(from last time)
Suddenly the big fish jumped up out of the water and smacked the Professor on the head, with his tail! The Professor said, “Ooops!” As the big fish was falling back into the water, his tail hit the gear shifter on the bicycle/time machine! The fish shifted the bicycle/time machine into high gear!
Then it happened… The bicycle began bouncing like a toad in a washing machine! There was a blinding flash of light and a loud noise like a turtle singing! Suddenly the big fish and the Sea of Galilee disappeared and….
The bicycle/time machine was going down a road. To their left was the walls of a big city, to their right was open country with farms and flocks of sheep! Suddenly they heard someone crying! It was not a soft crying, but very loud and getting louder! Someone was really upset! The Professor slammed on the brakes of the bicycle/time machine and they slid to a stop and tipped over! The Professor said, “Ooops!” Shelly asked, “Where is that crying coming from? Someone might need our help!” The kitten jumped to the ground and ran toward the sound of the crying. The Professor, Shane, and Shelly followed the kitten. The kitten ran into the middle of a clump of trees and found a man laying on the ground crying as loud as he could and pounding the ground with his hands. Shane and Shelly ran up to the crying man, and of course the Professor managed to run into one of the trees. The Professor said, “Ooops!” Shelly asked the man, “Why are you crying? What has happened, and who are you?” The man did not answer any of her questions, he just started crying even louder than before! Shane picked up the kitten and handed it to the man and said, “Why don’t you hold the kitten and pet it, maybe it will help you feel better.” The man said, “The kitten will probably hate me! Everyone probably hates me! I’m such a bad person!” Shane asked, “What have you done that is so terrible? Have you killed someone, or robbed a bank, or what?” The man said, “I abandoned him!” Shelly asked, “Who did you abandon?” The man did not answer Shelly, he just kept crying and pounding on the ground. This went on for quite a while, and they could not figure out who he was, or what he had done.
Then it happened …. Suddenly the ground began shaking and moving. They heard rocks and bricks falling off the wall of the city. The trees above them were swaying back and forth, and big branches were breaking off and falling to the ground! The Professor said, “Ooops!” Shane yelled, “It’s an earthquake! Let’s get out from under these trees before we get killed! So, the Professor, Shane, Shelly, the kitten, and the man ran out into an open space where they were safer. The earthquake kept going and going! They heard people in the city screaming! After the earthquake was done, the man went back under the trees and started crying again. The Professor, Shane and Shelly did not know what to do to help him, so they just sat there next to him. The kitten sat down next to the man’s head and began licking his ear! A while later, another man came along the road and heard the crying and came over to the trees. The second man said, “It’s all over! He is dead! I was there with his mother and saw him die. The earthquake started just after he died. Truly he was the Son of God!” The first man just cried louder and said, “It’s my fault! First, I tried to defend him with my sword, and I failed. Then I ran away when he needed friends to stay with him. Then three times I told people that I did not even know him! I am the most worthless person who has ever lived!” The second man said, “You are no more guilty than any of the rest of us. We all ran away! But I do not think that it’s our fault that he died. Remember he kept telling us that he was going to be killed in Jerusalem, but we just did not understand what he was talking about. I think that he would have been killed even if we had not run away and failed him. The first man said, “That is right, he did try to tell us about being killed. I remember that he said that he would die as a sacrifice for our sins, but I didn’t understand why he was talking like that.” The second man said, “That is right, and I remember that he also talked about coming back to life three days later, but I saw how badly they whipped him and then they crucified him! I don’t think it is possible for him to come back to life now!” The second man said, “Why don’t we go back to the house now? We cannot change what has happened, and we need to be with our other friends during this terrible time.” So, the two men started walking back into the city.
While they had been talking, Shelly had been looking up verses in her Bible. She was very excited! She said, “The man that was crying was Peter! In Matthew 26 it tells how Peter tried to use his sword to protect Jesus, but all he accomplished was cutting off someone’s ear. In that same chapter it tells how Peter said three times that he did not even know Jesus, and how Peter went and cried and cried after he had done that. In the next chapter, Matthew 27 it says that there was an earthquake in Jerusalem right after Jesus died! The other man must be John because he was the disciple that was with Jesus’ mother and saw Jesus die. It tells about that in John 19.” Shane answered, “That explains why Peter is so sad and crying so much! He must feel awful after failing Jesus so much! Let’s follow them and see where they are staying.” Shelly said, “Ok, let’s follow them! We need to tell them that Jesus will really rise from the dead on Sunday morning! That is such good news! It will give them hope again!”
So, the Professor, Shane, Shelly, and the kitten got on the bicycle/time machine and rode after Peter and John into the city of Jerusalem. They saw them way ahead in the distance and pedaled fast to catch up with them! Shelly was very careful not to turn the handle on the side of the bicycle/time machine, and the Professor was very careful not to shift into high gear! Just as they were about to catch up to Peter and John, they saw Peter and John go into a house and slam to the door behind them! They heard to noise of the door being locked! The bicycle/time machine ran right into the door! The Professor said, “Ooops!” The door did not open. Shane pounded on the door, but no one would open the door and let them in. Shelly said, “This is in the Bible too! They are so scared that the soldiers will come and get them that they locked themselves into the house they will not open the door because they are scared! We will have to wait to see what happens next!”
So, they got off the bicycle/time machine and sat down outside the house and ….
Application:
- Even though the story today focused on how Peter and John were feeling at the time that Jesus died, the important thing to learn and remember is Jesus dying on the cross to pay for our sins!
- The story of Jesus dying on the cross can be read in the Bible in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In John chapter 19 verse 30 it says that just before Jesus died, He yelled loudly, “It is finished!” Jesus did not mean that His life was finished (He knew that He would rise from the dead in 3 days), He meant that He had finished the job that He came to do on earth. He had paid the price for all the sins of the world, from the beginning of time until the end of time! Now anyone, no matter what they have done, can pray to God, repent of their sins (determine to turn their back on sin and go God’s way) and ask for forgiveness.
- Have you asked God to forgive your sins? It is the most important decision that you will ever make. If you have not done this yet, please do it now, don’t put it off!
- You can pray a prayer something like this:
- Dear God. I believe in Jesus; I know that He died on the cross to pay for my sins. Please forgive my sins, I want to leave my old life and live for you. Thank you for loving me and sending your Son Jesus to die for me. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
- If you have already asked Jesus to forgive your sins, take some time to thank Him again for dying for you on the cross.