It’s About God’s Love
What do you think the Easter story is?
That is the question I sought to know this week not with the adults, but with the kids at our East church this Sunday! Oh boy, how fascinating were the answers.
Before asking them what they thought the story of Easter was, I wondered what they were excited about. One of them automatically said “chocolate!”. Being the cute kids that they are, many said egg-hunting, the candies they’ll get and spending time with their family. To my surprise, some even said they’re excited to go to church! But what amazed me is that the older ones had confidently said that they were looking forward to remember what Jesus had done for them. It thrills me to know that our kids know the importance of this holiday, and recognize its purpose.
After getting them excited about Easter, I asked them if they knew what the story of Easter was. Knowing that some of them were too young to understand, one answered a sudden “No! I don’t know!”. Some just stared at me like I asked them to solve a complicated mathematical question, as others continued to innocently ramble about the chocolate and egg-hunting. The older ones were able to talk about their simple understand of the story of Easter. One said, “Um, Jesus died for us on the cross, and on the third day, He rose again.” And another who was older than the last said, “Guards found Him [Jesus], and captured him… they nailed Him to the cross. And He died, and the next day Mary Magdelene went inside the tomb they found Jesus, and He was alive and stuff.” Another one who a bit more older than the last said, “God died on the cross for our sins, and three days after, on a Sunday, God rose from the dead. And then um, the three ladies, I forgot their names, they were going to the tomb to put spices or something on Jesus so that He [His corpse] wouldn’t rot and smell bad. So when they got there, Jesus wasn’t there, but an angel was, and he said that God has risen from the dead and that you can find Him and tell the disciples. And Jesus went to the disciples’ house, and the disciples were like ‘AAAH it’s a ghost!’ And then Jesus said ‘I’ve risen from the dead.’ and He showed the scars where the nails were, and a lot of people saw Him. And then they spread the Good News.” Wow, wasn’t that a mouthful? But , it’s so true. These are really our kids in the kids ministry who know the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and can confidently talk about it today. As Jesus commands us to preach the Good News, our children are never an exception to it! The Good News is what transforms us at any age, and they will never be too young to know what Jesus has done for them.
To leave you with this, when one of the kids was asked to explain the story of Easter, because she was very young, she responded with a confused “Um… um… huh?”. Her mother whispers to her “it’s about God’s love.” She says “Ah, it’s about God’s love. I like God’s love.” Easter at its core is about God’s love. Easter wouldn’t have been a day to celebrate without the incomparable, unexplainable and unseperatable love of God. Because “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) It’s because of His love that we have the salvation that we know today. I don’t know about you, but I like God’s love too, and more than ever this Easter, I want to make it my mission to not only remember God’s love, but to also be able to tell others about His love. What will you do this Easter?
— Micah Ocampo
