After a fun Easter Egg Hunt, Christy sat the kids down with a bag of object lessons to tell the Easter Story while they ate some candy.
First of all, she pulled out 2 sticks. The children quickly recognized them as they formed a cross. Luke 23:33-34a says “And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” After a brief discussion of crucifixion and how Jesus asked God to forgive us all, even while He was dying, we pulled out another object.
Next in the bag was a bottle of cinnamon with some ace bandage for the wrapping of Jesus’ body. John 19:38-41 “After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave [him] permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus,” The children passed the cinnamon around and smelled it. Then we talked about how heavy 100 lbs. of spices would be! We discussed how Joseph and Nicodemus cared for Jesus by asking for His body, carefully preparing it with spices, and wrapping it. We wondered if, when they had finished, Jesus’ body looked like a mummy?
A rock came out of the bag next. As the children passed it around, Christy read Mark 15:46. “Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.” We talked about how big the rock must have been to block the doorway, and how heavy it would be.
Last of all, there was an empty Easter egg to represent Jesus’ empty tomb. Matthew 28:1-7 “Now after the Sabbath, as the first [day] of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead [men]. But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” Wow!!!! Jesus is alive! Yay!!! Notice that the giant rock didn’t keep Him from getting out when He came back to life. The angel rolled it away, and He had already gone!
Before we got up from our circle, Christy read John 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, [there] you may be also.” We talked about how Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, and that He came back to life on Easter. Then we talked about how He is making a place for us in Heaven because He wants us to come live with Him someday. If we ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins and be our Savior from sin, He will take us to Heaven one day!! Yay!!! Jesus is preparing a place for us in Heaven, too, so we can be with Him one day if we ask Him to forgive us for our sins! Yay!!!
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