Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. | Matthew 28:1–9
The disciples were very sad when Jesus died. He was their very best Friend. They had surely expected Him to be their Saviour. But now He was dead. How could he be their Saviour if He was dead? They did not understand.
They buried Jesus in a tomb – a hole cut into the side of a big rock. They rolled a big stone in front of the tomb. Then they went home.
The enemies of Jesus said, “We will put watchmen by the grave, because the disciples might come and steal Jesus’ body. Then they will say the he is alive again!” But the disciples did not even think of stealing Jesus’ body, or of saying He was alive. They knew He was dead and they were sad.
The watchmen sat by the grave Friday night, and all day Saturday, and Saturday night. They did not like to stay by the grave all through the long dark night. They could hardly wait for morning to come, and for the sun to shine again. And so they were glad on Sunday morning when it began to get a little bit light.
But suddenly, what was that? A flash of bright light! It came from the sky, but it was not lightning. The watchmen saw what it was – an angel, coming down from heaven! They saw the angel go to the big stone that was in front of the tomb. They watched him roll the stone away. And then the angel sat on it! The watchmen were so frightened that they fell right down on their faces. They did not dare look any more. Aftare a little while, they got up and ran. They ran away from the tomb as fast as they could go.
The garden was all quiet then. The sun peeked over the big rock. Some women came up the hill. They were friends of Jesus. They were bringing sweet spices to put on the grave.
When they saw that the stone was rolled away, they were surprised. They said, “Who has been here, and rolled the stone away? What has happened?” They hurried on, to look inside the tomb. And there they saw the angel. Then they were frightened.
The angel said to them, “You need not be afraid. You are looking for Jesus. He is not here. He is risen! Come and see that He is not here.”
The women went into the tomb and saw that it was empty. Then they ran to tell the disciples the good news: “Jesus is risen!”
Peter and John ran to the grave as fast as they could go. They did not see the angel there. But they did see the empty tomb. And then they knew that Jesus was risen. He was alive! He was their Saviour after all!
Yes, Jesus died. But He arose from the dead to live forever! He is the Christ, the Son of God. The angel rolled the stone away so that everybody could see that He was not in the tomb any more.
Something to talk about:
- Who saw the angel come and roll the stone away?
- Why did the angel roll the stone away?
- Who was afraid? And who was happy that day?
Memory verse
That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. | I Corinthians 15.4