A long time ago, in a land far away,
a man named Jesus rode into town on a donkey.
Some of the people in the town were extremely happy that he was there, and they threw their coats on the ground and waved branches as he rode by, shouting,
"Hosana! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"
They raised their hands and continued shouting praises as He rode by.
But not all of the people were glad He was there.
Some of them simply stood and watched.
And waited.
Jesus spent the next few days teaching the people of this town about His Father in Heaven. He talked to large crowds and He talked to small crowds. He taught the people until the time came one night for them to have a very important supper.
He gathered with his 12 closest friends and they ate bread together,
and also drank together.
After supper, Jesus asked a few of his friends to go with Him to pray.
It was late, and they were all tired, but Jesus had a lot on His mind and needed to talk to God.
Soon, Jesus friends that had gone with Him fell fast asleep, and Jesus was left alone.
Praying.
One of Jesus friends brought some bad guys into the garden as He prayed.
They came to arrest Him, even though he'd never done anything wrong.
They accused Jesus of telling lies because they did not believe Him to be the Son of God.
They sentenced Him to death.
They beat Him.
Spit on Him.
Laughed at Him.
They found vines full of thorns, made a crown out of them, and placed it on His head.
They made Him climb a hill,
carrying a cross on His back.
They drove huge spikes into His arms to hold Him on that cross.
A few of the bad guys even fought over the robe He'd been wearing.
They pierced His side with a spear, causing blood and water to pour out.
Jesus died on that cross.
A man named Joseph took Jesus body down from the cross,
wrapped it in white cloth,
and with the help of some friends,
he carried Jesus body to a tomb.
They placed Him inside,
and rolled a large stone in front of the entrance.
The next morning, some girls were going to the tomb to place perfumes around Jesus body. As they came to the entrance where the stone should be, they realized it had been moved.
An angel was there instead.
They were scared, but the angel told them not to be afraid-
they were just looking for Jesus in the wrong place.
"He's not here- He's alive!
Now go! Go tell His friends that Jesus is alive.
He rose from the dead, just like He said He would."
And those girls?
Well, they ran.
They ran because they had such good news to share.
They ran as fast as their feet would go.
They ran because on Sunday,
Jesus rose from the dead.
And that, my friends, is news worth sharing.
