Train up a child…
The Easter Story for Children
The Bible is a very special book and it tells us about Easter. In the Old Testament, around five hundred years before Jesus was born, the Bible tells us that a prophet said that someday Jesus would come down from heaven to earth as a baby and live here and grow up and that one day he would die. Sure enough, Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth as a little baby and was born in a manger. His mother’s name was Mary and his earthly father’s name was Joseph. We celebrate the holiday, Christmas, to honor the birth of Jesus and the holiday, Easter, to remember his death.
Jesus was a little baby just as we all were. He grew up and went to school and learned scriptures from the Old Testament. Even when he was about twelve years old, he was teaching adults in the temple about things they were wondering about.
When Jesus was about thirty years old, he went to his cousin, John, who was a preacher that had been going around telling people that Jesus was coming. He asked John to baptize him. John baptized Jesus and said that he wasn’t even worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals. He knew how important Jesus was!
Jesus began going around and telling people to believe in his father, God. He chose some men to help him. They were called disciples. They traveled together several places healing sick people and teaching about God. Jesus did many miracles. Some people who were dead, he brought back to life. He walked on water. He calmed a storm. He turned a little food into a lot of food to feed five thousand people. He told lots of stories, called parables, to teach lessons.
One day, Jesus told his disciples that one of them was going to betray him and he would be put to death. The disciples didn’t believe him. They asked who it was. Jesus told them that it was the one to whom he would hand a cup. He handed the cup to a disciple named Judas.
One night while Jesus was praying, Judas brought some people to Jesus. He had told them that the one he kissed was Jesus. He went up and kissed Jesus. They grabbed Jesus and took him away. He was to have a trial, but there was nothing really wrong that he had done. The people wanted him crucified anyway. They yelled, “Crucify him!”
Jesus was taken away and beaten and nailed to a cross. He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He could have called angels to save him, but he let himself die on the cross as a sacrifice for us.
On the third day, some women went to his tomb and he was not there. He had come back alive! He stayed on earth for a few days and then arose and disappeared into heaven. We celebrate Easter as the time Jesus arose from being dead. It reminds us that just as Christ rose from the dead, we will also come back alive after we die. If we are really sorry for our sins, believe that he died on the cross, and ask the Holy Spirit to come into our hearts, we will then live in heaven with him after we die.