Luke 24:1–12, 36–48

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

After the Savior’s burial, faithful disciples brought spices to the tomb. Instead of finding the Savior’s dead body, they found an empty tomb. Angels declared that the Lord had risen. Later that evening, when the disciples were gathered together, He appeared to them and showed them His resurrected body. This lesson can help you increase your understanding of the Savior’s Resurrection and how it impacts your life.

Using pictures. Pictures can help students visualize, analyze, and understand the scriptures, especially when the pictures are used to stimulate a discussion. When using a picture, be sure that it reinforces the purpose of the lesson and doesn’t detract from it.

Student preparation: Invite students to reflect on and consider listing what they know about resurrection and why the Savior’s Resurrection matters to them personally.

Possible Learning Activities

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Examine the picture of Jesus Christ’s empty tomb found at the beginning of this lesson, and ponder your answers to the following questions.

What does this picture mean to you?

Reflect on what you know about the Resurrection and its impact in your life by answering the following questions in your study journal. You will have an opportunity to revisit these questions at the conclusion of your study today.

Consider displaying the following questions for students to respond to. Students will refer to these same questions after their experiences in this lesson to reflect on their increased understanding. Hence, they may want to respond in their study journals.

What do you know about resurrection?
How do your knowledge and beliefs about the Savior’s Resurrection impact you personally?

If students participated in the student preparation, invite them to refer to and share that information at this point (if they are comfortable).

After Jesus Christ voluntarily gave His life on the cross, His body was taken down and wrapped in clean linen cloth and placed in a tomb. Following the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and a few other faithful women returned to the tomb early in the morning (see Luke 24:10; John 20:11–18).

Read Luke 24:1–12, looking for what they found and learned while at the Savior’s tomb.

What do you think the disciples were thinking and feeling after what they saw and heard?

Soon after this experience, Jesus Christ appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus (see Luke 24:13–32). They returned to Jerusalem to share their experience with the Apostles (see Luke 24:33–35).

In a later lesson, students will study more accounts of the individual witnesses of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection. In this lesson, if students would benefit from studying in more detail the account of Jesus appearing on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13–35, consider using the supplemental learning activity “Road to Emmaus” from the lesson “Matthew 28; Luke 24; John 20.”

Read Luke 24:36–48, looking for what happened when Jesus’s disciples were gathered discussing the appearances of the resurrected Savior.

You may also consider watching the video “The Risen Lord Appears to the Apostles” (2:19), available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Luke 24:36–39 is a doctrinal mastery passage. Consider marking doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so you can locate them easily. You will learn more about this doctrinal mastery passage in the next lesson.

What stands out to you in these verses from the Savior’s words to His disciples?

It may be helpful to ask additional questions such as the following: Why do you think the Savior would invite them to behold Him and touch Him before He shared His message with them? What do you think His disciples were feeling or learning from this experience?
Why do you think some of the first words the Savior spoke to them were “Peace be unto you”? (Luke 24:36).
What do you learn from these verses about who the Savior is and what He wants His disciples to understand?

Increasing your understanding of the Savior’s Resurrection

One truth that we learn from these verses is that Jesus Christ has a resurrected body of flesh and bones.

What does it mean to be resurrected?

If students need help defining what it means to be resurrected, the definition below could be shared.

Resurrection, “the reuniting of the spirit body with the physical body of flesh and bones after death,” is made possible for each of us because of Jesus Christ (Guide to the Scriptures, “Resurrection,” scriptures.ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Because of His Atonement and Resurrection, the Savior made it possible for each of us to live with and become like Him.

Ponder any questions you have about the Savior’s Resurrection and its meaning in your life. Some questions you might have about the doctrine of the Savior’s Resurrection are listed below. Consider listing these questions in your study journal.

Why does it matter that Jesus Christ has a body of flesh and bone?
What is the significance of the Savior’s Resurrection in my life?

Help students understand the value of learning to ask questions by asking follow-up questions such as “How might understanding the answer to that affect you?” “How might taking time to ponder and write questions impact your study?” and “How might asking this question influence your relationship with Jesus Christ?”

Encourage students to be creative in their approach to these questions. One way might be to invite students to think of writing their questions as creating a quiz that can be exchanged with others to find answers.

One way to find answers to our questions is by searching what the Lord’s prophets and apostles have taught. Below are some teachings from Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. As you study these words, look for answers to some of your questions. Consider also searching any additional words of the Lord’s ordained servants that may help you.

Consider for a moment the significance of the Resurrection in resolving once and for all the true identity of Jesus of Nazareth and the great philosophical contests and questions of life. If Jesus was in fact literally resurrected, it necessarily follows that He is a divine being. No mere mortal has the power in himself to come to life again after dying. Because He was resurrected, Jesus cannot have been only a carpenter, a teacher, a rabbi, or a prophet. Because He was resurrected, Jesus had to have been a God, even the Only Begotten Son of the Father.

Therefore, what He taught is true; God cannot lie.

Therefore, He was the Creator of the earth, as He said.

Therefore, heaven and hell are real, as He taught.

Therefore, there is a world of spirits, which He visited after His death.

Therefore, He will come again, as the angels said, and “reign personally upon the earth” [Articles of Faith 1:10].

Therefore, there is a resurrection and a final judgment for all.

(D. Todd Christofferson, “The Resurrection of Jesus Christ,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2014, 113)

If time permits, consider watching the video “He Lives—Celebrate Easter Because Jesus Christ Lives” (2:26) as you prepare to answer the following questions. This video is available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

What would you add to your responses to the questions at the beginning of the lesson?
How would you explain what resurrection is to someone not familiar with this teaching?
How does understanding the Savior’s Resurrection affect your appreciation and love for Jesus Christ?

Consider allowing those who are comfortable sharing to express what they learned or felt as they studied, and conclude with testimony of the Savior’s Resurrection and its impact in our lives today.

Commentary and Background Information

Why does the Resurrection of Jesus Christ matter to me?

In his talk “What Has Our Savior Done for Us?” President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency taught how the Savior’s Resurrection affects each of us (Liahona, May 2021, 75–77).

Supplemental Learning Activity

The teachings of the Book of Mormon

Consider emphasizing the important role the Book of Mormon plays in adding to our understanding of resurrection. Invite students to search references such as Mosiah 15:19–20; Mosiah 16:7–9; Alma 11:40–44; and Mormon 9:13, looking for what they learn about resurrection. Consider allowing students to share what they found, highlighting what we would not know about the Resurrection without the gift of the Book of Mormon.