Easter: Out of the Mouths of Babes

It was Easter. Maybe a rabbit delivered baskets to your house with goodies; or maybe you hunted down eggs that the Easter bunny left behind in strange places.

Personally, I've never made the connection of bunnies and eggs to the reason I celebrate Easter.

So, I'm left a little dazed and confused at times during this holiday.



















Will you bear with me a moment while I reminisce about something that happened earlier this week that reminded me what Easter means to me. And it came out of the mouth of a 2-1/2 year old.

CAUTION: This could get a little deep.

This past Wednesday, our church had an Easter celebration for preschool and elementary children. I was privileged to be in the Story Center where we would tell the story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (SPOILER ALERT: this sounds strangly suspicious to the reason I celebrate Easter...but keep reading...)

We gathered our first group of children - the 2-5 year olds. We sat on the carpet and hollered, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" as we started re-living the story of Jesus' last week on earth. We (carefully!) passed around a branch with HUGE thorns, reminding them of Jesus' crown of thorns. The children sampled vinegar-flavored grape juice representing the drink Jesus was given on the cross.

In the middle of our carpeted circle, was a make-shift cross. I explained that Roman soldiers put Jesus on the cross and nailed His hands and feet to the cross. Then we took turns pounding on the cross with the hammer.

After story time, we had a little down time before they went to their next activity. Down time with preschoolers is about as challenging as herding cattle cross country. So I started asking review questions about the story.

"And who nailed Jesus to the cross?"

A little 2-1/2 year old shouted, "I did!"

Before I could say, "It was the Roman soldiers," tears filled my eyes and a lump creeped into my throat.

See, Jesus was God and He had the power to come off that cross. But He knew every sin I would commit. He knew every sin that anyone would commit. And He knew His death would take the punishment for all those sins, creating an opportunity for mankind to live with Him forever in Heaven.

So . . . I nailed Jesus to the cross. Everything I'd ever done wrong kept Him on the cross.

But that's not the end of the story. For a moment, it appeared that death had won against Jesus, but - AND HERE IS WHY I CELEBRATE EASTER - Jesus did rise out of the grave!

He is alive . . . and offers forgiveness, peace, and JOY to those who follow Him!