Intermediate Level, Block 9—Biographies of Jesus
Week 88
Jesus—His Death and Burial
Point to Emphasize: Jesus suffered death and was buried with high honor.
Reading Reference: Matthew 27:33-66; Mark 15:16-47; Luke 23:26-50; John 19:17-42
Memory Verse: And the centurion standing opposite by Him, seeing that He had expired in this way, said, Truly this man was the Son of God. (Mark 15:39)
Story Sample
[NOTE TO STORYTELLER: There is no need to include that Jesus suffered death for us.]
As we learned a few weeks ago, the birth of Jesus was not ordinary. He was Emmanuel, God with us. As we review how He lived His life, the way He spoke and the things He did, we can see that He was the One sent by God the Father to come to fulfill many things that were prophesied in the Old Testament. The Old Testament not only prophesied of His birth but also prophesied about His death. This means that both the birth of Jesus and the death of Jesus were tremendous matters to God and the history of mankind.
Remember how a multitude of angels appeared to the shepherds and celebrated the birth of Jesus with praises? Since His birth was not ordinary, His death was not ordinary either. Let’s see how it happened! After Jesus was captured and judged, even though they could not find ANY fault in Jesus, they sentenced Him to the death of the cross. He was crucified as if He was a criminal. Jesus was willing to suffer this kind of death. Jesus was on the cross for six hours. During this time darkness fell over the whole land and the sky went completely dark. And there was a HUGE earthquake. The earth was shaken and the rocks were split. Tombs were opened and some who had died were raised. Things like this never happen when someone dies. The death of Jesus was like no other! Incredible things happened during His death! This was not the death of an ordinary man. As you grow older, you will continue to learn many GREAT things that were accomplished in His death.
Though He died as a criminal, He was buried in honor. He was buried as a man in a high position. Let me tell you how it happened. In the Jewish tradition, when a man of high position (a king or a rich man) was buried, they would wrap the body in the finest material and they used very costly spices. This is the way Jesus was buried. Joseph, a rich man, asked for the body of Jesus to bury Him. Joseph purchased a very expensive and fine piece of linen and wrapped His body. Another man, Nicodemus came bringing a mixture of about 1,200 ounces of very expensive spices, myrrh, and aloes for the burial. So, Jesus was given the proper burial for a Jew. He was then placed inside a tomb that was carved out of stone. The stone against the door of the tomb was rolled and it was secured with a cord stretch. This is how Jesus was given an excellent burial. His burial was one of a noble person or a person of a high standard. Jesus was buried in this way.
Even though we are so young, it’s good for us to know that Jesus suffered death and was buried in such an honorable way.