RESURRECTION  EGGS – EASTER

Resurrection eggs can be a wonderful tool to use in teaching children about the Easter story. The death and resurrection of Jesus can be difficult concepts for the children to understand,  and the eggs act as a concrete, hands on prop to help them to remember the true meaning of Easter.

We collected an egg carton and twelve colored plastic Easter eggs for every child in the school and put a symbol in each egg that would help us in retelling the Easter story. We also numbered the eggs so that the children would know which order to open them in.

Egg # 1

Symbol – a donkey

Bible reading – Matthew 21:1-9

The donkey’s owner was pleased to give the donkey up when he found out that it was for Jesus to ride on. It was common in those days for a king to ride on a donkey during peaceful times. The people loved Jesus and knew that He was the Son of God. Jesus had performed miracles and healed people that were blind or sick. They were happy to see him when he rode the donkey into town. They waved and laid palm leaves down on the ground and called “Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord !”

Some people became afraid when the Jewish leaders said that He was not the Son of God and thought that if they followed Jesus that they would be in danger. God wants us to follow Jesus even though it might not always be easy. He will always bless and protect us.

Egg # 2

Symbol – silver coins

Bible reading – Matthew 26: 14-16, 46-50; 27:1-5

The Pharisees and Jewish leaders did things that God wasn’t happy about. They judged other people, they were selfish, and they were very proud of themselves. Jesus wanted them to know that this was wrong and that they needed to have kind and loving hearts. They didn’t want to change and didn’t like Jesus telling them that they should change. They wanted to get rid of Jesus.

Judas betrayed Jesus. Betrayed means that you do something to hurt someone who thinks of you as a friend and trusts you. Judas took 30 silver coins from the Jewish leaders in turn for leading them to Jesus. They  captured Jesus and put him on trial for saying that He was the king of the Jews.

Egg # 3

Symbol – Passover cup

Bible reading: Matthew 26:17-19, 26-28; Exodus 12:23

Jesus used the cup of wine as a remembrance of His blood. He said “This is my blood, drink it in memory of me”. We still see people drinking from the cup at communion time at church when we eat the body and drink the blood of Jesus in memory of Him dying on the cross for us.

Egg #4

Symbol – Praying Hands

Bible reading – Mark 14:32-42

Jesus knew that He was going to die and wanted to talk to God to give Him strength for what was about to happen. Before His death, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray to God. He asked His disciples to stand guard while He prayed. The praying hands remind us that we can receive strength through prayer.

Egg #5

Symbol – Leather whip

Bible reading – John 19:1-15

The soldiers who captured Jesus used leather whips to beat him. Jesus accepted this punishment because He knew that it was the will of God.

Egg # 6

Symbol – Crown of Thorns

Bible reading – Matthew 27:29-31

The soldiers that had whipped and crucified Jesus put a crown of thorns on His head and mad fun of Him by laughing and calling Him the King of the Jews.

Egg #7

Symbol – Nails

Bible reading – John 19:16-22

Jesus was nailed to the cross with three large nails, one in each hand and one through his feet. We love Jesus very much and it makes us sad to know that He was hurt with whips and a crown of thorns and nails. He went through all of that because He loves us so much !

Egg # 8

Symbol – Dice

Bible reading – John 19:23-25

The soldiers continued to show disrespect for Jesus when they played a game using dice to see who would win the robes that He wore before He was nailed to the cross. Jesus prayed for these enemies by saying  “ Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing”. We can try to  follow the example set by  Jesus praying for and forgiving our enemies.

Egg # 9

Symbol – Spear

Bible reading – John 19:31-37

Once Jesus had died on the cross, the soldiers had to make sure that He was really dead, so they pierced His side with a spear.

Egg # 10

Symbol – Cloth

Bible reading – Matthew 27:57-61

It was customary for the Jews to wrap bodies in cloth to prepare them to be buried. Joseph of Arimathea  was a Jewish leader who believed that Jesus was God’s Son and wanted him to be buried in a respectful way. It was Joseph that took Jesus to the tomb and wrapped His body in a cloth.

Egg # 11

Symbol – Stone

Bible reading – Matthew 28 :1-3

The Jewish leaders were afraid that someone would try to take that body of Jesus from the tomb and so they blocked the entrance to the tomb with a huge boulder.

Egg # 12

Symbol – Empty tomb

Bible reading – Matthew 28:5-8

When the followers of Jesus found the tomb empty they thought that someone had stolen His body, but it was really because He had risen from the dead.