Jesus Comes Back to Life

Lesso 8 89 Jesus Comes Back to Life Matthew 27:27-56; 28:1-10 T hird- ad fourth-graders kow Jesus died for them. They also kow he came back to life. Because they may ot fully comprehed that the seemigly mior thigs they do wrog would be reaso for Jesus to die, this lesso will give them a better uderstadig that Jesus death ad resurrectio was for all sis, ot just the big oes. Kids ca see their ow eed for a savior ad see Jesus as that Savior. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP Gettig Started Bible Exploratio Easter Art (about 10 mi.) Create a Easter mosaic. Jesus Is Crucified (about 20 mi.) Explore what happeed i Jesus crucifixio. paper, tape, costructio paper, markers, glue Bibles, CD player, 4 soft-light lamps or electric cadles, flashlight, usweeteed lemoade, pitcher, paper cups, sharpeed pecils, blaket, table, idex cards, pes, maskig tape Teacher Pack: CD Use plai paper ad tape to make a large cross (about 6 feet tall ad 4 feet wide). Tape it to a wall i your room where kids ca reach it. Bible Poit Jesus is alive. Key Verse I have bee crucified with Christ ad I o loger live, but Christ lives i me. The life I live i the body, I live by faith i the So of God, who loved me ad gave himself for me (Galatias 2:20). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will kow that Jesus loves us ad died for us so that we ca have life with him forever. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 8 Sprig Quarter

90 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP Weavig Faith Ito Life Jesus Is Alive (about 15 mi.) Lear what Jesus death ad resurrectio accomplished. Resurrectio Celebratio! (about 15 mi.) Lear the Key Verse, ad celebrate what Jesus did for them. Bibles, Bible Truth Sleuth, blaket, table, pes Teacher Pack: Bible Timelie Bibles, CD player, white crayos, washable markers or watercolors, tissues, copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD, crosses Tear out the Lesso 8 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Bible Truth Sleuth Lastig Impressios Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Sprig Quarter Lesso 8 Grades 3 & 4

91 Jesus Comes Back to Life Matthew 27:27-56; 28:1-10 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS Everythig Falls Apart Last week s lesso focused o the climax of Jesus miistry. But just a few days later, everythig had goe wrog to huma eyes. After betrayig his Lord to the Jewish authorities who were out to get Jesus, Judas haged himself i remorse. As Jesus had predicted, three times Peter deied eve kowig Jesus. Ad the Jesus was tried, mocked, flogged almost to death, ad forced to carry his ow cross toward the site of his crucifixio (Joh 19:17). At Golgotha, Jesus was ailed to a cross to die as a commo crimial betwee two thieves. A sig was placed above his head that mocked his declaratio that he was Kig. The Meaig of Jesus Death astoudig ad perhaps more sigificat. Jesus resurrectio is at the core of our faith. The Jesus Coectio Jesus resurrectio sealed our eteral life. Because Jesus wet to death ad back for us, God will forgive our sis ad we ca live forever i relatioship with Jesus. Thak you, Jesus, for your icredible victory! Whe was the last time you dealt with a difficult situatio or felt depressed? Remid yourself of Jesus resurrectio ad gift of eteral life. How could reflectig o Jesus have put that situatio i perspective ad helped you deal with it? Make a prayer commitmet to keep explorig Jesus resurrectio, ad discover how it still chages you. You ca write your prayer here. What happeed at the momet of Jesus death cofirmed who he really was (Matthew 27:50-56). The splittig of the curtai that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place i the Temple had deep sigificace. The High Priest etered ito the Most Holy Place oly oce a year to offer sacrifices for the people s sis (Hebrews 9:7) the oly time he could eter ito God s presece. I takig our sis upo himself ad dyig for those sis, Jesus opeed the way for us to have a direct relatioship with God (Hebrews 10:19-20). The Empty Tomb The first people to see that empty tomb were the wome closest to Jesus. Mary Magdalee ad Mary the mother of James arose early to aoit Jesus body with spices, a commo burial practice. What Jesus did i his death o the cross offerig forgiveess for our sis was a amazig ad powerful demostratio of God s love. But what Jesus did o the first Easter morig was eve more Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 8 Sprig Quarter

