Lesson 6: The Messiah is Alive

Before you do this lesson, read these verses from the Injil:

John 20:1-31 -- Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who are you looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16 Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John 21:1-25 -- Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 "I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
5 He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?"
"No," they answered.
6 He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
10 Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught."
11 Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
16 Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
17 The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. 18 I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"
20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") 21 When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?"
22 Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." 23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"
24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.
25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

Now read the lesson and do the test at the end. The lesson explains what you have read in the Injil.

Three days after Jesus the Messiah had given his life on the cross, he came back from the dead.

Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, which is Sunday. There was another great earthquake. At the same time an angel from God appeared at the grave where the body of Jesus had been laid. The angel was bright like the sun. The soldiers who were guarding the grave fell to the ground in great fear. The great stone which covered the grave was rolled away.

Then the Messiah came back to life again, and he walked out of the grave (Matthew 28:2-4)! This showed that Jesus the Messiah was more powerful than death.

The Messiah Appeared to Mary Magdalene (John 20:1-18)

Mary Magdalene was the first person who saw Jesus the Messiah after he rose from the dead. This is what happened.

Early Sunday morning Mary Magdalene went to the grave. In the books of the Injil by Matthew, Mark, and Luke we read that several other women came to the grave with spices to put on the body of Jesus because that was their custom. But when they came to the grave, they found that the stone had been rolled away. And the grave was empty!
The women were very surprised! They ran quickly to tell the disciples of Jesus the Messiah that the grave was empty. They thought that the body of Jesus had been stolen. Two of the disciples called Peter and John ran to the grave. Mary Magdalene followed them.

The disciples found the grave empty just as the women had said. They looked inside and saw the cloths with which the body of Jesus had been covered. Each cloth was carefully folded. They could not understand what had happened. But John began to believe that Jesus the Messiah had risen from the dead. Then Peter and John went back to their homes.

Only Mary Magdalene remained at the grave. She stood at the door of the grave crying. A year or two before, Jesus the Messiah had made seven evil spirits come out of her (Luke 8:2). She was thankful. Now she wanted to know what had happened to the body of Jesus.

As she cried, she looked into the grave. There she saw two angels. They were sitting beside the place where the body of Jesus had been.

The angels asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

She answered, "They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him."

Just then she turned around and saw a man standing behind her. The man asked, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it that you are looking for?

She thought the man was a workman in the garden where they grave was. So she said, "If you took him away, sir, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him."

The man answered by saying only one word. He said, "Mary!"

Immediately she knew that the man was the Messiah. Quickly she turned to him and cried out, "Rabboni!" (Rabboni means teacher.)

Jesus the Messiah told Mary to go and tell the disciples that he was alive. Then he left her. She went quickly to find the disciples. With great joy she told them, "I have seen the Lord!"

The Messiah Appeared to Other Disciples (I Corinthians 15:3-8)

Although Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene first, he also appeared to other disciples. Once he appeared to five hundred people! During the 40 days right after he rose from the dead, he appeared at least 11 times. The book of the Injil by John tells about only four of these appearances. Several times Jesus ate food with his disciples. He did this so that they would know for sure that he was not a spirit. The Messiah had truly risen from the dead!

The Story of Thomas (John 20:24-29)

The disciple Thomas could not believe that Jesus the Messiah was really alive. Other disciples had seen Jesus, but Thomas had not seen him. Those disciples told Thomas, "We have seen the Lord!"

But Thomas answered, "Unless I see the scars* of the nails in his hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in his side I will not believe" (John 20:25). Thomas knew that the soldier's spear had wounded Jesus' side. He wanted to see the wounds Jesus the Messiah had received when he was on the cross.

Only eight days later, Jesus appeared again. Thomas and the other disciples were in a house with the doors shut. Suddenly Jesus the Messiah was present with them.

Jesus said, "Peace be with you!" Then looking at Thomas he said, "Put your finger here, and look at my hands; then stretch out your hand and put it in my side. Stop your doubting, and believe!" (John 20:27).

Thomas said, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28)

Jesus answered, "Do you believe because you see me? How happy are those who believe without seeing me" (John 20:29).

The Messiah Returned to Heaven

Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, he led the disciples to a hill outside Jerusalem. There he told them, "Go throughout the whole world and preach the Gospel (Injil)" (Mark 16:15). Then Jesus lifted his hands and blessed the disciples (Luke 24:50).

After these final words with his disciples, Jesus the Messiah disappeared into the heavens. The disciples were surprised. As they stood looking into the heavens, two angels appeared.

The angels asked, "Why are you standing looking up at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). Jesus will return to earth again as judge at the end of the world.

What is the meaning of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah? Thousands of books have been written about that question. We cannot answer the question completely. But the next lesson explains some of the important meanings of the work of Jesus the Messiah.

Here is a list of difficult words in this lemon:
scars                -     marks on the body after the wounds have healed
wounds.           -     hurts or cuts which come from being beaten

Learn this verse. John 20:29: "How happy are those who believe without seeing me!"

Test 6: God Loves People

Here is the test for Lesson 6. Write the letter of the correct answer on the line on the right side of the page.
1)   Jesus rose from the dead on
      a)   Friday.
      b)   Saturday.
      c)   Sunday.                                                                                                             ___
2)   When Mary Magdalene and the other women found the grave empty, they thought that
      a)   Jesus had risen from the dead.
      b)   someone had stolen the body of Jesus.
      c)   they had come to the wrong grave.                                                                  ___
3)   The first person Jesus appeared to was
      a)   the disciple Peter.
      b)   Mary Magdalene.
      c)   the disciple Thomas.                                                                                        ___
4)   After Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to the disciples at least
      a)   eleven times.
      b)   fifteen times.
      c)   forty times.                                                                                                       ___
5)   When Thomas saw the marks of the nails and the spear on Jesus, he said:
      a)   "My Lord and my God!"
      b)   "I will never believe!"
      c)   "You are only a spirit!"                                                                                     ___
Write "True" or "False" after each of the following sentences.
6)   Peter saw Jesus the Messiah when he ran to the grave.      ______
7)   At first Thomas did not believe that Jesus the Messiah had risen from the dead. ______
8)   Thousands of people saw Jesus the Messiah rising from the dead.       ______
9)   Jesus the Messiah will return to earth at the end of the world.      ______
10) Jesus the Messiah told the disciples to preach the Gospel (Injil).     ______