Easter

Matthew 26:21-30; 27:1-2; 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!”

Our Bible story is extra special! Why? Because it's all about why we celebrate Easter! Do you know what shape this is? This is a heart! The true story of Easter begins with God’s love for us. And a heart makes us think of love.


God loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to be our friend forever. While Jesus was on Earth, He did amazing things that only He can do and showed us how to love one another. But before Jesus could be our friend forever, something very sad had to happen. One night, while Jesus was having dinner with His friends, the disciples, He told them that He had to go away, but He said he would come back.


After dinner, Jesus went to pray. While Jesus prayed, some angry people took Jesus away.


The people hurt Jesus, and He died. It was very sad.


After Jesus died, some of His friends put His body in a tomb with a big stone in front of it. Three sad days went by. Count with me: One, two, three!


And on day three, the most amazing thing happened! Jesus came back, just like He said He would! On the third day, some of Jesus’ friends went to the tomb.


They saw that the stone had been rolled away. And Jesus was not there. The tomb was empty!


Jesus is alive! Jesus is alive! That’s the best news ever! It makes me so, so . . . HAPPY!


And that’s why we celebrate Easter. 


Jesus is alive and wants to be our friend forever!






Bible Paraphrase: “I am with you always.” —Matthew 28:20, NIV

Text Truth: Our friend Jesus is alive!



Family Devotional

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

Our Bible story was about why we celebrate Easter. Why do we celebrate Easter? We celebrate that Jesus is alive and He wants to be our friend forever!

“I am with you always.” —Matthew 28:20, NIV

Jesus is alive, and He wants to be EVERYONE’S friend forever. So, with your family, make a list of people you can tell. That way, everyone will know that Jesus is alive and wants to be their friend forever, too! 

Pray with your family. Allow any family members to pray if they wish. In your own words, say, “Dear God, thank You that Jesus came back, just like He said He would, and that He’s alive today. Please help us tell (read the list your family made) that Jesus is alive and wants to be their friend forever, too. We love You, God. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

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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.
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