92 GETTING STARTED Easter Art Supplies paper tape costructio paper markers glue Easter Art Easy Prep Use plai paper ad tape to make a large cross (about 6 feet tall ad 4 feet wide). Tape it to a wall i your room where kids ca reach it. Jesus Is Crucified Supplies Bibles CD player 4 soft-light lamps or electric cadles flashlight usweeteed lemoade pitcher paper cups sharpeed pecils blaket table idex cards pes maskig tape Teacher Pack CD: Tor Curtai (track 4)! ALLERGY ALERT Sprig Quarter Easter Art What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Give each child a sheet of costructio paper, ad set out markers for kids to share. Say: We re goig to create a special cross. I wat you to thik about what Easter meas to you ad draw a picture o your piece of costructio paper. Whe you ve fiished with your pictures, we ll piece them all together o our cross. Give kids several miutes to draw their pictures. Whe they ve fiished, have kids tear their pieces of costructio paper to fit like a mosaic oto the large cross that you prepared beforehad. As kids glue their pictures oto the cross, ask them to share with the whole group what Easter meas to them. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: What are some of the ways we ve expressed what Easter meas o our cross? What are some of your earliest memories of Easter? How has your uderstadig of Easter chaged as you ve grow older? Say: I today s lesso, we ll explore what Jesus did for us whe he died o the cross ad what his resurrectio meas to us. Whe we cosider what it meas whe we say that JESUS IS ALIVE, we ll discover that Easter is more tha just a evet i history it s the reaso we follow Jesus. 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION Jesus Is Crucified What You ll Do For this activity, you ll eed to darke the room ad set out four soft-light lamps or electric cadles that will each be tured off at various poits. Lesso 8 Grades 3 & 4

93 Have kids form four groups, ad distribute a Bible to each group. Ask each group for a willig child to serve as the Reader to read portios of the Bible passage. Have each group tur to oe of the followig passages: Matthew 27:27-31; Matthew 27:32-40; Matthew 27:41-44; ad Matthew 27:45-49. Kids wo t read the passages yet. Give the Reader from the first group a flashlight to use while readig, ad have him or her read aloud Matthew 27:27-31. Pass aroud the sharpeed pecils, ad let kids poke themselves getly o their hads. Cautio kids to be careful while holdig the pecils ad to refrai from pokig ayoe except themselves. I their groups, have them discuss: What feeligs or thoughts do you have about Jesus humiliatio at the hads of the soldiers? Tell about a time you felt humiliated. Allow time for groups to discuss each questio. The have a willig child from the first group, other tha the Reader, come up ad tur off oe of the lamps or cadles. Give the flashlight to the Reader from Group 2, ad have him or her read aloud Matthew 27:32-40. Pour a small amout of usweeteed lemoade ito small drikig cups. Give each child i the whole group a sip of the usweeteed lemoade. Say: The drik offered to Jesus was much more bitter ad sour tha the lemoade you ve just tasted. Ask kids to observe a few momets of silece. The have a willig child from the secod group, other tha the Reader, come up ad tur off oe of the lamps or cadles. Give the flashlight to the Reader from Group 3, ad have him or her read aloud Matthew 27:41-44. Say: Sit quietly for a momet ad thik about thigs people say to oe aother that are hurtful. Thik of specific words people have said that hurt you, ad replay them i your head. Give kids a momet to sit quietly ad thik. I their groups, have them discuss: What feeligs or thoughts do you have about the isults hurled at Jesus by the various people i the passage? Tell about a time you felt made fu of, isulted, or hurt by words. Allow time for groups to discuss each questio. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 8 Sprig Quarter

