Easter (for Children)

Children’s Sermon: "What Do You See?"

Scripture: John 20:2— "So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!'"

(Hold up a glass with juice in it—half full.)

Good morning everyone!

I want to show you something today. Here’s a glass with some juice in it. Now, there are two ways people might look at this glass.

Some might look at it and say, “Oh no! It’s half empty!” Others might say, “Nice! It’s half full!”

Now let’s really solve the debate. (Drink the rest of the juice and hold up the now empty glass.)

There! Now it’s definitely empty. But let me ask you something: If this glass is empty, do we all feel the same way about it?

Not really!

Some people might look at it and say, “Aw man, it’s empty. That’s sad.” Others might say, “Cool! Now it’s ready to be filled with something new!”

You see, we can all look at the same thing—but think and feel different things about it.

That’s exactly what happened on the very first Easter morning.

The Empty Tomb

Early Sunday morning, after Jesus had been crucified and buried, a woman named Mary went to the tomb where Jesus was laid.

But when she got there... the stone was rolled away.

The tomb was empty!

She ran to tell two of Jesus’ disciples—Peter and John.

She cried out, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him!”

So Peter and John ran to the tomb.

They all saw the same thing.

But listen closely—they didn’t all see it the same way:

Peter looked and was curious. He went in and looked around at the linen and cloths and thought, “Hmm… what happened here?”

Mary stood outside the tomb and was sad. She thought someone had taken Jesus away.

But John went inside, looked... and believed.

Three people. Same empty tomb.

One was curious.

One was sad.

One believed.

The Rabbit Story

Now, let me tell you a funny story I once heard.

There was a woman who looked out her window one day and saw her big German shepherd dog shaking something in its mouth. She rushed outside and to her horror... it was her neighbour’s rabbit!

Oh no! The rabbit looked very dead. The woman panicked. Her family didn’t get along well with the neighbours, so she thought this was a total disaster.

She picked up the rabbit, ran into her house, washed it, blow-dried it, fluffed it back up, and snuck into the neighbour’s yard to put it back in its cage—just like nothing had happened.

An hour later, she heard loud screaming from the neighbours’ house.

She ran over and asked, “What happened?!”

The neighbour shouted, “Our rabbit! He died two weeks ago—we buried him! And now he’s back!!”

(Pause for laughs or reactions.)

I know, that’s a silly story—but just imagine how surprised the neighbours were!

Now imagine how surprised Peter, John, and Mary were when they saw the empty tomb. But here’s the difference: the rabbit wasn’t really alive—it was just cleaned up. But Jesus really did rise from the dead.

So What About You?

You know, some people hear the story of Easter and they’re curious, just like Peter. Some feel sad because they think it’s just a sad ending. But others—like John—they believe.

They believe Jesus rose from the dead.

That He’s alive.

That He loves us and wants to be with us forever.

So here’s my question for you today: When you look at the empty tomb, what do you see? Are you curious? Are you unsure? Or... do you believe?

Let’s Pray Together

Dear Lord, Thank You for Easter. Thank You that the tomb is empty—not because someone took Jesus, but because Jesus is alive! Help us to be like John—help us to believe.

Thank You that You love us, and that Jesus rose again so we can have life with You forever. Amen.