Over the weekend, we celebrated Easter together, the greatest day in history when Jesus rose from the grave, conquering sin and death. Easter may be over, but we do not have to be done celebrating and reflecting on all that He has done. Because He rose again from the grave, all who place their faith in Him get to spend eternal life with Him forever one day. This good news is what we will continue to talk about and celebrate in our Bible study together today.
What is your favorite Easter tradition?
1. Read Luke 24:1-9, a passage of Scripture that takes place three days after Jesus’ death on the cross for the sins of the world. Why do you think the women were puzzled that the stone to Jesus’ tomb had been rolled away and the tomb was empty? How did they respond when they realized that Jesus was alive?
Luke 24:1-9
But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 3So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. 5The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? 6He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, 7that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.” 8Then they remembered that he had said this. 9So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened.
2. Read Romans 6:19-23. Describe our situation before placing our faith in Christ versus our situation after placing our faith in Christ, according to this passage of Scripture.
Romans 6:19-23
Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy. 20When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
3. Read Jesus’ words during His earthly ministry in John 5:24. What promise do we have to claim based on this passage of Scripture?
John 5:24.
I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.
4. Read 1st Corinthians 15:51-57. Describe Paul’s perspective of sin and death based on this passage of Scripture. Why did he have this perspective?
1st Corinthians 15:51-57
But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. 54Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1. During the weekend message, we were asked, “Are you ready for death?” What keeps people from being “ready” for, or preparing for, death?
2. How does Jesus’ death and resurrection bring hope and perspective amidst the difficulties that we face in this life?
3. What is one step you can take this week in order to prepare for death and eternity with Christ one day?
When the women discovered that Jesus was alive, they could not keep the good news to themselves. They told “everybody” that Jesus had risen from the dead. This is our calling, too. Over the next week, review the Bridge Diagram, a helpful tool to help you share your faith with those around you, which you can find on the Sagebrush app or here. Work on memorizing it if you have not already, and commit to sharing it with one person this week. Throughout this week, tell your group who you shared the Bridge Diagram with, and how God worked in that person’s life as you shared it.
Shortly before Jesus died, He performed His biggest miracle yet: raising a man (his friend Lazarus) from the dead. Lazarus’ story is not only miraculous; it also points us to our Savior, who has power over everything: even death and the grave. For the next few minutes, we will see how Lazarus’ story intersects with our own and points us to our death-defeating Savior.
Lazarus’ story is not much different than our own. He was sick. In fact, he was deathly ill. Even if we are not currently as sick as Lazarus was, we are all headed in the same trajectory: towards death. Take a few moments to read about Lazarus’ crisis and how his loved ones, particularly his sisters, responded to it.
1. Read John 11:1-15.
John 11:1-15
A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. 2 This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. 3So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.” 4 But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” 5So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 6 he stayed where he was for the next two days. 7 Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.” 8But his disciples objected. “Rabbi,” they said, “only a few days ago the people in Judea were trying to stone you. Are you going there again?” 9Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. 10But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.” 11Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.” 12The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!” 13They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died. 14So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”
2. What was the crisis that Lazarus and his loved ones faced in this passage of Scripture, and how is his crisis similar to the crisis we faced before placing our faith in Christ?
3. How did Jesus respond to the hardship Lazarus was facing?
4. In what ways does Jesus bring hope amidst our own difficulties and crises today?
When we face hardships and difficulties, we have to decide how we will respond. We may, like Lazarus’ sisters, have questions for God, wondering how He is still at work. The good news is that He can handle our questions. The even better news is that he is still at work, responding in our trials even when we cannot understand how He is working. This was the case with the story of Lazarus, and it is the case with us, too.
1. Read John 11:17-32.
John 11:17-32
When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. 18Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, 19and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. 20When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” 23Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24“Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” 25Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” 27“Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” 28Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” 29So Mary immediately went to him. 30Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. 31When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. 32When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
2. What stands out to you about Mary and Martha’s response to their brother’s crisis and how Jesus responded to them?
3. What did Jesus reveal to Martha during His conversation with her?
4. How might God be at work even now in the difficulties you are facing, even if you cannot see how He is working?
Yes, a crisis occurred in John 11. Lazarus, beloved brother to Mary and Martha and friend to Jesus, had died. Even still, Jesus was at work. He had held off on healing Lazarus because an even bigger miracle was on the way. This miracle would prove beyond a shadow of doubt that Jesus was God. After all, no one but God can raise the dead!
1. Read John 11:33-44.
John 11:33-44
When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. 34“Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Then Jesus wept. 36The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” 37But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” 38Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39“Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” 40Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” 41So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. 42You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” 43Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 44And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”
2. Describe Jesus’ emotions in this passage of Scripture and why He felt this way.
3. Why did Jesus delay in healing Lazarus?
4. How was Lazarus’ resurrection a foreshadowing of what was to come through Jesus?
Jesus’ power is at work, even when we cannot see it. He has already taken care of our deepest enemies: sin and death. Who is one person you know who is far from Christ? Share that person with your group. When everyone has shared, pray together. Pray for these people that they will come to know Christ and experience His death-defying, resurrecting power in their own lives.
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