94 Have a willig child from the third group, other tha the Reader, come up ad tur off oe of the lamps or cadles. Give the flashlight to the Reader from Group 4, ad have him or her read aloud Matthew 27:45-49. I their groups, have them discuss: What feeligs or thoughts do you have about the sese of abadomet ad hopelessess Jesus experieced while o the cross? Tell about a time you felt abadoed or hopeless. Allow time for groups to discuss each questio. Have a willig child from the fourth group, other tha the Reader, come up ad tur off the last lamp or cadle. Say: Our si keeps us separated from God. Jesus died o the cross so we could have forgiveess for sis ad have a relatioship with God. Through Jesus, we ow have a friedship with God. Let s look at that ow. Tur o the room lights. Ask two willig childre to stretch out the blaket ad hold it up from two corers. Have the rest of the group sit o the floor o oe side of the blaket. Have a third willig child read aloud Matthew 27:50-51. Say: Imagie that God is o the other side of this blaket, like the curtai i the Temple. This blaket is like how si separates us from the holiess of God we ca t get close to him or see him or uderstad him because our si keeps us away from him. Have the kids holdig the blaket put it dow o a table ad spread it across the top. Give childre each a idex card ad a pe, ad have them each write oe si they have committed recetly. Kids ca reduce this to oe or two words such as fightig, cheatig, or beig mea. After kids have fiished writig, have them attach the idex cards to the blaket with maskig tape. Allow them to tape the cards facedow if they do t wat others to see them. Say: Each of these cards represets just oe si. But Jesus died for all the sis of every perso who s ever lived. Jesus tore through the barrier betwee us ad God, as oly the so of God ca. Ask your blaket-holdig kids to lift the blaket off the table ad hold it up. Play the Tor Curtai segmet (track 4 o the CD). Whe you hear the arrator say, Surely he was the So of God at the ed of the track, have your kids drop the blaket. Oce the blaket is dropped, stop the CD, gather up the blaket, ad set it aside. Sprig Quarter Lesso 8 Grades 3 & 4

95 Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: What was it like to experiece a example of the way Jesus tears through the barrier of si to brig us closer to God? How is that like or ulike what happeed whe the Temple curtai was tor? What are ways we ca show respect for what Jesus did for us o the cross? Say: It must ve bee awful for Jesus to go through what he did that day. But he did it for us for you ad for me. Jesus was willig to die o the cross so we could be forgive for our sis. Because of Jesus sacrifice o the cross, the separatio from God is goe. We ca go to God ow because Jesus paid the price for our sis. Is t that great ews? But our passage does t ed with Jesus death because JESUS IS ALIVE! Let s fid out what happeed ext. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Jesus Is Alive What You ll Do Say: After Jesus was crucified, the Roma goveror ordered that his dead body be sealed i a tomb. Let s create a tomb here to uderstad a little of what that meat. Create a tomb by drapig a blaket over a table ad turig off the lights. (You ca use the blaket from the previous activity, but remove the idex cards from it first.) The have kids crawl through the tomb. As they do, tur o all the lights i the room so that it is very bright whe they come out. Have kids tur to the Jesus Is Alive activity i their Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Jesus Is Alive Supplies Bibles Bible Truth Sleuth blaket table pes Teacher Pack Bible Timelie Jesus Is Alive Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 8 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Say: The day Jesus was crucified, a lot of people said ad did very cruel thigs to him. But a few people stayed faithful to him. Let s look at some of Jesus followers after they foud out that Jesus was alive, which meat that Jesus was who he said he was the So of God! Show kids the Jesus Rises From the Dead picture o the Bible Timelie. Have kids form trios. I their trios, have kids ope their Bibles to Matthew 28:1-10. As they read Matthew 28:1-10, have kids write descriptios of the faith i Jesus show by Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 8 Sprig Quarter

