Family Home Evening for Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20-21

 Read Luke 24:5–6

5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

Teach

After Jesus died, a man, named Joseph of Armethea, took Him down from the cross and laid Jesus in a tomb that he had bought for himself. A tomb is a stone cave with a stone bed inside, to lay the dead body on. The door of the tomb was a heavy stone that took several men to roll in front of the opening. Soldiers were placed in front of the tomb so that people couldn’t take the body of Jesus and claim that He had risen.

 Some of the women who followed Jesus also went with Joseph. They wrapped the body of Jesus in some cloth, used to bury the dead. They had to do this quickly, because it was almost the day of preparation for the Sabbath.

The day after the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them went to put the burial spices on Jesus. They prepared them to help Jesus’s body to smell better as it decayed. When they got to the tomb, all of the soldiers were asleep, and the stone was rolled away from the tomb. Afraid that some one had taken Jesus, they began to cry. That is when the angels said, “Why seek ye the living among the dead?He is not here, but is risen.”

When they

Discuss

What do the words “He is risen” mean to you and your family?

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Family Home Evening for Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19

 Read

Matthew 27:46

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Luke 23:34; 43; 46

34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

John 19:26-28

26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.

Discuss

These are all phrases that Jesus said, as He suffered the end of His Atonement on the cross. Reread each of these utterances and discuss what they teach you about the Savior.

Here are some ideas that we thought of:

Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

All of Jesus’s life, he had his Father with Him and supporting Him through every trial and teaching Him what He needed to know. 

When Jesus was going through the pain of the Atonement, Heavenly Father withdrew His peace and comfort, from Him. For the first time in Jesus’s life He was completely alone. In the book, Jesus the Christ , James E Talmage says, “That the supreme sacrifice of the Son might be consummated in all its fulness, the Father seems to have withdrawn the support of His immediate Presence, leaving to the Savior of men the glory of complete victory over the forces of sin and death.” In other words, Christ was alone, so that you never have to be.

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Jesus was forgiving to those who crucified Him. They beat Him and took His clothes, but He didn’t hate them or ask Heavenly Father to punish them. Instead He asked Heavenly Father to forgive them.

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise

Two thieves hung next to Jesus. One man thought only of himself and asked Jesus to save them all from dying on the cross. The other man said that they, the two thieves, deserved to be punished, because of what they did, but Jesus was innocent and didn’t deserve to be punished. He didn’t ask Jesus to save Him from physical death and punishment. He asked to be saved from spiritual death. In the book Jesus the Christ by, James E. Talmage, it says says, “His confession of guilt and his acknowledgment of the justice of his own condemnation led to incipient repentance, and to faith in the Lord Jesus, his companion in agony. ‘And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.’ To the appeal of penitence the Lord replied with such a promise as He alone could make: ‘Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.’”

When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

Though Jesus was suffering the worst pain possible, He saw His sweet mother, Mary. He knew that she was suffering, as she watched her Son suffer. He knew that He was about to leave her, and He wanted her to be taken care of. Through His suffering, He turned to His disciple that He loved and trusted, and told Him to take care of His mother. This trusted disciple, John, took her into his home, just as Jesus asked him to do.

After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.

Jesus completed the Atonement for you. He completed it for me. He completed the Atonement and suffered for all of the pains and sicknesses of everyone that ever has lived and ever will live in the world. Only after He did this for all of us, did He notice His own physical needs, and He said, I thirst.

And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

The pain of the Atonement of Jesus Christ did not cause Him to die. He suffered the pain of nails being driven into His hands and wrists, He was whipped with leather that had pieces of glass and bone in it, and His body was weak and trembling. These are all things that would have killed any other human being, but the Son of God had power over death. When He had done all that He was sent here to do, He told His Father that it was finished. He told His Father to receive His spirit as it left His body, and He died.

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Family Home Evening for Luke 22; John 18

 Read John 18:37-38

37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

Discussion

In these scriptures, Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?” 

Have you ever done something like break a window, break a toy, or gone somewhere without telling your parents , and then they ask you to tell them the truth of what happened or where you were, what does this mean? What is truth?

