Week 48 · about 45 minutes
The Tomb Is Empty
Matthew 28 and John 20 · Memory verse Matthew 28:6
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (The Stone Rolled Away), the matching word search and answer key (He Is Risen), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a stone that can roll
Hold up a stone that can roll. In about five minutes, tell the class this: Women find the stone rolled away, and Jesus is alive. Show the prop and ask, “What does this have to do with The Tomb Is Empty?” Let two children answer. Then read Matthew 28:6 together: “He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying.” Close by asking one child to say the lesson back in their own words, using the prop.
Story script
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, women who loved Jesus went to the tomb with spices. They expected a sealed grave and a heavy stone. They found the stone rolled away.
An angel told them, “Do not be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples.” They hurried away, afraid and filled with joy.
Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They clasped his feet and worshiped. Later, Mary Magdalene stood crying by the tomb and thought the gardener was speaking, until Jesus said her name. She knew his voice. Death had not kept him.
The resurrection is the sunrise of the Christian story. Because Jesus is alive, forgiveness is not a maybe, and sadness does not get the last word. He knows your name too. You can go to sleep in a world where the tomb is empty.
Group game
The stone sits in front of a chair-tomb. Roll it away. Children look, find no one there, and run to tell a friend he is risen.
Craft
Draw an open tomb and the words He is not here. He is risen.
Memory verse
Matthew 28:6
“He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying.”
Take-home prayer
Risen Jesus, you are not in the tomb. Thank you for knowing my name. Fill us with joy and chase away our fear. Amen.