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Deuteronomy 6:4-7 says to talk about God’s Word with your family. Why not do it now? Call the kids and get ready to dig into the Bible with this week’s family Bible study.
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Easter is less than five weeks away. How does your family celebrate Resurrection Sunday? Do you have a party? Games? A fancy dinner? Special crafts? Do you get surprises? A special worship service at church? Why do we do all of these things each year?
At Easter, we remember the biggest surprise in the lives of Jesus’ followers. Do you remember what happened? Jesus took the disciples, His followers, out one night to pray because He was very upset. The disciples tried to pray with Him, but fell asleep. When they woke up, someone they thought they could trust pointed out who Jesus was and He was arrested by a group of soldiers (Matthew 26:36-46). The scared disciples ran away and hid. Those who tried to find out what happened to Jesus tried to hide who they were (Mark 14:43-52). They were probably convinced that they’d be arrested too.
Things went from bad to worse. Jesus didn’t get to stand before the equivalent of a proper judge and jury. Yes, He saw the right big-wig judges, but the trial didn’t follow the rules and the only witnesses told a bunch of lies and couldn’t even get their stories straight. The last judge even told the people who hated Jesus that He was innocent. We know that Jesus never did anything wrong and this judge, Pilate, saw it too. The mob who had gathered wouldn’t hear it. They insisted that Jesus be killed and the judge finally agreed to make them happy. Jesus was beat up and insulted in terrible ways. Then they took Him out and killed Him in a public execution (Mark 15:12-20).
Can you imagine what Jesus’ followers must have felt that day? Their great Teacher, their Leader, their Hope had just died. Jesus had brought other people back to life, but now He was dead and buried. Scared, the disciples hid together in a room in Jerusalem (John 20:19).
One morning, some of the women in their group came back with a story that must have seemed like a fairy tale (Luke 24:9-12). Jesus was alive! How could that possibly be? They must be simply having wishful thinking, right? Wrong.
Jesus came into the room where the disciples were huddled in fear. He spoke with them. He ate food with them (Luke 24:36-42). (Do you know of any ghosts who eat?) He let Thomas touch Him to make sure He was real (John 20:24-29). He appeared to over 500 people (1 Corinthians 15:3-7).
Jesus is alive! Now that is cause to celebrate.
Jesus told Thomas: “’Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:29-31 NIV).
How will your family remember the greatest reason to celebrate this Easter? We love to hide Resurrection Eggs. Once we’ve found them all, we take turns sharing what our egg’s contents have to do with what happened to Jesus.
What will you do to remember that Jesus is alive? We’d love to hear what your family is planning. Share your ideas below.
Related Posts
- Lent, Holy Week, and Resurrection Sunday (Easter) Activities and Lessons for Kids
- A Prayer for Families This Easter
- What do bunnies and eggs have to do with Easter?
- Easter Is No Fairy Tale
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