How did Easter Sunday morning go? What did you think of it being at River Park this year? How about those egg cannons?
Would you describe yourself as a planner? To what detail do you typically plan?
What happens if things do not go according to your plan? How do you feel?
How do you feel when a person doesn’t go along with your plans?
Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body.
Mark 16:1-8 NLT
Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside. When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body.
Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.” The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened. Then they briefly reported all this to Peter and his companions. Afterward Jesus himself sent them out from east to west with the sacred and unfailing message of salvation that gives eternal life. Amen.
What were the women planning to do? Why did they go instead of Jesus’ disciples?
How do you think they felt when they saw the empty tomb?
What explanation did the angel give for Jesus not being in the tomb?
It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it. However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.
Luke 24:10-12 NLT
Why didn’t they remember Jesus saying this? Can you recall any passages of Scripture where Jesus referred to His resurrection (see Matthew 16:21, 17:22-23, and 20:18-19 for examples)?
Why might the disciples not have believed the testimony of the women? Did they remember Jesus’ teaching that He would be raised from the dead?
How did Peter react to the news that the stone had been rolled away and the tomb was empty?
Why do you think he was the one to run to the tomb?
Why is it hard to trust God when our plans don’t match up with His plan? How can we marvel as Peter did when we experience and better understand God’s plan?
Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve.
1 Corinthians 15:1-5 NLT
What was Paul reminding the Corinthians about? Why might he have been reminding them? Why was this such an important thing to remember?
Paul’s reason for writing this letter was to answer questions and challenges from the Corinthian church. None were more pivotal than their questions about the resurrection.
How crucial is the cross to the entire gospel story? Why?
How crucial is the resurrection to the entire gospel story and salvation? Why?
If Christ stayed in the tomb, would His death have covered our sins? Why or why not?
How does Christ’s resurrection show He is God? How does it affect His atoning death?