1. Believe and share Jesus' victory over death
The Way to Life
Lesson 11
Believe and share Jesus' victory over death
Mark
Matthew
Luke
John
the Gospel

2. Opening thoughts about the fear, the loss, and the sorrow of death
How would you feel if you knew that you would go to sleep tonight and never wake up in the morning? You want to stay alive, but you know you are going to die. And there is nothing you can do about it!
If death ended your conscious existence and eventually the existence of your family and everyone else, what purpose or good result could your life have? You would lose everything you lived and worked for. All the good you tried to do would be useless. And in this life you would have no lasting security or hope for the future. The optimism, desires and goals of your youth would end in nothing—nothing but meaningless suffering, disappointment, loss and emptiness.

3. Remember lesson 3
The first man and woman deliberately turned away from God. They thought that they could be like God, without God. When they separated from God, the Giver of life, it resulted in death. And now death is the consequence of the sin in all our lives.
But in lesson 3, we also saw God beginning to restore humankind’s relationship with Him. Through the Old Testament of the Bible we saw the development of God’s work to redeem and save the people. That saving work was finally completed by Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death and His victorious resurrection to life.
This lesson explains the crucifixion of Christ and its importance for our lives. You will see how Jesus’ resurrection can give you victory over sin and death, resulting in a meaningful life now.

4. Today we’ll read the reports of those who saw and witnessed Jesus’ resurrection
We’ll read the three reports of Jesus’ resurrection in:
Matthew 27:57–28:10
Luke 24:1–53
John 20:1–31
One eye-witness cannot write all the details of an event. The event of the resurrection really happened, but it is described from a different author’s view and in a different order by each of the writers.

5. Before we read the three witness accounts we need to understand the vocabulary
The “Sabbath” (Matthew 28:1) was the seventh day of the week, our Saturday time. The Jews were forbidden to work on this day, their religious holiday. People could not prepare Jesus’ body for final burial on that day. So the women went to the tomb before sunrise on the next day, our Sunday morning time.
A “tomb” (verse 1) is a grave, dug into a hill or rock, in which the body is placed.
An “angel of the Lord” (Matthew 28:2) is a spirit-being who lives in God’s spiritual realm outside our material universe. Angels serve God and God’s people on earth, invisible to us. But sometimes angels take on a physical appearance to communicate revelation and salvation to God’s people.

6. Understand the vocabulary (continued)
“Crucified” (Matthew 28:5; Luke 24:7) means nailed to a wooden cross to die a slow, painful, humiliating death. This was a punishment the Romans used to execute people who they thought were criminals or rebels.
“Risen” (Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:6) means that Jesus’ physical body rose from the grave after dying. That was Jesus’ Resurrection. He was alive again.
“The Eleven” (Luke 24:9) were Jesus’ disciples, also called “apostles.” Jesus chose them to be a special group who would be with Him constantly during His years of ministry. He trained them and gave them special authority to be witnesses of his life and teachings, and to lead the new Christian church. Some of these disciples wrote, or provided historical information for, all the books of the New Testament. Jesus originally chose twelve disciples, but one, Judas Iscariot, betrayed Jesus and killed himself.

7. Understand the vocabulary (continued)
The “strips of linen lying” (Luke 24:12; John 20:6) were long strips of cloth wrapped around a body for burial, like a mummy. Apparently, these strips were still in the same position as when they were wound around Jesus’ body. But when Jesus rose from the dead, they were lying where Jesus had lain, with the body having passed through them without unwinding them.
“Aramaic” (John 20:16) was the local language spoken by the Jewish people at that time.
“Redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21) meant to rescue the Jewish nation of Israel from the Roman’s political, military, economic and social control and to establish it as an independent nation under God’s rule.
“A ghost” (Luke 24:37) meant Jesus’ spirit without His physical body.
“Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:27,44) were the major sections that made up the Old Testament.

8. Now read in English and Chinese the three reports of Jesus’ resurrection in:
Matthew 27:57–28:10, page 1517
Luke 24, page 1610
John 20, page 1653
Before Jesus died, His disciples should have believed that He would rise up alive from his tomb after three days. Why should they have? See Matthew 27:62, 63 and Luke 24:6–8, 25–27.
But when Jesus was crucified and dead, did His disciples believe that He would come back alive to them? See Luke 24:1, 25 and John 20:2, 9.
Even when the angels and the women reported that Jesus was alive, were the disciples easily convinced? See Luke 24:11, 12, 37–39 and John 20:25.

9. Jesus was crucified by Jewish and Roman powers
Jesus was crucified by Jewish and Roman powers. Before Jesus’ disciples saw Him alive, in what condition were the disciples? Did they have strong faith, hope, plans and courage? Describe the disciples’ condition. See Luke 24:11, 17–21 and John 20:19.
Jesus’ enemies tried to make sure that He would stay securely buried in His tomb. How did God use their efforts to show for sure that Jesus was not secretly stolen from the tomb by His weak disciples? See Matthew 27:62–28:4.
So then, what finally convinced them that Jesus rose from the dead? See Matthew 28:9, 10; Luke 24:30–45, 50–53 and John 20:16–20, 26–30.
Facilitator, make a handout worksheet for the discussion groups about
questions 7 through 10.

10. Facilitator, make a handout worksheet for the discussion groups about
questions 7 through 10.
Split up in smaller discussion groups to share your thoughts about the questions on your handout worksheet.