Joyful Moments in Christ

This Bible study lesson is for people who are learning English (ELL or ESL students). It is made for advanced beginner and intermediate English learners. Children who speak English or adults who prefer easy English may also enjoy it and learn from it.

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Lesson Icebreaker Question

Have you ever had a day when something happened that made you feel very sad or thoughtful? What happened?

Lesson Highlight

In this lesson, we will learn about the day Jesus died and what his friends did after he died. We will see how people felt sad but also showed love and care for Jesus.

Vocabulary List (GNT)

1. Action — Something that a person does.
2. Ask — To say you want something.
3. Beat — To hit again and again.
4. Body — The physical part of a person.
5. Breast — The front part of a person’s chest.
6. Council — A group of leaders who make decisions.
7. Country — A large area of land where people live under one government.
8. Cry — To shout out loudly.
9. Curtain — A piece of cloth that hangs down to cover something.
10. Darkness — When there is no light.
11. Death — When a person stops living.
12. Decision — A choice that someone makes.
13. Died — Stopped living.
14. Distance — Space between two places or people.
15. Dug — Made a hole by moving earth or rock.
16. Galilee — A place in Israel where Jesus and his friends lived.
17. Gather — To come together in a group.
18. Hang — To be held up by something from above.
19. Happen — When something takes place.
20. Honorable — A good person who does the right thing.
21. Kingdom of God — God’s perfect place where he is King and everything is good and right. It is a real place in heaven, and it also lives in the hearts of people who love and follow him.
22. Knew — To have learned or understood something.
23. Linen Sheet — A cloth made from linen used to wrap something.
24. Member — A person who belongs to a group.
25. Perfume — A liquid with a good smell.
26. Pilate — A Roman leader who made decisions in Jerusalem.
27. Place — To put something in a spot.
28. Praise — To say good things about someone.
29. Presence — Being in the same place as someone else.
30. Prepare — To get something ready.
31. Rock — A hard, solid part of the earth.
32. Sabbath — A special day of rest and worship for Jewish people.
33. Saw — To look at something.
34. Solid — Hard and firm.
35. Sorrow — A strong feeling of sadness.
36. Spectacle — Something that many people watch.
37. Spices — Plants or powders that have a good smell and are used for food or for a dead body.
38. Stood — To stay in one place on your feet.
39. Temple — A special building where Jewish people worship God.
40. Tomb — A place where a dead body is buried.
41. Torn — Pulled apart into two pieces.
42. Wait — To stay where you are until something happens.
43. Watch — To look at something carefully.
44. Wrap — To cover something by putting something else around it.

Summary of the Passage

This passage tells the story of the day Jesus died. It was the middle of the day when the sky became dark. The sun stopped shining, and darkness covered the land. At the same time, a curtain in the Temple, the special building for worship, tore into two pieces. This was very unusual. Then Jesus called out loudly, saying he was giving his spirit to God, and he died.

An army officer was there and saw what happened. He said good things about Jesus, saying he was a good man. Many people who came to watch felt very sad. They beat their chests to show their sorrow. Jesus’ friends and the women who knew him stayed at a distance and watched everything.

Later, a good man named Joseph came to help. Joseph was a leader, but he did not agree with the other leaders about hurting Jesus. He asked the Roman leader, Pilate, if he could take Jesus’ body. Joseph wrapped Jesus’ body in cloth and placed it in a tomb made from solid rock. It was a place where no one had ever been buried before.

The women who loved Jesus watched carefully to see where the body was placed. They went home to get spices and perfumes ready for his body. But they rested on the Sabbath, as God’s law said to do.

This passage shows us how people showed love, honor, and sorrow for Jesus, even after he died. It also teaches us that God was doing something very important through Jesus’ death.

Read The Passage

The Death of Jesus
44-45 It was about twelve o’clock when the sun stopped shining and darkness covered the whole country until three o’clock; and the curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two.
46 Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father! In your hands I place my spirit!” He said this and died.
47 The army officer saw what had happened, and he praised God, saying, “Certainly he was a good man!”
48 When the people who had gathered there to watch the spectacle saw what happened, they all went back home, beating their breasts in sorrow.
49 All those who knew Jesus personally, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance to watch.
The Burial of Jesus
50-51 There was a man named Joseph from Arimathea, a town in Judea. He was a good and honorable man, who was waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God. Although he was a member of the Council, he had not agreed with their decision and action.
52 He went into the presence of Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
53 Then he took the body down, wrapped it in a linen sheet, and placed it in a tomb which had been dug out of solid rock and which had never been used.
54 It was Friday, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 The women who had followed Jesus from Galilee went with Joseph and saw the tomb and how Jesus’ body was placed in it.
56 Then they went back home and prepared the spices and perfumes for the body.
On the Sabbath they rested, as the Law commanded.

Luke 23:44-56 (GNT)

Most English learners should use the New International Reader’s Version (NIRV) or the Good News Translation (GNT) because they are easy to read. If you want to try something harder, you can read one of the other Bible versions:

• Very Easy: New International Reader’s Version: Luke 23:44-56 (NIRV)
• Easy: Good News Translation: Luke 23:44-56 (GNT)
• Medium: New Living Translation: Luke 23:44-56 (NLT)
• Hard: New International Version: Luke 23:44-56 (NIV)
• Very Hard: English Standard Version: Luke 23:44-56 (ESV)

Comprehension Questions

1. What happened to the sun at noon?
2. What happened to the curtain in the Temple?
3. What did Jesus say before he died?
4. What did the army officer say about Jesus?
5. How did the people show they were sad?
6. Who was Joseph of Arimathea?
7. What did Joseph do with Jesus’ body?
8. Where did Joseph place Jesus’ body?
9. What did the women do after they saw where Jesus was placed?
10. Why did the women rest on the Sabbath?

Application Questions

1. How do you show love to people you care about?
2. Why do you think Joseph wanted to help Jesus after he died?
3. What can we learn from the way the women stayed near Jesus and watched what happened?
4. How can we show honor to God and to people today?

Theological Insights

1. Jesus truly died as a man, showing his love for us.
2. God showed his power by making the sun stop shining and tearing the Temple curtain.
3. The torn curtain means people can now come close to God through Jesus.
4. Even in death, Jesus was cared for and honored by people who loved him.
5. Jesus’ death was part of God’s big plan to save people from sin.

Closing Prayer

Dear Father, thank you for showing your love through Jesus. Help us to remember his death and to love others like he did. Amen.

ELL Resources for the Gospel of Luke

More ELL Resources

You can find more Bible lessons for English learners on the main ELL page.

Scripture quotations marked (GNT) are from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.