Sometimes it’s easy to let the commercialism of a holiday carry us away and we lose the true meaning of the season. Easter is no exception. Don’t get me wrong, I love bunnies and baby chicks but I was taught a deeper meaning of Easter through the creative teachers I had and a child at Zoar Lutheran Church in Tofte.
I remember one teacher brought in a bag of jelly beans. Each jelly bean color had an Easter meaning. Red is for the blood He gave, green is for the grass He made. Yellow is for the sun so bright, orange is for the edge of night. Black is for the sins that were made, white is for the grace He gave. Purple is for the hour of sorrow, pink is for the new tomorrow.
I saw an entire bag of black jelly beans before Easter and I thought “just a bag of sugary sin.” My religion teachers would probably be proud to know they had such a lasting effect on me.
When I taught religion as an adult I liked to use similar lessons to explain the meaning of Easter. The favorite of course was the delicious jelly bean lesson but another fun activity was to make Resurrection Eggs. You use 12 plastic eggs filled with different little tokens and together they tell the story of Easter. Remember this for next Easter! Egg 1. A cracker representing bread. “While they were eating Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to His disciples. ‘Take and eat it,’ He said, “This is My body.” Matthew 26:26 Egg 2. A silver coin. “Then one of the 12 disciples, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and asked, “What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?” They counted out 30 silver coins and gave them to him.” Matthew 26: 14-15 Egg 3. A piece of purple cloth. “They put a purple robe on Jesus…” Mark 15:17 Egg 4. Thorns (I used a bendy branch without pickers.) “Then they made a crown out of thorny branches and placed it on His head, and put a stick on His right hand; then they knelt before Him and made fun of Him. “Long live the King, of the Jews!” they said.” Matthew 27:29 Egg 5. Piece of rope to represent a whip. “Pilate wanted to please the crowd, so he set Barabbas free for them. Then he had Jesus whipped and handed Him over to be crucified.” Mark 15:15 Egg 6. A cross. “He went out, carrying His cross. There they crucified Him.” John 19: 17-18a Egg 7. Nails. “Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the scars of the nails in His hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in His side, I will not believe.” John 20:25b Egg 8. Sign (I use a small square paper.) “Above Him were written these words: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Luke 23:38 Egg 9. Sponge. “One of them ran up at once, took a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, put it on the end of a stick, and tried to make Him drink it.” Matthew 27:48 Egg 10. Spear (we used a wooden toothpick.) “One of the soldiers plunged his spear into Jesus’ side, and at once blood and water poured out.” John 19:34 Egg 11. A rock. “Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a new linen sheet, and placed it in his own new tomb, which he had just recently dug out of solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.” Matthew 27:59-60 Egg 12. Nothing in the egg. (The tomb is empty.) “He is not here. He has risen just as He said.” Matthew 28:6
After you open each egg, you can hang the symbol on an Easter tree. The Easter tree can be just a simple branch stuck in a pot. This makes an interesting and thought-provoking centerpiece at our Easter table. I hope you had a happy Easter filled with family and friends.
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of home-style recipes.
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