Locations & Times

SUPPLIES: toy donkey, palm branch, toy food, a stone, angel

OR

PDF: Story Pictures

NOTES

• If you don’t have supplies for See and Share, then use the story picture PDFs.
• Take items out one at a time and hold them up for your child to see (or swipe through PDFs on your phone).
• Read each section and do the actions.

1. Donkey: Jesus rode on a donkey. A donkey says hee-haw. Can you say hee-haw?
   
   
2. Palm Branch: People waved branches in the air and shouted, "Hosanna!" Can you wave your branch in the air? Let's say, "Hosanna!"
   
   
3. Toy Food: Jesus ate a special meal with his friends. Can you rub your tummy and say, "Yum, yum?" What kind of food do you have?
   
   
4. Stone: An angel rolled a big stone away from Jesus' tomb. Do you want to touch the stone?
   
   
5. Angel: An angel said, "Jesus is alive." Can you say, "Jesus is alive!"? (Hold up angel.)

Read: Matthew 28:1-10

Day three, following the crucifixion of Jesus, we find Jesus’ two friends named Mary going to his tomb early in the morning. Imagine how they must have been feeling? Maybe the atmosphere was like what follows a funeral: the quiet, the exhaustion, the grief. In this case, these women had witnessed the brutal death of someone that they not only deeply loved, but also wholly worshipped. A thick cloud of hopelessness must have hung heavily over the scene. Hadn’t Jesus said he was GOD? Hadn’t he performed countless miracles right before their very eyes? And yet he couldn’t save himself. And then the earth began to shake. An angel rolled the stone away from the tomb and Jesus came back from the dead.

Those three dark days after Jesus died must have been the most difficult faith journey for Jesus’ followers. They were human, just like us, so maybe they were incapable of focusing on the big picture. Just like us, maybe they failed to trust God.  Maybe they questioned him.  Did they get angry, feel abandoned, disappointed, or lost? 

The great news about God is that he is always faithful, even when we’re not. Jesus defeated death—proof once and for all that he has the power to defeat death for us, too.  Remembering this power in our moments of disbelief and hopelessness is difficult. But God is still there.  Easter reminds us that just when things look the darkest, light returns... and wins.

Consider a difficult experience in your life when things looked very dark. How did God remain faithful? Did he show up when you thought he wouldn’t? How does the Easter story remind you of Jesus’ ultimate power?