Jesus' words? He said, "l am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God" (John 20:17). Through Jesus, we are all God's children. Because Christ shares in our humanity, He is our brother. He has reconciled us to God, and as His children, we receive many blessings, including heaven.
• What happened next? We have the hope of the resurrection, and believers like us will live eternally in heaven.

On the first Easter, Jesus revealed to Mary Magdalene and to the other disciples that He is alive. Jesus also comes to us in His Word, through which the Spirit gives us faith to believe in Jesus, our Savior from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, we have salvation. The Holy Spirit comforts us when we mourn the death of loved ones.

The soul of the dead Christian is at rest with Christ in paradise. Death has been a consequence of sin going all the way back to the Garden of Eden when sin entered the world. God's solution for physical death is bodily resurrection. Because Jesus redeemed us on the cross, that bodily resurrection will occur on the Last Day. Jesus' resurrection ensures the final resurrection.

We Live

At our Baptism, God calls us by name and we receive the gift of faith through the power of the Holy Spirit working in the water and His Word. Until God the Holy Spirit calls our name, we cannot believe in Him. Sin separates us from God. Christ has reconciled us to the Father by His own death and resurrection.

On page two of the leaflet, follow the directions. Write your name on the baptismal font in the space provided. Fill in the blanks using Isaiah 45:4b and Isaiah 43:1b.

Answers:  I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know Me. Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine.

We know God now only because He called us first. He came to us when we were sinners. Like Mary, who didn't recognize Jesus on her own, we cannot believe in Christ on our own. Through God's Word, the Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts to believe in Christ. Through Baptism, God calls us His own children, and we receive the gift of faith by the Holy Spirit.

The resurrection is the key to our salvation. Without Jesus resurrection, our salvation would not be accomplished. Jesus had to overcome death completely so that, through Him, we might also overcome death. We will inherit heaven because of Jesus' sacrificial death and resurrection. Then, we will join with Mary and all the saints and say, "I have seen the Lord.

Why was Jesus' resurrection a surprise to the disciples? They apparently didn’t expect it. They might not have understood what Jesus was really present on earth to accomplish. At least some of the disciples expected an earthly king, not an eternal king.

Why should Jesus' resurrection not have been a surprise to the disciples? Jesus had already demonstrated that He could raise the dead, as He had raised Lazarus. Jesus also said He would rise after three days.

We believe and confess in the words of the Second Article of the Creed that Jesus was true man and true God. This article describes two states in Christ's work of salvation that the Bible teaches-the state of humiliation and the state of exaltation. These two words, humiliation and exaltation, are used to help us understand how Jesus, in humbleness, left His home in heaven and submitted Himself to everything human in this sinful world (humiliation) so He could complete the work of salvation for all humankind and be glorified by the Father (exaltation). He became a man for us to do what we can't do-reconcile us to God.

The activity on pages 2 and 3 in the leaflet can help to understand Jesus' humiliation and exaltation.

Print Student Page at the end of the lesson. Cut out the word boxes on the page and arrange them on the chart on pages 2 and 3 in the leaflet. The word boxes are applied in the order in which the words are recited in the Apostles' Creed. See last week’s lesson for the Creed.

Answer:  In descending order on the Humiliation side of the chart, they are conceived, born, suffered, crucified, died, and buried. In ascending order on the Exaltation side of the chart, the words are descended, rose again, ascended, sits at God's right hand, and will come again. The word boxes may be taped or attached with a glue stick. The step pattern of the chart gives the students a visual representation of humiliation (descending, getting lower) and exaltation (ascending, rising higher).

The descending into hell is the first step in Jesus' exaltation, even though from the sound of the word itself it would seem to be lowering further. Descending into hell allowed Jesus to use His full powers as He presented Himself to proclaim His victory over His enemies in hell (see Luther's Small Catechism, Question 143).

The bookmarks on the rest of Student Page can be decorated and given away or used by the students in their own Bibles.

Closing

 

On page 4 of the leaflet:

• Review the Key Point of this lesson.
• Read the Bible Words.
• Read the Prayer. 

Listen to the hymn "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today" .

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, You promised a Savior who would redeem all sinners. We thank You that we see Your Son, Jesus, our risen Savior, in Your Word and Sacraments through eyes of faith. You have called us by name and given us saving faith through the Holy Spirit. For this, we praise and glorify Your name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! "He is risen indeed! Alleluia!"