“Come, Follow Me” June 24–30: “He Is Risen”

This week’s readings: Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24;John 20–21

Don’t forget to record your impressions and read the ideas outlined in the new Come, Follow Me manuals on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

This scriptural insight comes from Verse by Verse: Volume 1 by Andrew C. Skinner and D. Kelly Ogden.

Three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved him, and with the apostle’s insistent “yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee,” came the pointed directive, “Feed my lambs”; “Feed my sheep.” The Greek verb translated in English as “feed” actually means “to shepherd, to tend, to take care of.” In the Hebrew translation the verb means “to lead.” The great Shepherd was calling on the chief apostle to serve as the shepherd of the Lord’s sheep through the tribulations of the coming decades. The fisherman was now to be a shepherd; his presidency and responsibility mandated a permanent refocus of his life’s work.

These ideas and topics are compiled from Come, Follow Me and have been adapted for specific situations. Check out the manuals online for more ideas, or come up with your own as you study!

Though you may have read the story of Thomas a few weeks ago during Easter, consider studying it more closely together. As you talk about Thomas’s perspective and experience, compare it to your own. How can you increase your faith as a couple, even if you can’t physically see the Lord? How can you help others to do the same? You could even take some time to write down or share with each other experiences that have helped you have faith in Jesus Christ—experiences that you can fall back on in times of low faith. 

A poignant part of this week’s lesson is Christ’s admonition to Peter to “Feed my sheep.” One exercise that might help you apply this scripture to your own life is to replace Peter’s name with your own name. Then you could consider who the “sheep” and “lambs” are in your life that you can look after, such as family members, roommates, ministering brothers and sisters, etc. Perhaps you can even pick a few people to pray about this week and seek new ways to serve and “feed” them physically or spiritually in the ways that they need.

Whether your family has had a lot of experience with death or none at all, this week might be a good opportunity to teach or remind your young children of Christ’s resurrection and what happens to us after we die—particularly because of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. There are many ways to teach this, from watching videos of the Savior’s resurrection to having children imagine or draw the story of His resurrection as you tell it to using object lessons like the hand in the glove (the glove as the body, the hand as the spirit being separated and reunited). However you choose to teach it, you can bear your testimony that we will see the resurrected Savior and departed family members again.

In this week’s readings, we find the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. This might be a story to focus on with your teenagers. As you discuss the events of the story, you can talk about how this applies in your own lives. Are there times when the Savior is walking with us but we do not recognize Him? Perhaps you can take turns sharing situations of when the Lord was walking with you even though you didn’t realize it at the time, or you can talk about ways that you can invite the lord to “abide” or “tarry” with you more often. 

Stay in the loop on Come, Follow Me discussions and insights throughout the week by following the Brightly Beams Instagram account, or check out this week's related Come, Follow Me FHE lesson: Choose to Believe.

Lead image from Shutterstock