An Easter Story for Children—and Adults

By Carol A Brown

 

When working with young children who have little or no understanding of death and resurrection of Christ, it is best to use concrete examples showing how new life actually happens. 

 

I tutor young school children in an afterschool program sponsored by my church. Children come from many different cultures, races, and backgrounds. The one thing in common is their interest and curiosity about the life and times of people from the Bible. Children usually relate well to David and his victory over Goliath, Adam and Eve creation story, and the birth of baby Jesus (though most of the time there is confusion about whether or not Santa Claus was at the manger scene).

 

The most challenging story is the Easter Story. Explanations of death and burial can be daunting. Even with the death of a relative most children have not experienced the trauma of a funeral and the viewing of death in a casket. Very few children truly understand the trial and execution of the good Jesus who healed sick people.  And of the resurrection, how does a child understand a man coming out of a grave without it sounding like the script from a Zombie movie?

 

This Lenten season, I decided to bring a few flower seeds from an unopened packet, a clay pot with green sprouts just about to bloom, and last, a fully blooming plant with fragrant blooms, I showed each step---the burial of a seed that appeared to be dead, new stems coming up from dirt, and finally new life in the colorful flowers as the final step in my object lesson for Easter.  The children watched and listened politely as I continued with the story of how Jesus died, was buried, but after three days came back as a new human life. I explained how He did this to show how death could not hurt us as long as we believed in Him and his death on our behalf.  An explanation of sin is nearly as challenging as what death means to a little 6 or 7-year-old child. Every bad thing we’ve ever done, or will do in the future, can be forgiven because Jesus took the punishment for us when he died on the cross.

 

After the lesson ended, I threw the seeds from the opened packet into the dark brown dirt in my first pot. I had intended to dispose of the dirt later at home. A few days later, I was cleaning and organizing my teaching supplies when I found the little pot stuck in the bottom of a plastic bag. The seeds had sprouted new life with little green stems peeping up through the dirt. Most amazing were the shells from the seeds clinging to the first thrust of tiny green leaves. It was as if the plant was determined to come to life despite darkness, lack of water, and no air. At our next tutoring session, I showed the children the pot with new stems and leaves. They recognized immediately the pot and remembered the story of buried seeds. I will always believe God worked a miracle to help these children understand how Easter is the time we remember He brings new life out of death. God taught my heart the Easter lesson of new life through a simple object lesson for children. The apostle Paul taught about how we are buried into death, through baptism, but, that’s not the end. We will be raised and walk in newness of life, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father (Romans 6:4).  This is an Easter story to be remembered.

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