NASHVILLE (BP) – This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with Lifeway Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, Lifeway publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups.
This week’s Bible study is adapted from the YOU curriculum.
Bible Passage: Luke 24:1-8, 38-43
Discussion Questions:
- How are the words “He is Risen” good news for us?
- Why is it significant that Jesus foretold His resurrection?
- How does Jesus reveal himself to us today?
Food for Thought:
Lewis Latimer could not predict the future, though it might have seemed like he could from his work. Latimer, a member of Thomas Edison’s research team, improved the light bulb with the invention of the carbon filament in 1882. He went on to become the head draftsman – someone who draws pictures of machines, buildings, or inventions – for General Electric.
He went on to design a bathroom for railroad cars, a disinfecting and cooling device, a hat and coat rack, the locking umbrella and a device for supporting books. He also worked with Alexander Graham Bell as draftsman for the telephone.
Despite all of Latimer’s knowledge and foresight, he was human and fallible. He, like many of the inventors he worked with during his time, could not understand how humans would use the inventors’ advancements in technology.
But what about Jesus? He was fully human, but also fully divine, and completely infallible. Jesus never gave a false prophecy. Even His most seemingly impossible prophecy, His own resurrection, came true. Indeed, everything relied on Jesus being right – and He was!
Read Luke 24:1-8, 38-43.
Jesus was dead. His followers had scattered, presumably believing that the same torture and death would come to them. With the exception of John, the disciples did not go to the crucifixion. As the afternoon waned into the evening, the Sabbath was about to begin. Jesus’ body was placed in a tomb.
Soon, the women who had supported His ministry came to anoint His body. The women must have been astonished when they found the tomb open, especially since Roman guards had been stationed there. They were surprised, but the angels that met them there were not. In fact, their statement to the women is one of pure logic: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” The women could have offered any number of explanations. Yet the simplest, albeit most unbelievable, explanation was the true one: Jesus was, and is, alive.
Jesus had risen, and He remains risen today.
What a glorious thought, that Jesus – once dead and now alive forever more – is right now interceding for us. No matter what happens in this life, no matter what job we lose, no matter what relationship ends, no matter how many people turn their back on us, we are not forgotten. Jesus has taken up our case because He is risen.
The empty tomb still points us to Jesus’ resurrection, but we often fail to live in light of that reality.
To the angels, it was nearly nonsensical that the women did not understand. After all, He told them that this very thing would happen. Jesus not only predicted His death; He foretold His resurrection. These facts remind us of at least three key things about Jesus:
1) His knowledge: Jesus was in total control. It was not the nails that held Him to the cross; it was His own devotion to the will of the Father.
2) His intentionality: He waited to go to Jerusalem until just the right time. Indeed, the entire earthly ministry of Jesus, though it might have seemed to be haphazard and wandering, was intentional by design.
3) His faithfulness: Put simply, Jesus’ faithfulness means He keeps His word. Because He is faithful, His Word can be trusted and relied upon. Jesus is an anchor for our souls.
“Peace to you,” He had said. The disciples themselves saw Jesus after His resurrection. They not only saw Him, they heard Him, touched Him and ate with Him. This was no ghost or hallucination, but the actual, physical, resurrected Christ.
Jesus issued the doubters an invitation. What a wonderfully comforting response! It is tempting today to be angry at ourselves when doubts arise in our hearts; to convince ourselves that we should be past such things. But the welcoming spirit of Jesus still extends that invitation. “Come and see,” He still says. And all those who accept the invitation will find their lives changed forever, for no one encounters the risen Christ and is left the same.
YOU
YOU is committed to providing a complete Bible study experience for small groups and classes. Every session is written through an urban and multiethnic lens that provides relevant, engaging and applicable studies that not only encourage and equip people, but also motivate them to mission. This flexible, non-dated, all-in-one quarterly resource offers weekly Bible study for leaders and learners, devotionals and teaching plans, as well as articles on hot topics and missions. For additional downloadable online teaching resources, visit You.Lifeway.com.
