He Lives!

By Elizabeth Ricks

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Sister Nielson was teaching the Sunbeam class. She held a picture of Jesus showing His wounds after He had been resurrected.

“You mean He lived again after He was dead?” Heather asked.

Jake exclaimed, “Yes, He did! We will live again too!”

How did three-year-old Jake know that Jesus lived again? How did he know that he too would live again?

Each week Jake listened to Sister Nielson’s lessons. She taught about Jesus and bore her testimony. Jake listened to his parents during family home evening and at other times. They taught about Jesus and bore testimony of Him. The feeling in Jake’s heart told him to believe the words of his teacher and parents.

After Jesus was resurrected, He showed Himself to His disciples. Thomas was not with them. The other disciples told Thomas they had seen Jesus. But Thomas said, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).

Eight days later Jesus did show Himself to Thomas. Jesus let Thomas feel the nail prints in His hands and touch His side. Then Jesus said, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

Like Jake, we can believe in Jesus even though we do not see Him. Our faith will grow when we know, without seeing, that Jesus is our Savior.

Activity

Mount page F4 on heavy paper, and cut out the pictures of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, the Apostles, and Thomas. Fold the tabs along the dotted lines so the figures can stand up. Tell your family the story in John 20 of each person seeing the Savior after His Resurrection.

Illustrations by Dilleen Marsh

Note: If you do not wish to remove pages from the magazine, this activity may be copied, traced, or printed from the Internet at www.lds.org. For English, click on “Gospel Library.” For others languages, click on the world map.

Sharing Time Ideas

Display three shoe boxes. One by one, take out a pair of shoes from each box. (You can also display pictures or drawings of shoes.) Show a pair of boots to represent the soldiers who guarded Jesus’s tomb. Tell the story in such a way that the children can imagine being there when Jesus Christ was laid in the tomb. Next, use a pair of sandals to tell the story of Mary Magdalene. Ask the children how it might have felt to have been at the garden tomb when the resurrected Savior appeared. Last, show a pair of shoes the children commonly wear. Ask how it feels to be a member of the Church and to have the knowledge that you will be resurrected because of the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Testify that Jesus Christ died and was resurrected.
Tell the children that you are going to ask them a trick question. Ask, “How many prophets do we have on the earth today?” Explain that each member of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is sustained as a prophet, seer, and revelator. That means that we have 15 prophets on the earth! Explain, however, that the President of the Church is the only one who can receive revelation for the entire Church. A week before general conference, ask several older children to report in two weeks on a message that an Apostle gave at general conference. If possible, display a picture of that Apostle as each child tells about the message.