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.

All lessons on this website are protected by copyright, but you can use them for free in small groups or Bible classes. You may share a link to this page, but please do not copy these pages and put them on other websites.

Lesson Icebreaker Question

Have you ever been very surprised by something good? What happened? How did you feel?

Lesson Highlight

In this lesson, we will learn about a time when Jesus appeared to his friends after he rose from the dead. They were very surprised and happy. We will see how Jesus helped them believe and gave them an important job to do.

Vocabulary List (GNT)

1. Alarmed — Feeling very surprised or scared.
2. Appears — To show up where people can see you.
3. Blessed — To ask God for good things for someone.
4. Bones — The hard parts inside a body.
5. City — A big town where many people live.
6. Cooked — Made food ready to eat by heating it.
7. Death — The end of a person’s life.
8. Departed — Went away from a place.
9. Disciples — The close friends and students of Jesus.
10. Doubts — Thoughts that something might not be true.
11. Eat — To put food in your mouth and swallow it.
12. Filled — Made full.
13. Fish — An animal that swims in water and people can eat.
14. Flesh — The soft part of a person’s or animal’s body.
15. Forgiveness — To say someone’s wrong thing is no longer held against them.
16. Ghost — A spirit of someone who has died.
17. Heaven — The special home of God.
18. Joy — A very happy feeling.
19. Law of Moses — God’s rules for his people in the first books of the Bible.
20. Led — To guide someone to a place.
21. Lord — A name people call Jesus, meaning master or ruler.
22. Message — News or information shared with others.
23. Mind — A person’s thoughts and feelings.
24. Nations — All the people groups in the world.
25. Opened — To make something able to be seen or understood.
26. Peace — A calm and good feeling inside.
27. Power — Special strength to do something.
28. Preached — Spoke to people about God’s truth.
29. Promised — Said something will happen for sure.
30. Prophets — People in the Bible who told messages from God.
31. Psalms — A book of songs and prayers in the Bible.
32. Repentance — Feeling sorry for sin and turning away from it.
33. Rise — To come back to life from death.
34. Scriptures — The holy writings in the Bible.
35. Send — To make someone go to a place.
36. Sin — Doing wrong things against God.
37. Spent — Gave time to something.
38. Stood — Stopped moving while on one’s feet.
39. Suffer — To feel pain or sadness.
40. Telling — Saying something to others.
41. Temple — A very important house for worshiping God.
42. Terrified — Very scared.
43. Thinking — Using the mind to have ideas.
44. Took — Picked something up and held it.
45. Wait — To stay until something happens.
46. Witnesses — People who see something happen.
47. Wonder — A feeling of surprise and amazement.
48. Worshiped — Showed love and respect to God.
49. Written — Put words down on paper.

Summary of the Passage

This passage takes place after Jesus died and came back to life. Jesus’ friends were together in a room. They were talking about the strange and wonderful things that happened. Suddenly, Jesus came and stood with them. At first, they were very scared because they thought they saw a ghost.

Jesus helped them calm down. He showed them his hands and feet. He let them touch him so they would know he was real. Then, he ate some cooked fish to show them he was truly alive. Jesus reminded them that everything that happened was part of God’s plan.

Next, Jesus helped them understand the Bible. He explained how the old books of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms talked about him. Jesus said he had to suffer and die, but then he would rise again. He told them to share the good news with people everywhere. They were to tell others to turn away from sin and be forgiven.

At the end, Jesus took them to a place called Bethany. He blessed them and then went up into heaven. His friends worshiped him and went back to the city full of joy. They spent their time at the Temple, thanking God.

This passage teaches us that Jesus is alive, keeps his promises, and gives his people good work to do.

Read The Passage

Jesus Appears to His Disciples
³⁶ While the two were telling them this, suddenly the Lord himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
³⁷ They were terrified, thinking that they were seeing a ghost.
³⁸ But he said to them, “Why are you alarmed? Why are these doubts coming up in your minds?
³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet, and see that it is I myself. Feel me, and you will know, for a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you can see I have.”
⁴⁰ He said this and showed them his hands and his feet.
⁴¹ They still could not believe, they were so full of joy and wonder; so he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
^42-43 They gave him a piece of cooked fish, which he took and ate in their presence.
⁴⁴ Then he said to them, “These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true.”
^45-47 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them,
“This is what is written: the Messiah must suffer and must rise from death three days later, and in his name the message about repentance and the forgiveness of sins must be preached to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things.
⁴⁹ And I myself will send upon you what my Father has promised. But you must wait in the city until the power from above comes down upon you.”
Jesus Is Taken Up to Heaven
⁵⁰ Then he led them out of the city as far as Bethany, where he raised his hands and blessed them.
⁵¹ As he was blessing them, he departed from them and was taken up into heaven.
^52-53 They worshiped him and went back into Jerusalem, filled with great joy, and spent all their time in the Temple giving thanks to God.

Luke 24:36-53 (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 24:36-53 (NIRV)
• Easy: Good News Translation: Luke 24:36-53 (GNT)
• Medium: New Living Translation: Luke 24:36-53 (NLT)
• Hard: New International Version: Luke 24:36-53 (NIV)
• Very Hard: English Standard Version: Luke 24:36-53 (ESV)

Comprehension Questions

1. Who suddenly appeared in the room with the disciples?
2. How did the disciples feel when they first saw Jesus?
3. What did Jesus show them to prove he was real?
4. What did Jesus eat to show he was alive?
5. What did Jesus explain about the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms?
6. What message did Jesus say should be shared with all nations?
7. Where did Jesus tell his friends to wait for power from above?
8. What did Jesus do for them before he left?
9. Where did Jesus go after blessing them?
10. What did the disciples do after Jesus went to heaven?

Application Questions

1. Have you ever felt surprised or joyful like the disciples?
2. Why do you think it was important for Jesus to show he was real?
3. How do you feel knowing Jesus is alive today?
4. What good news can you share with others this week?
5. How can you thank God for his blessings in your life?

Theological Insights

1. Jesus is truly alive, not a spirit or ghost.
2. The Bible tells one big story about Jesus.
3. Jesus had to suffer and rise again to save his people.
4. God forgives sin when people turn back to him.
5. Jesus promises to give his people power to do his work.
6. Worship is a way to show love and thanks to God.

Closing Prayer

Dear Father, thank you for sending Jesus to save us and for showing us that he is alive. Help us believe in him and share this good news with others. 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.