So we didn't have an opportunity to tell Ellie the whole Easter story on Easter, so this morning after breakfast, we sat down with the girls and read to them. We've been reading from the Jesus Storybook Bible, which is a great way to tell the stories of the Bible to kids.
Just for a little background, Ellie has been dealing with the idea of death a lot recently. Her great-papa (Nick's grandfather) died about 6 weeks ago, and Ellie was also very saddened by the death of one of the hippos at the Memphis zoo. But this story affected her more than these...
The story begins with the Roman soldiers spitting on Jesus, and whipping him, and taking his clothes. Ellie began looking very solemn and sad. She asked, "Where are his clothes? Look at all his boo-boos! And he crying!" We didn't expect this reaction from a barely-3-year-old. So we made sure we kept going with the story. The story continues with Jesus being named "Our King" by the soldiers, but only in joking. We explained to her that Jesus is our King, and he had the power to make paralyzed people walk, the power to calm the storm, the power to raise Lazarus from the dead. We also reminded her the power that God had to defeat Goliath through a small shepherd boy and a stone, and how God fed 5,000 people with the little boy's lunch of 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread.
Jesus died on the cross. Ellie looked like she was at the point of tears. But the story's not over! Jesus's friends carried his body to the tomb, and said good-bye to their friend. And they placed a huge stone over the opening to the tomb and placed soldiers at the tomb to make sure no one came in, and no one came out. But when some women came to wash his body 3 days after he died, the stone was rolled away. Ellie said, "Where's Jesus???" So we got to tell her that Jesus wasn't there anymore! Jesus was alive again, and he rose from the dead! This is not a sad story, it's a very happy story! Jesus died on the cross because he loves us so much, and if we believe that he died, and rose again, then we can be with Jesus in heaven when we die. As Nick says, Jesus went to time out for us for 3 days, so we don't have to do that forever after we die. God can forgive all of the things we do wrong to disobey him, or our parents, or our friends.
Ellie was still really sad after we told the story, but I think that it is amazing that she understands how intense this story really is, and how much it affects us today. We just need to remind her that this is a happy story, not a sad one. Jesus is alive! We finished the discussion with Ellie telling us, "We get to see great-papa again? And Jesus!"
Just for a little background, Ellie has been dealing with the idea of death a lot recently. Her great-papa (Nick's grandfather) died about 6 weeks ago, and Ellie was also very saddened by the death of one of the hippos at the Memphis zoo. But this story affected her more than these...
The story begins with the Roman soldiers spitting on Jesus, and whipping him, and taking his clothes. Ellie began looking very solemn and sad. She asked, "Where are his clothes? Look at all his boo-boos! And he crying!" We didn't expect this reaction from a barely-3-year-old. So we made sure we kept going with the story. The story continues with Jesus being named "Our King" by the soldiers, but only in joking. We explained to her that Jesus is our King, and he had the power to make paralyzed people walk, the power to calm the storm, the power to raise Lazarus from the dead. We also reminded her the power that God had to defeat Goliath through a small shepherd boy and a stone, and how God fed 5,000 people with the little boy's lunch of 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread.
Jesus died on the cross. Ellie looked like she was at the point of tears. But the story's not over! Jesus's friends carried his body to the tomb, and said good-bye to their friend. And they placed a huge stone over the opening to the tomb and placed soldiers at the tomb to make sure no one came in, and no one came out. But when some women came to wash his body 3 days after he died, the stone was rolled away. Ellie said, "Where's Jesus???" So we got to tell her that Jesus wasn't there anymore! Jesus was alive again, and he rose from the dead! This is not a sad story, it's a very happy story! Jesus died on the cross because he loves us so much, and if we believe that he died, and rose again, then we can be with Jesus in heaven when we die. As Nick says, Jesus went to time out for us for 3 days, so we don't have to do that forever after we die. God can forgive all of the things we do wrong to disobey him, or our parents, or our friends.
Ellie was still really sad after we told the story, but I think that it is amazing that she understands how intense this story really is, and how much it affects us today. We just need to remind her that this is a happy story, not a sad one. Jesus is alive! We finished the discussion with Ellie telling us, "We get to see great-papa again? And Jesus!"
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