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.
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?
1. 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.
What do you know about resurrection?
How do your knowledge and beliefs about the Savior’s Resurrection impact you personally?
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).
Read Luke 24:36–48, looking for what happened when Jesus’s disciples were gathered discussing the appearances of the resurrected Savior.
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?
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?
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?
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.
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Portrait of Elder D. Todd Christofferson. Photographed in March 2020.
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.
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.
2. Answer the following questions in your study journal:
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?
Optional: Want to Learn More?
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).