When you look up truth in the Oxford dictionary it gives the 3 following definitions for the word truth:

1.  The quality or state of being true.

• So truth means that you say what is true

2. That which is true or in accordance with fact or reality.

• This definition says that truth is what is real or a fact.

3. A fact or belief that is accepted as true.

• This means that if you or others accept something as true, then it is a truth.

This 3rd definition seems a little off, because if a truth is flexible, depending on who thinks it’s true, is it really true?

If you broke a window and believed that the window is not broken, and you could convince your friends and siblings that it is not actually broken, does that mean it is not actually broken?

Let’s see what the scriptures say truth is

• John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

• Truth gives you freedom. It makes you happy.

• D&C 84:45 For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

• This means that truth brings light, and this light is the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

• D&C 93:23-25 Ye were also in the beginning with the Father; that which is Spirit, even the Spirit of truth; And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning.

• Truth gives us the knowledge of things as they were, as they are, and as they will be. If something that one believes to be true, doesn’t do these things, then it is not truth.

• D&C 93:29-30 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.  All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.

• Truth has and always will exist. It existed before the world was made and it will exist afterwards. Truth is eternal and is not created or made. Because truth is eternal, it can’t be changed or manipulated, depending on what people want. 

Isn’t it wonderful that you can depend on truth?

As a family, talk about some things that you know are true.

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Family Home Evening for John 14-17

 Discuss

The introduction to this week’s lesson in the Come Follow me manual has an interesting point, “Today we call it the ‘Last Supper,’ but we don’t know if Jesus’s disciples fully realized, when they gathered for the annual Passover feast, that this would be their last meal with their Master before His death. Jesus, however, ‘knew that his hour was come’ (John 13:1). He would soon face the suffering of Gethsemane, the betrayal and denial of His closest friends, and an agonizing death on the cross. Yet even with all of this looming before Him, Jesus’s focus was not on Himself but on His disciples. What would they need to know in the days and years ahead? Jesus’s tender teachings in John 14–17 reveal how He feels about His disciples, then and now. Among the many comforting truths He shared was the reassurance that, in one sense, He will never leave us. ‘If ye keep my commandments,’ He promised, ‘ye shall abide in my love,’”

This week, we can learn about the important things Jesus taught His disciples, during the “Last Supper.”

Read John 14:6

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Imagine when you begin life, you start to walk along a path. There are many paths you choose and the places you go will be very different, depending on the choices you make along the way. In this scripture, Jesus taught His disciples and us that if we follow the path or example that He set, we will make it back to our Heavenly Father.

In John 14:26-27, Jesus told His disciples that He was going to leave them. This made the disciples very sad. Jesus told them not to be sad or afraid because Heavenly Father would send the Holy Ghost to comfort them.

He also taught  that the Holy Ghost will do 3 things. 

1.  Teach you all things

2. Help you remember what you have learned, when it is important for you to apply it to your life

3. Give you peace and comfort when you need it.

Read John 15:7-8

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

When you are following the example of Jesus Christ, then you are being His disciples. When you are His disciple, then the things you want for yourself and others fill your heart. When your heart is full, you can ask Heavenly Father for things in the name of Jesus Christ, and it will be given to you, so that you can use these special blessings to help other people.

In John 15:17-27, Jesus also warned His disciples that many people would hate them. He said, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” He taught them and teaches us that if we do what the world thinks is right, people would love us more, but because we do what God and Jesus wants us to do, the people who don’t follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, might be angry with us.

The time was coming for Jesus to begin the long pain and suffering of His Atonement, but He still had so much more He wanted to tell His disciples. It was too much for them to understand, so He said, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.”

Jesus left His disciples wishing for them to find peace in Him. He warned them that they will have a lot of hard trials and have to do a lot of hard things, but that in hard things, we can find happiness by remembering the joy that Jesus’s life and Atonement gives to us. He said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Jesus offered a prayer to Heavenly Father in this prayer, He said, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”

In other words, Jesus prayed for His disciples and for all the people that believed their words. He asked His Father to help all of these people to become one people, disciples of Jesus Christ that believe in God, because they believe in Christ. That they will be one in purpose, the way that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are one in purpose. That His followers can be perfected through his Atonement and will know that through Him, Heavenly Father shows His love for us.

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