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Two other men were crucified with Jesus that day.heaven to be with him. He wants you to love himThey were thieves. One of them asked Jesus toand to live a good life for him.save him. Jesus promised that they would be inheaven together that same day. Three hours laterWill you give your life to Jesus?Jesus died.PrayerDO YOU KNOW WHAT REALLYHAPPENED?Do you know what really happened on the crossthat day? God the Father was punishing his own SonDear Jesus, thank you for dying for me. Thankyou for taking the punishment for sin that Ishould have taken. Help me to live a life thatshows that I love you and I am thankful forwhat you have done for me. AmenJesus! But Jesus hadn’t done anything wrong, hadhe? No! Jesus most certainly had not doneanything wrong! You and I are the ones who havedone wrong and bad things. And we are the oneswho ought to be punished.MEMORY VERSEWhat is love? It is not that we loved God.It is that he loved us and sent his Son togive his life to pay for our sins. 1 John 4:10But God punished Jesus instead of us. God loves usso much that he let his only Son Jesus be punishedso that we don’t ever have to be punished for oursins. That is what was really happening when Jesusdied on that cross. He died to pay for your sins andmine.Jesus wants you to give your life to him. He hasgiven his life for us! He wants you to be thankful.He wants you to believe that he has paid for allyour sins and that he will forgive you. He wantsyou to believe that when you die you will go to12NOW READ THE BELOW VERSES AND TAKE THE TEST ONPAGELUKE 23:38–49 (NIrV)38 A written sign had been placed above him. It read, THIS IS THEKING OF THE JEWS.39 One of the criminals hanging there made fun of Jesus. He said,“Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself! Save us!”40 But the other criminal scolded him. “Don’t you have any respect forGod?” he said. “Remember, you are under the same sentence ofdeath.41 We are being punished fairly. We are getting just what our actionscall for. But this man hasn’t done anything wrong.”42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into yourkingdom.”43 Jesus answered him, “What I’m about to tell you is true. Today youwill be with me in paradise.”13

44 It was now about noon. The whole land was covered with darknessuntil three o’clock.45 The sun had stopped shining. The temple curtain was torn in two.46 Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commitmy very life.” After he said this, he took his last breath.47 The Roman commander saw what had happened. He praised Godand said, “Jesus was surely a man who did what was right.”48 The people had gathered to watch that sight. When they saw whathappened, they beat their chests and went away.49 But all those who knew Jesus stood not very far away, watchingthose things. They included the women who had followed him fromGalilee.But they wouldn’t listen to him. They began toshout, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”Finally Pilate gave in and granted permission forthe Jewish leaders to kill Jesus. Before thesoldiers led Jesus out to be crucified, they tookoff his clothes. They put an old robe on him. Theyput a crown of thorns on his head and theyblindfolded him. Then they spit in his face andLesson 12JESUS RISESFROM THE DEAD!laughed at him. They hit him and asked him to tellwho had hit him.JESUS IS CRUCIFIEDThen the soldiers put on Jesus’ clothes again,placed a huge cross on his back and made himcarry it out to Golgotha, the place where theyWhen Jesus died on the cross, thesoldiers put a sword in his side tocrucified criminals.When they gotthere, thesoldiers laythe cross onthe ground.They putJesus’ handson the crossand poundednails throughthem. They puthis feet onthe cross andpounded nailsthrough hisfeet. ThenOne of Jesus’ friends took his body to a nearbythey set thecross up andcemetery. This cemetery was different than thelet Jesus hangthere to die.make sure he was really dead. Whenthey did this, blood and watergushed out. Then they took Jesus’body off the cross.JESUS IS BURIED1411

Judas was one of Jesus’ disciples. But he was angryones we have today. The graves were cut into thewith Jesus so he went to the religious leaders andside of a hill. Jesus’ body was placed into one oftold them that he would help them arrest Jesus.those caves. A great big stone was rolled inThe religious leaders were happy about this andfront of the cave. The stone was so large that itagreed to pay Judas 30 pieces of silver for histook several men to put it in place.help.Then Pilate placed guards by the grave because hehad heard that Jesus said he would rise from theThat night Jesus wasdead. Pilate didn’t believe that. But he thought thatpraying in the Garden ofsome of Jesus’ disciples might try to steal hisGethsemane. Judas led thebody and then say that Jesus rose from the dead.soldiers to the gardenand they arrested Jesus.All this happened on Friday. Saturday was the dayThen they took Jesus toof worship for the Jews so Jesus’ friends wereJerusalem to question him.forbidden to go to the cemetery on Saturday.They asked Jesus if he wasreally God. Jesus said yes.This made the Jewish leaders very angry. Theydecided that Jesus should be put to death.PILATE SENTENCESJESUS TO DEATHBut the Jewish leaders didn’thave the authority to kill Jesus, sothey took him to Pilate who was theRoman governor. Pilate asked Jesus somequestions. He found out that Jesus was a very goodman. Pilate told the Jewish leaders that he didn’tsee any reason why Jesus should be put to death.THE WOMEN GO TO THE GRAVE1510

