Curriculum
Jesus Appears to the Disciples
Memory Verse:
“Jesus stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” Luke 24:36
Bible Background
What Kids Will Learn
Jesus was tortured and killed, and He rose again on the third day. After His resurrection, He appeared to the disciples to encourage them and to help them believe.
Scripture Summary
Jesus had died, was buried, and rose from the dead. He had already appeared to Mary Magdalene. Peter ran to the tomb and saw the burial cloths with his own eyes. And Jesus had appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
The 11 disciples were hiding out in a locked room. They had seen what the Jews, religious leaders, and soldiers had done to Jesus. And they didn’t want to meet the same fate. Though a locked door didn’t stop Jesus from appearing to His disciples.
Jesus quickly spoke peace over the disciples because they were afraid. Jesus had to convince them it was Him, and He showed them His hands, feet, and side. This wasn’t just part of the disciples’ imagination. Jesus was risen. His real body was present…complete with wounds and hunger.
Time had lapsed between verses 43 and 44. During this time, they traveled to Galilee and returned before Jesus ascended into heaven. In Acts, Luke mentioned that Jesus spent 40 days with His disciples after His resurrection.
There were so many prophecies about the coming Messiah in the Old Testament (then referred to as the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms). Jesus knew the Scriptures and also knew that He would fulfill each and every prophecy to not only validate His ministry but to help people believe.
Why Is This Important
We can trust Jesus and believe He will do what He says. He has a proven track record of keeping promises. Just as Jesus physically appeared to His disciples, He will show Himself to us in unique ways.
Teacher Devotion
Scripture
Until Our Faith Will Be Our Eyes
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)
There will come a time when we reach heaven, and our faith will be our eyes. We will truly see the wonders of heaven. Until that time, we rely on our faith.
If that sounds as daunting to you as it does to me, I have good news for you. Jesus is “the author and perfecter of our faith.” As the author of our faith, He starts with a blank page in our souls. Jesus writes and creates our faith from scratch. It’s not fabricated. It’s not borrowed. He creates it just for each of us.
As the perfecter of our faith, Jesus takes what He has created and makes it better. He weeds out the imperfections, the doubts, the disorientation that distorts our path. Jesus grows healthy faith in us as we spend time with Him and learn to trust Him more.
Read an excerpt from Chris Tomlin’s song “I Will Rise.”
There’s a day that’s drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes
Until the time when faith will be our eyes, we can trust Jesus—the author and perfecter of our faith.
Prayer
Dear God, thank You for creating faith inside me. I can’t do this myself. I want to create space for you to continue to perfect my faith. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Bible Memory Verse
You’ll Need: “Step By Step” handout - at least 10 copies, Markers, Tape, Scissors, Bibles - one per child
Get Ready: Print 10 copies of the “Step By Step” handout on colorful paper. (That’s enough feet to write each word from the verse on one foot.) Cut out the feet and write the words from the Bible verse on them. Tape the feet on the floor in the correct order. Make more than one set if you have more than 10 or 15 kids.
“While they were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” Luke 24:36
Lead kids in these steps:
- Invite children to open their Bibles to Luke 24:36.
- Read aloud the verse as the class follows along.
- Divide the class into groups if you made more than one set of feet.
- Invite the children to hop on the feet in the order of the verse, saying the words of the verse aloud.
- They do not have to go one-at-a-time, but they can follow one another through the verses in a line.
- Option: Instead of hopping, you can change how the kids advance to the next foot in each round. For example: skip, crawl, etc.
- After kids have had a few turns through the verse, lead kids in saying it together.
SAY: Great job following the footsteps in today’s Bible verse. Today you are going to hear about some men who walked with someone amazing, but they didn’t even realize it until later!
Listen closely as we learn more.
Interactive Bible Experience
You’ll Need: Masking tape
Get Ready: Tape a line down the middle of the room. Using the tape, make a T on one side and an F on the other side.
- Invite kids to stand on the line down the middle of the room.
- Explain that you are going to read a statement. If they believe that statement to be true, ask them to move to the T side. If they think that statement is false, ask them to move to the F side. Challenge kids to decide their answer for themselves and not just do what their friends are doing.
