A Children’s Sermon on Mark 16:1-8

Preface for Parents and Pastors

Here’s a children’s sermon on Mark 16:1-8. That’s the Gospel text assigned by the lectionary for Easter Sunday (or the Easter Vigil) in Year B. 

So I’m catching up. This one will be here for you next time Year B rolls around, or any other time you want to tell kids about Easter and the Resurrection. 

It’s a great and mysterious text. Mark tells of a group of faithful women who came to the tomb on Sunday to prepare Jesus’ body for proper burial. They meet a stranger who tells them to share the good news that Jesus is risen—but they are so scared they don’t tell anyone. 

It’s kind of a foreshadowing of the Presbyterian approach to evangelism. 

However, it is a simple and understandable telling of the Easter story, with a couple details that make it quite fascinating. So here we go with a children’s sermon on Mark 16:1-8.

A Children’s Sermon on Mark 16:1-8

Good morning kids! I’m so glad to see you here in worship this morning. Thanks for coming up to hear the children’s sermon. 

Today’s story from the Gospel is about the very first Easter morning.

Early, early on that Sunday morning, before the sun had even come up, some of Jesus’ friends were already busy. One was Mary Magdalene. You might remember the story of when she poured expensive perfume on Jesus one time. One was James’ mom. Her name was also Mary. And the third woman was named Salome. 

Mary, Mary, and Salome were on their way to the place where Jesus’ body had been buried.

“Did you bring your spices?” asked Mary Magdalene. She was kind of the leader.

The other both said “Yes, did you bring yours?”

They had all brought special spices. They were going to prepare Jesus’ body for a proper burial. 

When Jesus died on Friday it was late in the day. There was no time to prepare his body before the Sabbath rest started. So his body was put in a tomb. The preparation for his real burial had to wait till the Sabbath was over.

Going to the Tomb

While they walked, they talked about how sad they were that Jesus had died.

“But you know,” said Mary Magdalene, “I’m glad we get to prepare Jesus for burial. It feels like a way to show that we love him.”

“That’s true,” said Salome, “but I just thought of something. How are we going to get into the tomb?”

“Oh no!” said Mary Magdalene. “You’re right! That stone door is huge! How will we find people to help roll it back?”

Just then they came around a corner and could see the tomb where Jesus’ body had been left. There was a surprise.

“What?” said Salome. 

“Oh my!” said James’ mom, Mary. 

“It’s wide open!” said Mary Magdalene. 

And that was true. Somebody had rolled back the big round stone door, and the tomb was wide open.

Inside the Tomb

So, Mary, Mary, and Salome rushed to the tomb, and looked inside. 

There was another surprise.

The place where Jesus’ body had been was empty!

“What?” said Salome 

“Oh my!” said James’ mom, Mary. 

“He’s gone!” cried Mary Magdalene. 

They looked around to see where Jesus’ body had been moved to, but what they found was another surprise.

A young man in a white robe was sitting there in the tomb.

“What?” said Salome.’

“Oh my!” said James mom, Mary. 

“Who are you?” asked Mary Magdalene. 

The young man didn’t answer Mary’s question. 

Instead he said, “I know why you are here. You’re looking for Jesus. He died on Friday, but now he’s alive again!”

“Alive again?” said Mary Magdalene. “How can he be alive again?”

The young man said “Its just what he told you he would do. You really should believe the stuff he said.”

“But where is he now?” asked Mary Magdalene.

“He went ahead to Galilee,” said the young Man.

“What?” said Salome. 

“Oh my!” said James’ mom, Mary. 

“I want to see him!” said Mary Magdalene. ”What should we do?”

Instructions

“You should go to Galilee,” said the young man “He’s there already. But first go tell all the other disciples.” 

Then he paused and looked Mary Magdalene in the eye. “And be sure to tell Peter too,” he said.

“Why do you say ‘Peter too‘?” she asked. “Peter’s a disciple. If we tell the disciples of course we’ll tell Peter.” 

“The thing is,” said the young man, “Peter feels really bad right now. He doesn’t think he’s a disciple any more.”

“Why is that?” asked Mary Magdalene.

“Because,” said the young man, “the other night when Jesus was in trouble, Peter told everyone that he didn’t even know who Jesus was. Jesus wanted me to tell you to be sure Peter knows he’s supposed to go to Galilee and meet him.”

“Oh,” said Mary Magdalene. “That was really nice of him.”

“Well,” said the young man, “once you belong to Jesus, you belong to him forever—no matter what. But shouldn’t you be going? You need to tell the other disciples?”

“What?” said Salome. 

“Oh my!” said James’ mother Mary. 

“Oh! Right!” said Mary Magdalene. 

And so they headed back home. 

But here’s the funny thing: they were so surprised, so astonished, so frightened by what had happened that they actually forgot to tell anyone.

Wondering

I wonder how the others finally found out that Jesus was alive again?

I wonder how Peter felt when he found out Jesus still cared about him even though he did the wrong thing?

I wonder if you’ve ever been so surprised and frightened about something that you never told anyone about it?

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