Seekers for Jesus: April- June 2023

By R.H. Boyd Publishing Corp.

Seekers for Jesus is a quarterly written especially for young people ages 12-14. In addition to introductory material and biblical exposition, each lesson contains a section to help students apply the lesson to life. Questions are interjected to gauge the student’s understanding of the presentation. It follows the International Uniform Sunday School Lesson Outline from the National Council of Churches.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: Mar 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886350678

Book preview

Lesson

1

04/02/23

Amazing Title Encounters

CHECK OUT TODAY’S LESSON

Today’s Scripture

Luke 24:1–12

Background Scripture: Luke 24:1–12

NRSV

BUT on cap the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking Scripture the spices copy. that they had prepared.

2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,

3 but when they went in, they did not find the body.

4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them.

5 The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.

6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,

7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again."

8 Then they remembered his words,

9 and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.

10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.

11 But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Key Verse:

The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. (Luke 24:5, NRSV)

Today’s Word

Have you ever witnessed or heard about something so amazing that it seemed to be a completely fictional or made-up story? When we encounter someone or something under these types of amazing circumstances, we may find that it is impossible for us to keep the encounter private or to ourselves. How do we let others know about our exciting and amazing experiences? In today’s lesson, the women who had gone to the tomb where they had laid Jesus’ body made an amazing discovery. They faced the astonishing reality of Jesus’ resurrection. Then they returned to the others, and they shared their exciting eyewitness report with them.

He Is Risen

We learn that very early in the morning on the first day of the week, the women went to the tomb, and they took spices they had prepared with them. When they arrived, they found that the stone had been rolled away from the opening of the tomb. This was amazing to the women because moving the stone would have required a group of people working together to roll it away. It was a large and heavy stone, one that would have been difficult to move. What was even more astonishing was that when they entered the tomb, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

As they were standing there, wondering about who could have moved His body, two men suddenly appeared and stood beside them. The two men wore clothes that shined brightly like lightning. The women were afraid of what they were witnessing, and they bowed down with their faces to the ground. This fear is a typical reaction to many of the spiritual and unbelievable encounters they experienced.

They needed to overcome their fear and amazement. The men, who were assumed to be angels, asked them, Why are you looking for the living here among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! The fact that they knew that Jesus lived was another indication that they were angels with a knowledge of divine actions. By telling the women that Jesus lived, they were telling them that their task of anointing Jesus’ body was unnecessary because He was alive. Then the men continued and told the women to remember what Jesus had told them while He was still with them in Galilee. By telling the women to remember, they were not telling the women to merely recall something, but it suggests that they were coming into a fuller understanding of what Jesus had been teaching them.

Jesus had told His followers that the Son of Man would be delivered over to the hands of sinners. He would be crucified and on the third day He would rise up again. They reminded the women of Jesus’ prediction that He would be resurrected in Luke 9:22. ...The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.’

It was with that reminder that the women remembered Jesus’ words to His followers about what He would face. When the women returned from the tomb, they told the eleven disciples and all the others what had happened to them while they were at the tomb. Included among the women who had gone to the tomb was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary who was the mother of James. There were other women who joined in and reported to the apostles the news of their encounter with the two men. Mary was the last one at the cross when Jesus was crucified, and she was the first one at the tomb.

Visit us at www.rhboyd.com for Bible Quiz

Mary was the one who had been given the task of delivering the first resurrection message. But the men found the women’s report of the activities at the tomb to be difficult to believe because their words seemed like nonsense to them. It was, in fact, an unbelievable tale. In today’s account, the women were instructed by the men to go and tell; they had a close relationship with the others, and it seemed to be a natural inclination for them to return and tell the others what they had witnessed.

The women’s tale of what had happened to them was met with disbelief. In fact, in v. 11, Luke’s account says that the men considered the women’s report to be idle tales that were too outlandish to be believed. While the others reacted with disbelief, Peter had a different reaction. Peter got to his feet and ran to the tomb to see what was happening for himself. When he bent over and looked into the tomb, he saw that things were exactly as the women had reported them to be. He saw the strips of linen that had been wrapped around Jesus’ body. The linen was lying empty in the tomb and Peter went away from the