Gloom. Despair. Grief. Fear.
There was a violent earthquake. Angels. Soldiers who fainted.
Then—joy! Amazement! Rejoicing!
This week is Holy Week for Christians. We remember and celebrate Jesus’ Triumphal Entry, Last Supper, trial, death, and resurrection.
The historical accounts of the resurrection in the Bible mention
Mary Magdalene and other women, guards, angels, disciples such as Peter and John, chief priests, Cleopas and the other man walking to Emmaus, and Doubting Thomas. What would their stories be like if they wrote them out for us?
Point of View
The accounts in the Gospels are from an omniscient point of view. In other words, the writers move from one person to the next, letting us know what some of them saw, heard, and felt. The omniscient point of view sees and knows everything but does not use a specific person through whom to view the action.
You’re going to change that. You are not going to change the Bible facts about the resurrection, but you are going to write an account of the resurrection using a first-person point of view. First person means the narrator is telling the story, like this: “I saw the angels,” “I walked up to the tomb,” or “When we saw it was empty, he went in and I backed away.”
Now it’s your turn: Who was at the resurrection? Write his or her story. Use first person. Your narrator can be any of the people who really were there that morning, or it can be someone you make up (like a gardener, a bird, a stray lamb, a Roman soldier, and so forth). You won’t be changing the facts of the resurrection; you simply will be letting someone else tell the story.
You can find accounts of the resurrection in Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20. It is highly advisable that you read these accounts before you write your story.
Click here for the Middle School version of this prompt.
For another High School Prompt about Easter, click here.
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