I love Easter because I know Jesus died on the cross and rose again for our sins so we can be forgiven and have everlasting life even though we are unworthy.....God/Jesus loves us that much!!!
I teach 2nd-5th grade Sunday School with another wonderful lady and we LOVE it!!! We love teaching the kids and it blesses both of us each week!!! We rotate weeks teaching and the last time I taught I decided to utilized the
FamilyLife Resurrection Eggs lesson.
These eggs are already filled with small objects that help you tell the story of the last week of Jesus Christ's life. They eggs help tell the story starting with Jesus riding the donkey
to the empty tomb. With each egg, the kids get to open each egg and hold a piece of
symbolic history directly related to their heritage all while learning the real Easter Story through Bible verses.
I purchased these
Ressurection Eggs from
FamilyLife.com but you
could easily make your own kit. It comes in a hard plastic egg carton with prefilled eggs and a English & Spanish Lesson book. There are 12 eggs total. The contents in each egg are as follows:
- Little Donkey
- Silver Coins (3)
- Cup
- Praying hands
- Leather Whip
- Crown of Thorns
- Cross with Nails
- Die
- Spear
- Linen cloth
- Stone
- Empty
The following is the lesson that comes with the eggs.....Our kids loved it and learned a lot!!!!
Egg 1 Blue: Little Donkey
Jesus sent two
disciples, saying to them “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately
you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to
me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say,’ The Lord needs them,’ and
he will send them at once.
The disciples went
and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and
put on them their cloaks, and He sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their
cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on
the road. [Matthew 21:1-3, 6-8]
Open the blue egg. What do you find inside? A little donkey.
In Jesus’ day, most people walked everywhere. Sometimes,
kings rode on donkeys or horses when they entered a city. The people would stop
what they were doing and watch as the king rode by. On the day Jesus rode into
their city, the people were thrilled to see Him. They believed that He was
their new king who had come to save them and to fill their lives with joy.
........................................................................................................
Egg 2 Light Pink: Silver Coins
Then one of the
twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said,
“What will you give me if I deliver Him over to you?” And they paid him thirty
pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray Him. [Matthew 26:14-16]
Now see what’s inside the light pink egg. Did you find some
coins? What do coins have to do with the Easter story?
Not everyone was happy to have Jesus as their king. Some
people only pretended to be happy, but on the inside they really didn’t want anything
to do with Him. One of those pretenders was a man named Judas Iscariot.
Some other men hated Jesus so much that they wanted to kill
Him. But they needed the help of someone who could get them close to Jesus.
Because Judas Iscariot was a pretender, and because he was greedy for money, he
told these men that he would help them capture Jesus if they would pay him
thirty silver coins.
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Egg 3 Light Purple: Cup
And He took a cup,
and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying “Drink of it, all of
you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sins.” [Matthew 26:27-28]
Open the light purple egg. What’s inside? A cup.
Jesus had a special dinner with His disciples-twelve of His
closest friends who traveled with Him and learned from him. During the meal,
Jesus stood up and held out a cup and gave everyone a drink. Then He said
something that was hard for them to understand. He didn’t mean that they would
actually be drinking blood, but that the wine was a symbol of His blood. He
wanted them to remember this special night and the promise He was making to
them and to all people.
Do you know what that promise is? You’ll find out if you keep
listening.
........................................................................................................
Egg 4 Orange: Praying Hands
And they went to a
place called Gethsemane. And He said to His disciples, ”Sit here while I pray.”
And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly
distressed and troubled. And He said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even
to death. Remain here and watch.” [Mark 14:32-34]
What’s inside the orange egg? Praying Hands
After the dinner with His disciples, Jesus took them to a
garden. He asked them to pray while He went to another place in the garden to
talk to God alone. He began to be sad and to dread what He knew was going to
happen soon. He was going to die.
Do you ever get sad about things in your life? You can
always do what Jesus did-you can pray and tell God exactly how you feel. He
always listens.
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Egg 5 Green: Leather Whip
Then Pilate took
Jesus and flogged Him. [John 19:1]
What did you find when you opened the green egg? A leather whip
When Jesus finished praying in the garden, the men who
wanted to kill Him took Him as their prisoner. Then they brought Jesus to
Pilate, their ruler, and he had Jesus whipped. The whip used was long and hard
and it hurt Jesus so much that he bled.
Jesus hadn’t done anything wrong. The men who wanted to kill
Him were afraid of losing power, so they wanted Jesus out of their way. They
knew that if people really believed that Jesus was the Son of God-which He
was-they would follow him.
