#1 John 20:6-20

Read the verses and ask some questions:

• Do you know why your mom and dad want you to keep your room neat and clothes folded and put in their place?  Jesus folded his clothes.  Verse 6-7
  • (Here is a funny question you can ask your kids.  You can laugh and joke about this.  This is not my theology to justify all the neat freaks out there, but if you needed justification, this is the best verse you will find. 🙂   Keep a straight face to see their reaction.  Then one of them will ask if you are serious and then you can start smiling.
  • But, since we are on the subject, you could ask, “How should we keep our bedrooms/house?”   (I’ll let you take that discussion where you want, but for us, we want to be ministry ready.  We want (not that we always are) to be able to use our gift of hospitality and that means keeping our house neat enough that we can “do a 4 room clean up” in a few minutes.  Well, maybe 15 minutes.  Carrie, my wife, has done a great job keeping our house ready to have people over with a few moments notice.)

(Back to the devo…)

• Why do you think all the guys left the tomb? (vs. 19.  They were afraid.)
• Why did Jesus came after everyone had left except Mary?  (My son said, “Because He wanted to stretch their faith.”)
• How would you have reacted if you were in the locked room and suddenly Jesus appeared?
• Mary was filled with emotions. One minute she is weeping, because Jesus is gone.  The next minute, she is overjoyed, because Jesus revealed Himself to her.  Even though we don’t see Jesus, how can we know He is with us?  (Through His creation, what He has done in the past, His Word tells us so, and through His Holy Spirit.)

#2  John 21:1-14

Read the verses and ask some questions:

• Why did they go fishing?
  • If they don’t know, ask this: What did they do before Jesus asked them to follow Him?
  • They back to the thing they knew how to do.  They went back to the family business. They didn’t know what they were supposed to do now that they were leaderless.
• They didn’t catch any fish, then a man says to cast their nets on the other side of the boat.  That is a silly idea.  Know why they did?
  • They heard that before.  Jesus said that in Luke 5.4.
• Do you know who John is referring to when he says the “disciple whom Jesus loved” in verse 7?
  • Himself
• How many times had Jesus showed Himself to them? (Verse 14: 3 times.)
• Peter once again “plunged into the sea.”  I think it would have been funny to see a grown man jump into the water and swim to shore out of complete excitement.  How might you have responded?
• Jesus loves these guys doesn’t He?  He really cares.  Isn’t it good to know?  How do you know Jesus cares for you? (He has blessed you with parent(s) who love you and care about you. He gave us His Word that says He loves us…and He proved that love for us by going to the cross and suffering for our sin.  That is good news!)

More coming.  Check back daily.

Written by Jonathan

Rev. Jonathan Cronkhite has been serving youth and families in full time
ministry for the last 23 years. With the heart of a pastor, he encourages and equips families to have Homes Devoted, through conferences, workshops, coaching and writing. Married to Carrie for 22 years, they have 5 children, run a home school co-op, drama club and invite 50 people over once a month for airsoft battles.