Easter

Matthew 26:20-30; 27:45-50; 28:1-7

Our true story comes from a part of the Bible called the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew was a disciple of Jesus. That means Jesus was his teacher. And the word gospel means “good news!”

Do you know what this is? It’s a heart! Because the true story of Easter begins with God’s love for us. The Bible teaches us that God’s love for us goes higher than the highest mountain—higher than any kite can fly. And God’s love for us is bigger and wider than we can even hold. God’s love for us goes deeper than the deepest ocean. He loves us SOOOOO much.


God loves us so much that He gave us His Son, Jesus, to be our friend forever. But first something sad had to happen. One night, when Jesus was having dinner with His good, good friends, He told them that He would have to go away. But He promised them He would come back. 


They were sad and confused. But remember that Jesus loves us and wants to be our friend forever.


After dinner, Jesus went to pray in a garden. While He prayed and talked to God, some angry people came and took Jesus away.


They hurt Jesus . . . and then He died. It was very sad. All of Jesus’ friends were so sad.


They put Jesus’ body in a tomb with a big stone in front of it. Three sad days went by. Count three days with me. Day one, day two, day three!


On the third day, when some of Jesus’ friends went to the tomb.


They saw that the stone was rolled away, and Jesus was NOT there.


Then came the good news! Jesus came back, just like He said He would! Everyone was so happy!


Yes! Jesus is ALIVE! It was amazing, incredible!


We celebrate Easter because Jesus is ALIVE. He wants to be our friend forever!






Bible Paraphrase: How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. —Ephesians 3:18, NIV

Text Truth: Jesus wants to be our friend forever.



Family Devotional

The angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here! He has risen, just as he said he would! Come and see the place where he was lying. Go quickly! Tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead. He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
—Matthew 28:5-7

Our Bible Bible story was about how Jesus died and was buried. Jesus’ friends were so very sad. But on the third day, God sent an angel to roll the stone away from where He had been buried. When Jesus’ friends looked inside, He was gone! Jesus came back, just like He said He would! Jesus is alive! Jesus came back because He loves us and wants to be our friend forever.

How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. —Ephesians 3:18, NIV

With your family, make a list of the highest things we can think of, like a super-tall tree or a kite or even the stars! It can be anything that is way up high in the sky.

Pray with your family. Allow any family members to pray if they wish. In your own words, thank God for sending Jesus to be your friend forever. Thank God that Jesus came back and will always love you, no matter what. Tell God, "Jesus' love for us is higher than (read through your family's list) and that is some BIG love!" Thank God for His love and tell God that you love Him. Close your prayer, "In Jesus' name, amen."

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Some story illustrations are the copyright of Sweet Publishing and licensed by FreeBibleimages (http://freebibleimages.org) for free download under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike 3.0 unported licence.

Some story illustrations are in the Public Domain.
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