(15-20 minutes, easy set-up)
Students will study Matthew 28:1-15 to explore the responses of the women, guards, and religious leaders to the truth of Jesus’ resurrection.
Provide a copy of the Student Worksheet and a pen for each student. Also provide a dry erase board and marker.
Learning Goal: Students will explore various responses to the truth of Jesus’ resurrection.
Call on a couple of volunteers to describe someone in the back of the room that they saw earlier but cannot see now. All volunteers should attempt to describe the same person. After two or three volunteers have participated, call on the person being described to come to the front of the room and compare his or her appearance with the earlier descriptions. Ask: Why do those descriptions differ? What makes one more correct than another? Explain that eyewitnesses are usually notoriously divided when they report what they have seen. Share that those who were witnesses to the empty tomb saw the same scene but responded to it differently as well. Distribute copies of the Student Worksheet and pens to students.
1. Worshipping Christ and sharing His truth reflect a heart of humility and faith (Matthew 28:1-10).
Call on a volunteer to read Matthew 28:1-10. Direct students’ attention to the Different Responses section on their worksheets: The Women and The Guards. Divide students into two groups (or duplicate groups to keep groups between four and five students). Assign the first group to review the passage to identify what the women who came to the tomb heard, saw, and felt. Assign the second group to review the passage to identify what the guards at the tomb heard, saw, and felt. After two minutes, call for findings and encourage students to list them under the appropriate headings. (Note: The columns should contain comparable findings as both groups experienced the same things.) Then, ask: What did the angel tell them about what had happened? (The angel reminded them that Jesus had told them He would be killed and would rise again.) Ask: How did the women respond to the angel’s message? (Fear, joy, excitement, celebration) List these on the board in the first column. Point out that the women’s response showed that they recognized and accepted that Jesus is God and Savior. Say: The women realized that Jesus had been who He told them He was and had done for them what He promised them He would do. Not only did they accept the truth of Jesus’ resurrection, they ran to share the news with others as well. Encourage students to complete the first statement on their worksheets with worshipping and faith.
2. Refusing to consider the truth of Christ reflects a heart of prideful control (Matthew 28:11-14).
Call on a second volunteer to read Matthew 28:11-14. Explain that the guards, whether they were Roman or Jewish, had been given one task––to make sure no one, especially Jesus’ disciples, stole Jesus’ body from the tomb. Point out that the guards could have been punished with death if they had fallen asleep while on this duty. Ask: What would the guards’ report to the Jewish leaders about the empty tomb have included? (Possibly: it wasn’t their fault; they had never fallen asleep; an angel was there so it was an act of God.) Why did the Jewish leaders respond the way they did? (They were afraid of what news of Jesus’ resurrection would do to the Jewish people and to their positions; they didn’t want word of Jesus’ Resurrection to get out because it would show that they had been wrong about who He really was.) Ask: What desires drove the leaders and the guards to act as they did? (pride, greed) Point to the board to the responses of the women on the board. Discuss: How differently did the guards respond to the truth of Jesus’ resurrection? (Emphasize their willingness to ignore what they had seen and heard at the tomb in favor of the payoff for lying about what happened.) After discussion, encourage students to write refusing and prideful control in the blanks of the second statement on their worksheets.
3. Recognizing the truth of Christ without life change reflects a heart of indifference (Matthew 28:15).
Read Matthew 28:15. Discuss: What supernatural events did the guards witness? How were the guards changed through their experiences? How did their choices impact how others saw Jesus’ resurrection? Emphasize that all were impacted by the resurrection, even if it only made them fearful, but they were not changed by what they saw. Encourage students to complete the last line of their worksheets with the words life change and indifference.