Children’s Sermon

Luke 24:1-12

Perplexed

Check out these helpful resources
Biblical Commentary
Sermons
Children’s Sermons
Hymn Lists

Luke 24:1-12
Perplexed

By Dell Smith Klein

KEY VERSE: Luke 24:4 WEB While they were greatly perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing.

SERMON

Have you ever felt perplexed? (Wait for Children to respond.) Oh…is that a new word for you? Perplexed means: puzzled, confused, mystified, or baffled.

What if you and a friend were at the mall, and your friend said, “Go right up to that ice cream shop on the corner. They are giving away your favorite ice cream,” and you ran all the way to that place, and when you got there, you found out everyone had to pay for ice cream?

If that happened, you would wonder if you had gone to the wrong place. Or, you would wonder if your friend was playing a joke on you. You would be perplexed.

I think that’s the way Peter must have felt in our Bible story today. Peter knew that Jesus had been nailed to a cross. Peter knew that Jesus had died and had been taken to a tomb.

Early on that Sunday morning, Peter had been told by some women that Jesus was no longer in the tomb. The women said the tomb was empty! Peter and his friends thought the women were talking nonsense. He couldn’t believe it. But he ran to the tomb anyway. He must have wanted to see for himself.

As soon as he got to the tomb, Peter looked inside. Jesus was not there. All he saw were some strips of cloth like the cloth that Jesus’ body had been wrapped in. Peter didn’t know what to believe, so went on home. He was perplexed. He was puzzled. What could have happened?

Later, Peter did find out that Jesus rose from the grave. But right then, he couldn’t understand what he had seen, and what he had heard.

I’m glad that today we do know that Jesus rose from the grave. He isn’t dead at all. He lives. I’m sure that Peter was very glad when he finally saw Jesus in person.

Like us, Peter didn’t like being perplexed.

Let’s pray.

PRAYER

God, sometimes we don’t understand things that are happening. Like Peter, we would have been perplexed if we had seen the empty tomb where Jesus was supposed to be buried. Thank you that Jesus is alive. Amen.

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible

Copyright 2012, Richard Niell Donovan