It’s Easter Already?

In my walking-zombie-newborn-coma state it seems Easter has suddenly arrived. There has been no talk of Christ, the cross, or resurrection…until last week.

Driving the boys to school it hit me…Easter! I’m supposed to be talking to the boys about Easter. Okay let’s do that. “Hey boys do you see the white crosses people have in their yards? Did you know that on Easter morning they will turn them around to say, ‘He is Risen’?” 

That’s all we needed to start the “Easter” conversations. This simple statement sparked an onslaught of questions from my boys. We discussed the concepts of betrayal, vengeance, sin, atonement, and prophecy…all in 15 minutes. Whew!

Beyond a “story”

Each night before bed we read a story from the Bible. So the basic stories of Easter have been discussed in our home. They know what happens. But I want them to know why it matters. I want the Bible to go beyond stories and change their lives.

For example, to make the story of Judas’ betrayal more personal I said to my oldest, “What if your best friend Andrew met you at the park & gave you a big hug. That was a signal to the police to arrest you. And they paid Andrew money. How would you feel?” My son was shocked at the idea & began a rant on how he would fight back against the police. I shared with him how Jesus was quiet when Judas betrayed him and didn’t fight. How when Peter cut off the Roman soldier’s ear, Jesus healed the man.  Jesus acted differently than we would have.

Jesus chose God’s way (death on a cross) over his own way (fighting the soldiers).

Making Sin Personal 

That’s how we define “sin”. Sin is choosing your way over God’s way. It’s doing what you want to do instead of what God wants. This story of Jesus confirms that He was the only one on earth who was without sin. A man who always did what God wanted him to do.

One activity that I did last Easter to make Jesus sacrifice and the concept of redemption more personal involved their Easter baskets. I wanted to give them Easter baskets but I didn’t want them to be from an oversized bunny. I saw this idea online (turns out it’s from my new bloggy friend Amanda at Impress Your Kids). Here is her link: Easter Basket Alternative.

After discussing “sin”, we went outside & collected our rocks. Then we sat down and wrote with a Sharpie marker on each rock sins we struggle with: whining, fighting, hurting others, disobeying, yelling in anger, etc.

Then we put the rocks in their baskets. And read Ezekiel 36:26:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

His love for us…

We covered up the baskets with a red superhero cape. Why a red cape? To represent Christ’s death on the cross. A payment for our bad choices. His blood covered our sin. (If your kids are over 4 yrs old you could discuss the passover story. When Israelites were in Egypt…during the last plague they covered their doorways with blood of a lamb so death would pass over their homes.)

While they were asleep I took their rocks and moved them into a basket labeled “Jesus”. In their baskets I replaced the rocks with gifts.

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