A King Like No Other
People ultimately weren't convinced to follow Jesus because of what he taught. They became convinced because of what they saw!
Discussion Questions:
What's something you remember happening that you would have never believed had you not seen it with your own eyes?
If you weren't a firsthand witness to something incredible (for instance, the moon landing), what would it take to convince you it happened?
Jesus's followers disengaged but then re-engaged after many people saw him resurrected. Talk about the emotions they would have experienced as they saw Jesus die, then saw him alive, saw him leave again, and then heard him promise he would one day return.
Read Luke 24:1–12
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" Then they remembered his words.
When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
4. What are some details in this account that give it credibility?
5. In your own words, what makes Jesus a king?
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
—John 3:16–17