Monday, September 28, 2009

Two Baskets



Last time we talked about Passover. Today we will talk about Easter. Today I brought an Easter basket. Let’s see what is in it...

Stuffed rabbit—Easter is not the Easter bunny

Remove the bunny and place a picture of Jesus and a small toy lamb in its place in the basket.

“The Bible says that Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. The Jewish people celebrated the Passover to remember how a lamb was sacrificed so that they would be safe from the Angel of Death when they were slaves in Egypt. We remember that Jesus, our Lamb, died to take the punishment for our sin.”

Easter eggs—Easter is not a basket of colored eggs

Replace the eggs with a wooden cross, preferably a crude one with slivers.

Although we often think of the egg as a symbol of life, the cross is a symbol of death, and Jesus had to die in our place before we could eternal life.

Sweet Easter candy—Easter is not sweet chocolate and marshmallow

Remove the Easter candy and place a bottle red wine vinegar in the basket.

When Jesus was dying on the cross, he was given sour wine (vinegar) to drink.

Colorful ribbon bow—Easter is not pretty ribbons and decorations

Remove the bow and tie a large steel nail in its place on the handle.

Jesus was not tied to the cross with colorful bows. His hands and feet were nailed there with sharp spikes.

Easter bonnet/new clothes—Easter is not a pretty new hat or new clothes

Remove the hat and clothes and replace them with a crown of thorns and long strips of cotton sheet.

Before Jesus was nailed to the cross, the Roman soldiers placed a crown made of thorns on his head and mocked him, calling him “King of the Jews”. After he died, his friends took his body down from the cross and wrapped it in long pieces of cloth before they placed it in the grave.

Flowers—Easter is not lilies and other beautiful flowers

Remove the flowers and place packages of spices in the basket.

After Jesus died, those who wrapped his body for burial placed spices around it .


Soft green grass—Easter is not a basket lined with soft green grass

Remove the Easter grass and put in a large stone.

Instead, Easter is a hard, cold tomb…carved out of stone…with a heavy stone rolled tightly across the opening.

The real gift of Easter IS NOT baskets of candy and eggs and toys.

The real gift of Easter IS God’s angel rolling away the stone to show the world an empty tomb. The real gift is a Savior who not only died in our place on the cross, but who also rose again to life forever.

Just as the Jews celebrated Passover to remember how God saved them from death in Egypt, Christians celebrate Easter to remember how Jesus became our “Passover Lamb”.

2 comments:

  1. I'm always looking for stories, thank you and God bless you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Feel free to use any of the materials here for your own ministry. God bless you.

    ReplyDelete