Very early Sunday morning some women who lovedJesus went to the cemetery. They wanted to putperfume on Jesus’ body. This was the usual Jewishcustom, but they had no chance to do this onFriday before Jesus was put in the grave.As they came close to the cemetery theywondered how they would roll the stone awayfrom the entrance to the grave. But when theyarrived they were surprised to see that the stonewas already rolled away.Earlier, before they got to the cemetery, thereNOW READ THESE VERSES AND TAKE THE TEST ON PAGEMATTHEW 13:18-23 (NirV)18 Listen! Here is the meaning of the story of the farmer.19 “People hear the message about the kingdom but do notunderstand it. Then the evil one comes. He steals what was planted intheir hearts. Those people are like the seed planted on a path.20 Others received the seed that fell on rocky places. They are thosewho hear the message and at once receive it with joy.21 But they have no roots. So they last only a short time. They quicklyfall away from the faith when trouble or suffering comes because ofthe message.22 Others received the seed that fell among the thorns. They arethose who hear the message. But then the worries of this life and thefalse promises of wealth crowd it out. They keep it from producingfruit.23 But still others received the seed that fell on good soil. They arethose who hear the message and understand it. They produce a crop100, 60, or 30 times more than the farmer planted.”had been a great earthquake. Angels came downfrom heaven and pushed the stone away. TheLesson 11soldiers were so frightened that they all fainted.THE GRAVE IS EMPTYJESUS ISCRUCIFIEDAn angel greeted the women.“Don’t be frightened!” hesaid. “I know that you arelooking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here.He has come back to life again, just as he said hewould. Come into the grave and see where hisJesus’ miracles and teachings made him verypopular with many people, but the religious andgovernment leaders did not like Jesus. They werealways looking for a way to get rid of him.body was lying.”The women looked in the grave. Jesus’ body wasnot there. They were frightened, but also filled16JUDAS BETRAYS JESUSOne night Judas came to visit the religious leaders.9

soil. Plants came up, but because the soil wasn’tvery deep and the plants couldn’t grow strongroots, the plants didn’t last too long in the hotsun. Still other seed fell on soil that had lots ofthorny weeds. When the plants tried to grow thewith joy. They ran back to tell the other disciples.When the disciples heard, they didn’t believe it atfirst. But then Jesus himself appeared to them.Jesus also appeared to many other people.thorny plants were bigger and stronger and theykept the plants from growing. Some seed fell ongood soil—soil that was deep and free of rocksand thorns. This seed produced a huge crop.JESUS RETURNS TO HEAVENAfter Jesus arose from the dead he remained onearth for forty days. Then Jesus gathered hisSometimes the disciples were confused by Jesus’disciples together on the side of a mountain. Hestories. They could not figure out what Jesus wastold them to go into the world and tell everyonetrying to tell them. When you read the Bibleabout him. He also told them that he would sendverses below you will learn what Jesus meantthe Holy Spirit to be with them.when he told the disciples this story.Jesus put his handsout to blessthe disciples andas he did thisPrayerhe began to rise.Dear Jesus, Thank you for loving me so muchthat you keep me from getting lost. Help meto be good soil for your word to grow in meand to be a good neighbor to my friends, family,and all those I meet. Ameninto the sky hewent, untila cloud hid himfrom theUp, up, up,disciples’ view.The discipleskeptlooking intothe skyfor JesusMEMORY VERSEThere will be great joy in heaven whenone sinner turns away from sin. Luke 15:7until anangel cametothem. “Whyareyou lookingforJesus?” the angel asked. “He is going to comeagain, just like you saw him go into heaven!”817

Prayerof them. Won’t he leaveDear Jesus, thank you for your promise thatyou are coming again. Thanks you for sendingyour Holy Spirit to be with us until that day.Help me to tell others about you. Amen.the 99 in the opencountry? Won’t he goand look for the onelost sheep until hefinds it? When he findsit, he will joyfully put iton his shoulders and goMEMORY VERSEHe has risen! Luke 24: 6home. Then he will callhis friends andneighbors together. He will say, ‘Be joyful withme. I have found my lost sheep.’ “I tell you, it willbe the same in heaven. There will be great joywhen one sinner turns away from sin. Yes, thereNOW READ THESE VERSES AND TAKE THE TEST ON PAGEANDTHEN YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE COURSE!MARK 16:1-7 (NIrV)1 The Sabbath day ended. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother ofJames, and Salome bought spices. They were going to apply them toJesus’ body.2 Very early on the first day of the week, they were on their way to thetomb. It was just after sunrise.3 They asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from theentrance to the tomb?”4 Then they looked up and saw that the stone had been rolled away.The stone was very large.5 They entered the tomb. As they did, they saw a young man [anangel] dressed in a white robe. He was sitting on the right side. Theywere alarmed.6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus theNazarene who was crucified. But he has risen! He is not here! See theplace where they had put him.7 Go! Tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you intoGalilee. There you will see him. It will be just as he told you.’”will be more joy than for 99 godly people who donot need to turn away from their sins.”THE FARMER ANDTHE FOUR SOILS MATTHEW 1 3 :3 -8 ,1 8 -2 3On another occasionJesus told a story abouta farmer sowing his seed.This seed landed on fourdifferent kinds of Soil.Some fell on the hardsoil of a path and thebirds came and ate it all up. Other seed fell onrocky ground where there was only a little bit of187