Adult Lesson Plan: Easter

OPENING (2–3 minutes)

Easter in the Old Testament can feel like trying to find a familiar face in an ancient crowd. We don’t see the name “Jesus Christ” on the page, and yet Come, Follow Me quietly insists that the Old Testament is full of “evidence of the ancient believers’ faith in and longing for their Messiah and Redeemer” (“March 30–April 5. ‘He Will Swallow Up Death in Victory’: Easter,” Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026). Here’s the paradox worth leaning into: how can a book that doesn’t name Jesus still testify of Him with power?

Hold that question next to this sweeping claim: “For truly Jesus Christ has borne ‘the iniquity of us all’ (Isaiah 53:6; emphasis added), and ‘in Christ shall all be made alive’ (1 Corinthians 15:22; emphasis added)” (“March 30–April 5. ‘He Will Swallow Up Death in Victory’: Easter,” Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026). If Easter is really “central to all human history,” then it should leave fingerprints everywhere, even in texts written centuries before Bethlehem. What fingerprints do you notice when you read with Easter in mind?

SCRIPTURE EXPLORATION (15–20 minutes)

Begin with Isaiah’s startlingly personal “all.” Come, Follow Me points us straight to: “For truly Jesus Christ has borne ‘the iniquity of us all’ (Isaiah 53:6)” (same source). Invite the class to sit with that one word. Not “many,” not “most,” not “the righteous,” but “all.” Ask: What does it do to your view of God to realize Isaiah frames the Messiah’s work as deliberately inclusive? How does that word “all” challenge the way we sometimes think about who “qualifies” for mercy, healing, or hope?

Now move from “all” to “victory.” The week’s title comes from Isaiah 25:8, paired in the lesson with the Resurrection accounts: Isaiah 25:8 with Mark 16:1–6 and Luke 24:6 (“March 30–April 5. ‘He Will Swallow Up Death in Victory,’” Come, Follow Me: Old Testament 2026). Even without quoting those New Testament passages today, the pairing itself teaches something: ancient prophecy and apostolic witness are meant to be read as one story. Ask: Why do you think the Lord would plant the promise of swallowed-up death so early in scripture history? What changes when you treat Resurrection not as a New Testament “ending,” but as a theme God has been teaching all along?

Then take a guided tour through the Old Testament “echoes” that Come, Follow Me lists, because the pattern is part of the testimony. The lesson lays out a table of prophecies and fulfillments, such as Zechariah 9:9 with Matthew 21:1–11, Zechariah 11:12–13 with Matthew 26:14–16 and 27:3–8, Isaiah 53:4 with Matthew 8:16–17 and 26:36–39, Isaiah 53:7 with Mark 14:60–61, Psalm 22:16 with John 19:17–18 and 20:25–27, Psalm 22:18 with Matthew 27:35, Psalm 69:21 with Matthew 27:34 and 48, Psalm 118:22 with Matthew 21:42, Isaiah 53:9 and 12 with Matthew 27:57–60 and Mark 15:27–28, Daniel 12:2 with Matthew 27:52–53, and Isaiah 25:8 with Mark 16:1–6 and Luke 24:6 (“March 30–April 5. ‘He Will Swallow Up Death in Victory,’” Come, Follow Me: Old Testament 2026).

Instead of trying to cover every reference, ask the class to notice what the list itself is doing. It’s building a cumulative case: God has been telling one coherent story through many voices. Ask: What does it tell us about the Lord that He prepared witnesses across centuries? What does it tell us about the scriptures that they “talk to each other” this way? And what does it suggest about our own discipleship that God often teaches by repetition, layering, and echo rather than by a single dramatic announcement?

Finally, widen the lens beyond the Old Testament. Come, Follow Me notes that Book of Mormon prophecies are “even more abundant and clear,” and it specifically names 1 Nephi 11:31–33, 2 Nephi 25:13, Mosiah 3:2–11, Alma 7:10–13, and Alma 11:42–45 (“March 30–April 5. ‘He Will Swallow Up Death in Victory’: Easter,” Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026). Ask: Why might the Lord choose to give an additional witness that is so direct about Christ’s mission? How do multiple witnesses change the way faith feels when life gets hard?