96 the people listed o the Bible Truth Sleuth page. Whe trios have fiished their work, ask each oe to share highlights ad isights from their discussio. Say: The wome who wet to the tomb ad foud out that Jesus had rise ra to tell lots of people that JESUS IS ALIVE. I your trios, talk about a perso who you ca tell the woderful ews that Jesus is alive. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Resurrectio Celebratio! Supplies Bibles CD player white crayos washable markers or watercolors tissues copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: I Have Bee Crucified (Galatias 2:20) (track 5) crosses Ask: What was it like to be i our tomb? What was it like to come out of our tomb? Tell about a time you wet through a dark time i life, but i the ed everythig worked out. What were some of the ways people i this Bible passage showed or did t show faith i Jesus? How does it chage your life ad faith to kow that Jesus is alive? Say: Whe Jesus came back to life from death, everythig chaged for all of God s creatio. Trustig i God s power over death is a cetral part of what it meas to follow Jesus. The wome shared the great ews that JESUS IS ALIVE. The ews chaged their lives ad the lives of may others! Resurrectio Celebratio! What You ll Do Have kids ope their Bibles to Galatias 2:20, ad ask a willig child to read today s Key Verse aloud: I have bee crucified with Christ ad I o loger live, but Christ lives i me. The life I live i the body, I live by faith i the So of God, who loved me ad gave himself for me. Say: Jesus gave his life for us so that we could live without beig slaves to our si. Whe Jesus died o the cross, our sis died with him. Because of that, Jesus ca live i us. That s great ews! Let s celebrate with a sog. Pass out copies of the lyrics, ad play I Have Bee Crucified (Galatias 2:20) (track 5 o the CD). After they liste oce, have kids sig alog ad do the motios. (freestyle to the beat) I have bee crucified with Christ, (move fists out to the sides like a cross) Ad it is o loger I who live, (place hads o chest) But Christ lives i me. (raise hads high; the place them o chest) Ad the life which I ow live i the flesh, (pat chest to the beat) I live by faith i the So of God, (motio Jesus for So of God by placig your right middle figer o left palm, the left middle figer o right palm) Who loved me (hug self) Sprig Quarter Lesso 8 Grades 3 & 4

97 Ad delivered himself up for me. (raise hads; the place them o chest) (Repeat from the begiig 2x.) I Have Bee Crucified (Galatias 2:20) by Dea-o. 2003, 2008 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Say: Let s make somethig to take home as a remider of what Jesus did for us ad how we ca live our lives, o loger slaves to si, but by faith i Jesus. Give each child oe cross. Have kids use white crayos to write their ames o the crosses. The have them use washable markers or watercolors to lightly pait over the ames o the crosses. Allow kids to use several differet colors to make their crosses more colorful. After kids have fiished with the markers or watercolors, have them use tissues to getly wipe the colors from their ames. Say: Just as we wiped the color from our ames o the crosses, Jesus wiped away all of our si by dyig o the cross. You ca take your cross home as a remider that Jesus died for you ad that your sis were crucified o the cross with Jesus. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: What do you thik it meas to be crucified with Christ? How ca we tell if Christ lives i us? What does it look like to live by faith? What are some thigs i your life that you do t have to be a slave to because of Jesus? Say: While we will always be sad ad shocked by what happeed to Jesus i his crucifixio, we have great reaso to celebrate today because Jesus paid for our sis. JESUS IS ALIVE! Now we ca have a growig relatioship with Jesus because of his power over death. It s as if we ve bee crucified with Jesus because he took our sis with him to the cross. All those bad parts of us died alog with Jesus, ad were replaced with ew life. Ad because JESUS IS ALIVE, whe we have faith i Jesus, his Spirit lives iside us. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 8 Sprig Quarter

98 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Let s thik about how we ca kow that JESUS IS ALIVE this week. Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Tell someoe who may ot kow Jesus about how he s alive. You could eve ivite that perso to worship with you ext week. Write dow oe thig you see each day that tells you Jesus is alive. Thik about what it meas to live every day as someoe who s bee crucified with Christ. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Ask: What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Share a time, a place, or other ideas. Allow time. Say: The greatest miracle that ever happeed was whe God brought Jesus back to life. Let s show the world we believe that JESUS IS ALIVE by followig through with our Daily Challeges this week. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about Jesus power over death. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Take a couple of miutes to pray with your kids, thakig Jesus for his sacrifice ad thakig him because his love for us is amazig! Ask Jesus to help us remember to live as people who have ew life. Sprig Quarter Lesso 8 Grades 3 & 4

99 Lyrics I Have Bee Crucified (Galatias 2:20) I have bee crucified with Christ, Ad it is o loger I who live, But Christ lives i me. Ad the life which I ow live i the flesh, I live by faith i the So of God, Who loved me Ad delivered himself up for me. (Repeat from the begiig 2x.) I Have Bee Crucified (Galatias 2:20) by Dea-o. 2003, 2008 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved.! OK TO COPY FaithWeaver NOW group.com Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 8 Sprig Quarter