The cinema was quiet. Families were coming to terms with the death of the hero. But the story was not yet over. With a crash, the stone table, where the hero had been murdered, lay cracked in two. Never again could anyone be punished on it, for their own or anyone else’s betrayal. In the silence, the little voice at the back of the cinema whispered: “Dad, what does that mean?”
This is still the question we can keep answering as we show our children and young people their slain hero in the Easter story.
The shock of Easter
That was many years ago. Christians had found it amazing that C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe had been given the Hollywood treatment. We knew that C.S. Lewis wrote his Narnia Chronicles as an allegory of the Bible story. Our church had organised a screening at the local multiplex, but our excitement was not shared by all.
Polly Toynbee, writing in The Guardian, did not mince her words: “Lewis weaves his dreams to invade children’s minds with Christian iconography that is part fairy-tale wonder and joy – but heavily laden with guilt, blame, sacrifice and a suffering that is dark with emotional sadism.” She sounds convinced that we should not be teaching children the story of the first Easter: “Of all the elements of Christianity, the most repugnant is the notion of the Christ who took our sins upon himself and sacrificed his body in agony to save our souls. Did we ask him to?”
No, we did not. None of us dared to suggest that the King should lay down His life for little me. And we can be honest and suggest that it can feel repugnant to consider the first Easter. As we saw Aslan murdered by the White Witch, we did wonder if this was family viewing.
It will probably be our teenagers rather than our children who realise that not everyone sees the beauty of Easter weekend. Where will they stand: seeing the cross as foolishness, or that it is where the power of God is most clearly seen? (1 Cor. 1v21-26) Easter is not only a history lesson, nor is it only a religious festival, and it can’t be just about chocolate. Easter defines us. Will we have the clarity and conviction to lay out the stark difference Easter can make to our young people?
The meaning of Easter
You will know your children and young people best, so you can decide how to do this, but here are a few ideas to get you started.
For pre-schoolers, playing is how they learn. Make wooden crosses out of lollipop sticks and give them play figures for soldiers, Jesus and the criminals to retell the story. Roll dice for Jesus’ clothes. Hold some nails. Use a toy hammer. Carry a teddy bear to the tomb together. Create a cave under tables and blankets to experience the shock of the empty tomb.
For 5 –11s, belief comes from understanding (best done visually). For instance, use the story of the criminals’ last conversation (Luke 23v39-43) to explain how Jesus makes it possible for anyone to be forgiven through His death. Use T-shirts (one clean, one stained) to represent their lives; one criminal asked Jesus to take his messy life, while Jesus gave him His perfection, allowing that criminal to enter heaven. This is the great swap of the cross. The other criminal chose to keep his messy shirt. Faith asks for the swap. Faith trusts in the swap.
For over 11s, the brave decision to live for Christ comes from seeing that it works. Is there a member of your congregation who can explain the difference Easter has made to their life? What convinced them? How has it changed their decision making?
This Easter, as our children hear the old story again, can we get beyond the events to help them answer that vital question: “What does that mean?”