DOCTRINAL DISCUSSION (10–15 minutes)

One doctrine rises to the surface immediately: Easter binds generations into a single community of faith. Come, Follow Me teaches that “those who were born before His Resurrection looked forward to it with faith (see Jacob 4:4), and those born after look back on it with faith” (“March 30–April 5. ‘He Will Swallow Up Death in Victory’: Easter,” Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026). That means your faith is not a private hobby; it is participation in a long, holy tradition of looking to Christ. Ask: When you picture “ancient believers” longing for redemption, what do you imagine they hoped would change in their lives? How is that different from what we hope will change? How is it the same?

A second doctrine: the Atonement and Resurrection are not merely events to admire; they are powers that overcome what we cannot. Come, Follow Me frames this plainly: “Because of His Atonement, Jesus Christ has the power to help me overcome sin, death, trials, and weaknesses” (“March 30–April 5. ‘He Will Swallow Up Death in Victory’: Easter,” Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026). Notice the breadth of that promise. It’s not only sin, and it’s not only death; it’s also the long middle categories where most of us live most days: trials and weaknesses. Invite the class to wrestle with a question that doesn’t have a tidy answer: Why do you think the Lord groups “weaknesses” with cosmic enemies like sin and death? What does that reveal about His tenderness toward the everyday struggler?

A third doctrine: Easter joy is real, but it is not always easy, and the Savior meets people in both places. Come, Follow Me acknowledges that “even during Easter, there are many people who don’t feel joyful for various reasons” and asks, “What can you do to spread the Savior’s peace and joy this Easter?” (“March 30–April 5. ‘He Will Swallow Up Death in Victory’: Easter,” Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026). That’s a remarkably honest admission for a holiday lesson. Ask: What does it teach you about Christlike discipleship that the manual expects some hearts to be heavy during Easter? What kinds of “peace and joy” do you think the Lord offers that can coexist with grief?

If you want a single sentence to hold the doctrines together, Come, Follow Me provides it: “The life of Jesus Christ ‘is central to all human history’ (‘The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles,’ Gospel Library)” (“March 30–April 5. ‘He Will Swallow Up Death in Victory’: Easter,” Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026). Invite discussion: If Christ is central to all history, what does that imply about your personal history? About the parts you wish you could erase? About the parts you’re still waiting to understand?

PRACTICAL APPLICATION (5–7 minutes)

Come, Follow Me suggests a beautifully practical way to share Easter: “find messages in the scriptures about the peace and joy Jesus Christ offers,” and then share them, perhaps through “Easter cards,” or even “on social media,” being “prayerful about who needs to receive your Easter greeting” (“March 30–April 5. ‘He Will Swallow Up Death in Victory’: Easter,” Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026). The application is not “do more”; it is “notice someone.” It assumes Easter is meant to travel outward.

So invite the class to consider one person who might not feel joyful right now. Not as a project, but as a neighbor. Then ask: What might it look like to offer “the Savior’s peace and joy” in a way that doesn’t minimize their pain? Would a simple message from Psalms or Isaiah feel like light, not pressure? Would an invitation to sing or listen to a hymn feel like companionship rather than correction?

Come, Follow Me also points to hymns like “He Is Risen!” (Hymns, no. 199) as a way to “feel peace and joy at Easter,” inviting us to “look for phrases… that… capture the joy of Easter” (same source). For adults, this can be wonderfully grounding: sometimes the soul can sing truths it cannot yet articulate. Encourage teachers to ask class members what phrase from an Easter hymn has stayed with them over the years, and why.

CLOSING TESTIMONY & INVITATION (2–3 minutes)

Return to the “all” that opened the lesson. Come, Follow Me bears witness that “Jesus Christ has borne ‘the iniquity of us all’ (Isaiah 53:6)… and ‘in Christ shall all be made alive’ (1 Corinthians 15:22)” (“March 30–April 5. ‘He Will Swallow Up Death in Victory’: Easter,” Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026). Easter is not only about what happened to Jesus; it is about what will happen to us because of Him, and what can happen in us because of Him.

Invite the class to carry one question into the week: Where do I most need the Lord to “swallow up” something that feels unbeatable? Then offer a simple commitment consistent with the lesson: be prayerful about one person who needs a message of Christ’s peace, and share a scripture or hymn line with them (“March 30–April 5. ‘He Will Swallow Up Death in Victory’: Easter,” Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026).

I gratefully add my witness alongside prophets ancient and modern that Jesus Christ truly stands at the center of human history and personal history, and that His Atonement and Resurrection reach as far as the word “all” reaches.