- True/False statements
- Jesus never suffered. (False)
- Jesus is still dead. (False)
- Jesus rose on the third day. (True)
- Jesus preached in America. (False)
- Jesus forgot to appear to His disciples. (False)
- The disciples were Jesus’ witnesses. (True)
- Jesus is the Messiah. (True)
ASK:
- Explain which questions were easy to answer and which were hard.
- What do you believe is true about Jesus?
SAY: Let’s open God’s Word where we can see the true answers.
- Invite kids to turn in their Bibles to Luke 24:45-49.
- Read the verses aloud and encourage kids to listen closely to the answers.
SAY: This passage tells us that Jesus did suffer, but He is alive. Luke 24 also shows Jesus saying that the Scriptures said He would rise from the dead on the third day. The message would not be preached in one place but in all nations. Jesus did appear to the disciples and told them that they would be His witnesses. And there is no doubt that Jesus is the Messiah Scripture had talked about.
Snack
Walking With Jesus Snacks
You’ll Need: Graham crackers - four per child, Gummy bears - three per child, Green-colored frosting, Plastic knives - one per child, Green sprinkles, Paper plates - one
per child, Napkins - one per child
Follow these steps to make the “Walking with Jesus Snacks”:
- Give each child a paper plate, a napkin, a plastic knife, and four graham crackers.
- Instruct kids to place their graham crackers to make a walking path.
- Invite kids to ice their graham crackers and then sprinkle green sprinkles to make the grass.
- Give the kids three gummy bears and guide them to place them carefully in the frosting to look like three people walking on the path.
- Enjoy.
ASK:
- If you got to go on a walk with Jesus, what would you want to talk to Him about?
- What questions would you ask Jesus?
SAY: In today’s lesson, we learn that some disciples got to walk with Jesus on a road called Emmaus. But guess what? They did not know it was Jesus. They would have never expected Jesus because they had seen Him crucified. It was not until after they were eating with Him later that they realized who He was. They were so surprised it was Jesus!
Game
Where's the Cross?
You’ll Need: A small cross
Follow these steps to play “Where’s the Cross?”:
- Invite kids to sit in a circle.
- Pick one child to be the “guesser” and ask them to wait in the hallway.
- Once the guesser is out of the room, give the cross to one child to keep hidden.
- Invite the guesser back in the room. He or she will get three guesses to try to figure out who has the cross.
- After the guesser uses their three guesses, invite the person hiding the cross to be the new guesser.
- Play several rounds as time allows.
ASK:
- What was easy about the game for you?
- What made it hard to guess where the cross was?
- What is hard about believing in Jesus for some people?
SAY: Even though you knew the cross was in the room, it was sometimes hard to try to figure out who had it. Now imagine if you were in the room with Jesus and didn’t recognize Him. The disciples did, after all, think Jesus was dead. Jesus had to show them His scars to prove it was really Him.
Craft
Appearing Jesus Art
You’ll Need: “Jesus Appears to the Disciples” how-to video, White construction paper ( not copy paper) - one per child, White crayons - one per child, Watercolors, Paint brushes - one per child, Cups of water - one for every few kids
To make the “Appearing JESUS Art,” have kids follow these steps:
- Give each child a piece of white construction paper and a white crayon.
- Ask kids to write JESUS largely across the center of the paper. They might want to go over their letters a couple of times.
- After they have written JESUS, invite them to paint their paper with watercolor.
- The name JESUS will appear in the watercolor.
- Allow these to dry.
SAY: That’s amazing art! At first, we couldn’t see Jesus in white crayon on your white paper. But as soon as you applied the watercolors, His name appeared. Even though the disciples had walked and talked with Jesus, they didn’t realize it was Him. It took Jesus revealing Himself for them to recognize Him.
Prayer
Shoe Prayers
- Invite kids to take off one shoe.
- Mix them up on the other side of the room.
- One by one, instruct kids to run down and pick up a shoe.
- After they get a shoe, invite kids to pray for the person that the shoe belongs to.
- Make sure each child is prayed for.
PRAY: Dear God, help us to follow You. Help us see You in our daily lives. Thank You that Jesus not only died for our sins, but He is alive.
