RESURRECTION EGGS!!

RESURRECTION EGGS--PLAYDATE WITH PURPOSE??

My little guy isn't old enough to appreciate this yet, but what a super neat idea for those of you with older kiddos.

At our house, Easter is more than an excuse to overeat...we desire to keep the focus on Jesus.

Family Christian Stores sells a product called Resurrection Eggs, for $15. Each egg contains a symbol and an appropriate scripture verse from the gospel. I think this product is a wonderful teaching tool, but you don't need to spend $15! You can easily make your own Resurrection Eggs at home, using a recycled egg carton, and plastic Easter eggs (I don't know about you, but we always have tons of these. You can usually buy them on clearance for next to nothing after Easter).

We begin opening the eggs 12 days before Easter, so that the last egg is opened on Easter Sunday. The eggs contain the following items and verses:

1. 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

2. Silver coin
"Then one of the twelve 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 thirty silver coins and gave
them to him." Matthew 26: 14-15

3. Purple cloth
"They put a purple robe on Jesus..." Mark 15:17

4. Thorns (we use a cutting from our rose bush)
"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

5. Piece of rope, twine, or thick string (a scourge)
"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

6. Cross (I use a cross from a necklace with a broken chain, but you could also make one out of toothpicks)
"He went out, carrying His cross, and came to "The Place of the
Skull," as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called "Galgotha.") There
they crucified Him." John 19: 17-18a

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

8. Sign (I use a small square of laminated paper)
"Above Him were written these words: THIS IS THE KING OF
THE JEWS." Luke 23:38

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

10. Spear (my husband whittled a small piece of wood to a point)
"One of the soldiers plunged his spear into Jesus' side, and at
once blood and water poured out." John 19:34

11. 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

12. Nothing (the tomb is empty)
"He is not here. He has risen just as He said." Matthew 28:6

After you open each egg, you hang the symbol on a "Easter tree", and thread the verse through the branches. Our Easter tree is just a simple branch, in a clay pot surrounded by rocks to hold it in place. This makes an interesting and thought-provoking centerpiece at our Easter table.