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Egg 6 Light Yellow: Crown of Thorns
Then the soldiers of
the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters … and twisting
together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head … and kneeling before Him,
they mocked Him. [Matthew 27:27-29]
What is inside the light yellow egg? A crown of thorns.
After Jesus had been whipped, the soldiers took branches with
thorns, twisted them into the shape of a crown, and shoved it down on Jesus’
head. Again, Jesus bled.
We Know that because Jesus was the Son of God, He could have
stopped the men from hurting Him. But he let them continue. Do you know why?
Because even though He hadn’t done anything wrong-He had not sinned-Jesus was
taking the punishment for all the wrong things that any person had ever done or
ever would do. This includes you and me.
........................................................................................................
Egg 7 Light Orange: Nails in the Cross
So they took Jesus,
and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the place of a
skull which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with
Him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. [John 19:16b-18]
What do you find inside the light orange egg? Three nails formed into a cross.
The soldiers made Jesus carry a heavy wooden cross to the
top of a hill. Using nails much larger than these, they nailed Him to the
cross, which must have hurt very much. He died a few hours later.
The Bible tells us that Jesus was a stronger than any man.
The soldiers couldn’t have killed Jesus if He had not let them. He could have
fought off the soldiers. Why didn’t he? Because God loves people so much, He was willing to let
Jesus be punished for our sins-the things we do or the ways we act that don’t
please God. And even though it hurt Jesus badly, He was willing to do what God
the Father Asked. Jesus loves us, too.
........................................................................................................
Egg 8 Light Green: Die
When the soldiers had
crucified Jesus, they took His garments and divided them into four parts, one
part for each soldier; also His tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one
piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but
cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” [John 19:23-24]
When you open the light green gee what do you find? A die.
Have you ever played a game using dice? Games are supposed
to be fun, but what the soldiers did was mean and cruel. While Jesus was dying
on the cross, they played a game to decide who would take His clothes! Jesus knew what the soldiers were doing, but He did not show
anger. He chose to die for their sins, too. That is why He prayed for them,
even while they were playing their mean game. He prayed, “Father, forgive them.
They don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34 NIrV)
........................................................................................................
Egg 9 Purple: Spear
So the soldiers came
and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with
Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not
break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at
once there came out blood and water. [John 19:32-34]
Now open the purple egg. What do you find inside? A spear.
Two robbers were crucified with Jesus, one on each side of
Him. When the soldiers came to check the three men on the crosses, Jesus had
already died. Just to make sure, though, one of the soldiers stabbed Jesus in
the side with a spear.
This is a sad story, but a true one. It is sad to think that
Jesus died, and that He died in such a cruel way. But remember that Jesus gave
up His life because of His love for sinners-ALL sinners. This includes you and
me and all who tell lies, steal from others, disobey God, or even people like
the soldier who stabbed Him.
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Egg 10 Light Blue: Linen Cloth
When it was evening,
there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of
Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. The Pilate ordered it
to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen
shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he
rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. [Matthew 27:57-60]
Open the light blue egg. What’s inside? A piece of cloth.
After Jesus died, a man named Joseph asked if he could bury
Him. This was a brave and loving thing for Joseph to do. Remember that the men
who killed Jesus did not believe that He was the Son of God. But Joseph did
believe and he wanted Jesus to have a proper burial. Joseph knew that this
might get him in trouble with the soldiers, but he was brave and asked for
permission anyway. Joseph wrapped the body of Jesus in cloth and buried Him in
a tomb cut out of rock, like a shallow cave. Joseph then went away-sad because
Jesus was dead, wondering what would happen next.
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Egg 11 Pink: Stone
And behold, there was
a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and
rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his
clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like
dead men. [Matthew 28:2-4]
What’s inside the pink egg? A stone.
The stone that was rolled in front of Jesus’ tomb was much
bigger than the stone in the egg. It was as big as a door and probably weighed
more than a car!
After Jesus was buried, special soldiers were assigned to
stand guard at the tomb. But these men were no match for God’s angel! It took
just one angel to roll the stone away. The guards were so afraid that they
fainted.
Where did the angel get his strength? From God
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Egg 12 White: Empty
But the angel said to
the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where he
lay.” [Matthew 28:5-6]
Look inside the white egg. It’s empty! Are you surprised?
When two women came to the tomb of Jesus, they were
surprised, too. The heavy stone was rolled aside and the tomb was empty! Jesus’
body was not there. The angel told them, “He has risen.” Jesus had come back to
life.
This was the promise that Jesus made to his disciples at
their special dinner just a few days before-that he would die but come back to
life to show those who believed in Him that they would live forever, too.
Someday, because He died for us, we can meet Him and thank
Him in Heaven.
That’s the story of Easter. And it’s true!
