Lesson 1.30: The King Conquers Death

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LESSON 1.30: THE KING CONQUERS DEATH

Loved ones, the day after Jesus died was a special Sabbath day (Read John 19:31-37). The Jewish leaders did not want the bodies of Jesus and the two thieves to stay on the crosses on the Sabbath day.

So they asked Pilate to order his soldiers to break the legs of the men to make them die sooner. And they asked that the bodies of the men be taken down from the crosses.

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men on the crosses beside Jesus. But when the soldiers came to Jesus, they saw that He was already dead. So they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus' side. Immediately, blood and water came out. These things happened to fulfill the Scripture that said, "None of his bones will be broken" (Psalm 34:20).

Jesus Is Buried

Later, a man named Joseph asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Joseph was a good man. He was waiting for the kingdom of God to come. He was a member of the Jewish council, but he had not agreed when the other Jewish leaders decided to kill Jesus.

Pilate gave Joseph permission to take the body of Jesus away. Nicodemus was with Joseph. Nicodemus brought about forty-five kilograms (100 pounds) of spices. These two men took Jesus' body down from the cross and wrapped it in pieces of linen cloth with spices. They put Jesus' body in a new tomb that Joseph had dug in a wall of rock. Then, they closed the tomb by rolling a very large stone over the entrance (John 19:38-42).

Roman Guards Watch Jesus' Tomb

The leading priests and Pharisees went to Pilate (Matthew 27:62-66). They said, "Sir, we remember that while that liar was still alive he said, 'I will rise from death in three days.' So give the order for the tomb to be guarded well for those three days. His followers might come and try to steal the body. Then, they could tell people that he has risen from death. That lie will be even worse than what they said about him before."

Pilate said, "Take some soldiers and guard the tomb the best way you know." So they all went to the tomb and made it safe from thieves. They did this by sealing the stone in the entrance and putting soldiers there to guard it.

Jesus Rises From Death

At dawn Sunday morning, Mary from Magdala, Salome, and Mary the mother of James brought some sweet-smelling spices to put on Jesus' body (Mark 16:1; Matthew 28:1-4). At that time there was a very strong earthquake. An angel of the Lord came and rolled the stone away from the entrance of the tomb. The angel was shining as bright as lightning. His clothes were as white as snow. The soldiers guarding the tomb were afraid of the angel. They shook with fear and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Don't be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, the one who was killed on the cross, but he is not here. He has risen from death, as he said he would. Come and see the place where his body was. Then go quickly and tell his followers, 'Jesus has risen from death'" (vs. 5-7).

Jesus' resurrection from death was THE GREATEST EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.

When Jesus died on the cross, He "crushed the head of Satan." Jesus fulfilled the promise that God made to Eve in the Garden when He said that her descendant would crush Satan's head after biting His foot (Genesis 3:15). Jesus suffered pain on the cross, but He won a great victory over Satan by saving countless people from Satan's control. Jesus died so that we could be right with God.

Jesus Appears To The Women

So the women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell His followers what had happened. Suddenly, Jesus was there in front of them. The women fell at Jesus' feet and worshiped Him (Matthew 28:8-9).

Then the women ran to the apostles and other followers. They told them everything that happened at the tomb, but the apostles did not believe what they said. It sounded to them like crazy talk (Luke 24:9-11).

Jesus Appears To Two Followers

Later that day, Jesus showed Himself to two followers while they were walking in the country on the road to Emmaus. Jesus said to them, "You should believe everything the prophets said. The prophets said that the Christ must suffer many things before he begins his time in glory."

Then Jesus began to explain everything that had been written about Him in the Scriptures. He started with the books of Moses and talked about what the prophets had said about Him (vs. 13-27).

When these followers realized who Jesus was, they rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the apostles what happened (vs. 33-35).

Jesus Appears To His Apostles

While the two men were talking to the apostles in a locked room, Jesus appeared and stood among them (vs. 36-43). He said to them, "Peace be with you."

This surprised the followers. They were afraid. They thought they were seeing a ghost. But Jesus said, "Why are you troubled? Why do you doubt what you see? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I! Touch me. You can see that I have a living body. A ghost does not have a body with flesh and bones like this."

After this, Jesus showed them His hands and His feet. The followers were amazed and very, very happy to see that Jesus was alive. They still could not believe what they saw. He said to them, "Do you have any food here?" They gave Him a piece of cooked fish. While they watched, Jesus took the fish and ate it.

Thomas (one of the twelve) was not with the apostles when Jesus came to them in Jerusalem (John 20:24-29). The other apostles told Thomas, "We saw the Lord." Thomas said, "That's hard to believe. I will have to see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side. Only then will I believe it."

A week later the apostles were in the same house again, and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came and stood among them. Jesus said, "Peace be with you!" Then Jesus said to Thomas, "Put your finger here. Look at my hands. Put your hand here in my side. Stop doubting and believe."

Thomas said to Jesus, "My Lord and my God!"

Jesus said to Thomas, "You believe because you see me. Blessed are those people who believe without seeing."

Jesus Tells His Apostles To Go Preach The Good News

Later, the apostles went to a mountain in Galilee where Jesus told them to go. Jesus said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me. So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these people to obey everything that I have told you to do. You can be sure that I will be with you always, even until the end of time" (Matthew 28:18-20).

During the forty days after Jesus was raised from death, He met with His apostles many times and spoke to them about the kingdom of God. In Jerusalem, He said to them, "It is written that the Christ would be killed and would rise from death on the third day. You saw these things happen – you are witnesses. You must go and tell people that their sins can be forgiven. Tell them that they must change their hearts and be sorry for their sins. If they will do this, then God will forgive them. You must start from Jerusalem and tell this message in my name to the people of all nations. But stay in Jerusalem until you have received power from heaven" (Luke 24:46-49).

Then, Jesus led His followers out to the Mount of Olives. There, He told them, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. You will be my witnesses. You will tell people everywhere about me – in Jerusalem, in the rest of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world" (Acts 1:8). "Go everywhere in the world and tell the Good News to everyone. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. But those who do not believe will be judged guilty" (Mark 16:15-16).

Jesus Returns To The Father

After Jesus said these things, He was lifted up into the sky (Acts 1:9-11). While the apostles were watching, He went into a cloud, and they could not see Him. They were looking into the sky where He had gone when, suddenly, two angels wearing white clothes were standing beside them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking into the sky? You saw Jesus carried away from you into heaven. He will come back in the same way you saw him go."

Jesus returned to the Father who sent Him. There, He sat down at the right hand of God to speak for His people who have sinned and to rule over the kingdom of God (READ Daniel 7:13-14).

Points To Remember

1. The prophets said that Jesus would rise from death. David wrote about Jesus' resurrection when he said, "You (God) will not let the body of your Holy One rot in the grave" (Psalm 16:8-11).

2. Jesus predicted that He would rise from death. In Jerusalem Jesus said, "I will give my life so that I can take it back again" (John 10:17-18). At Caesarea Philippi Jesus told His apostles that He would be killed, but He would be raised from death on the third day (Matthew 16:21). At least two times, Jesus predicted His own resurrection.

3. Jesus really was raised from death (cf. Romans 1:4). When we read in the Bible that Jesus was raised from death, we are not reading a fable. We are reading history. Jesus was actually, physically, and literally raised from death. The guarded tomb was really empty. Mary Magdalene, the other women, the two followers on the road to Emmaus, Peter, James, the other apostles, and more than 500 followers in Galilee all saw Jesus after He was raised from death (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). Some people saw Him many times. They went everywhere telling people, "We have seen Jesus. We have touched him with our hands. We have heard his teaching with our own ears" (1 John 1:1).

4. We, too, will rise from death. Jesus said, "A time is coming when all people who are dead and in their graves will hear the voice of the Son of Man. Then they will come out of their graves. The people who did good in life will rise and have life forever. But those who did evil will rise to be judged guilty" (John 5:25-29).

5. Jesus will come again in glory (Matthew 25:31-46). All His angels will come with Him. He will sit on His great throne as King. All the people of the world will be gathered before Him. Then He will separate people into two groups as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will say to those on His right, "Come and get the kingdom that God has promised you." He will say to those on His left, "Go away from me. Go into the fire that burns forever. That fire was prepared for the devil and his angels." Then the bad people will go away to be punished forever. But the good people will have life forever.

The Good News is that Jesus has made it possible for everyone to live with Him forever. He does not want anyone to be lost (1 Timothy 2:3-4; cf. 2 Peter 3:9). He wants everyone to trust and obey (Hebrews 5:9; cf. Acts 5:32).