Countdown to Easter:

The Journey to the Cross with Jesus

You have been working hard this Lent to get to this most sacred time and place. Together with Jesus, let’s take the journey to the cross with Him through scripture and symbols. As a family share together all that He offered for us.

Use these ideas or come up with your own personal family plan: either use 12 to 14 refillable plastic eggs to be put in a basket one per day or all at once to be opened on the appropriate day or fill a vase with branches and hang the symbols from the branches all at once or on the appropriate day.

Day 14 = Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey

Put a palm leaf in the basket or an egg. Read John 12:12-19

Many people had seen Jesus call Lazarus out of the grave. The news had spread quickly into Jerusalem. So a large crowd went out to meet Jesus as he entered the city for the Passover. They waved branches from a kind of tree called a palm. The Jews shouted the word ‘hosanna’ when they were asking a king to help them. It actually meant ‘save us now.’ So, when the crowd shouted, ‘hosanna!’ they were really greeting Jesus as their king. They were greeting Jesus as their Messiah. They were showing that they expected him to defeat their enemies, the Romans. But Jesus was not the kind of Messiah that they were expecting! They expected somebody who would make Israel become an important and powerful nation again. But Jesus did not enter Jerusalem like a powerful leader. Instead, he was riding on a mere donkey. The donkey is an animal like a horse, but a donkey is much smaller. Poorer people rode on donkeys instead of horses, because donkeys were much cheaper. Jesus came to the people humbly, not proudly. He did that to make the words of Zechariah 9:9-10 come true. A king would ride a donkey in times of peace. Jesus was not a military hero; he was a king who brought peace. The Pharisees were very worried because Jesus was so popular.

Day 13 = Anointing At Bethany

Place a cotton ball with perfume in the egg. Read John 12:1-8

When Jesus returned for the Passover, He stayed again with his friends called Mary, Martha and Lazarus. One other time when Jesus visited, Martha was busy with practical tasks but Mary sat with Jesus. She listened to him as he spoke. She was learning from him. Martha complained to Jesus because Mary was not helping her. But Jesus said that Mary was right. She knew what was more important.

But this time she did not complain about Mary. However, Mary did something that would have caused shock to everybody there. She took a very expensive bottle of perfume and she poured it over Jesus’ feet. It was the custom to put perfume on a guest’s head. But it was not usual to pour a whole bottle of perfume over a guest’s feet. And this particular perfume was worth as much as some workers earned in a year! Judas was very angry. He considered that Mary had wasted the perfume on Jesus. Judas thought that she should have sold it. Then poor people could have money from the sale of the perfume. However, Judas did not say this sincerely. He did not really care about poor people. He just loved money. (Actually, he was stealing it from Jesus and the disciples. Judas had many opportunities to steal because he looked after all their money.) But Jesus did not agree with Judas. This probably surprised Judas and the other people there because Jesus always helped poor people. She was showing in public that she had faith in him. She was giving him the best and most precious thing that she possessed.

Day 12 = The Betrayal by Judas

Place three silver dimes (30 pieces of silver) in the egg.

Read Matthew 26:14-15

Judas and the priests made a plan. Their actions contrast with the woman who ‘anointed’ Jesus She acted because she loved Jesus. They acted because they hated Jesus. Judas belonged to the 12 disciples. Jesus had taught Judas for three years. And Jesus had trusted him as a friend. This emphasises how wicked Judas’s action was. He was not loyal to Jesus. Judas knew where Jesus went to get away from the crowds. So he went to tell the priests where they could arrest Jesus. A slave cost 30 pieces of silver. They only paid him 30 pieces of silver as an insult.

Day 11 = the Last Super

Place a small piece of cracker inside the egg. Read Mark 14:12-25

The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jews had to remove every sign of yeast from their houses. This was because the Jews escaped from Egypt in a great hurry. They had no time to make bread with yeast in it (Exodus 12:15-19). Yeast makes bread rise. A man who was carrying a jar of water would be unusual. People who carried water had skin bottles. Women carried jars of water on their heads.

Jesus had made arrangements already. He probably wanted to prevent the authorities and Judas from knowing the place. He calls the room ‘my’ guest room. An upstairs room would be suitable, because they could reach it by an outside stone staircase. The disciples were going to prepare the Passover meal. To share a meal was a sign of friendship. To hand a friend over to his enemies is especially wicked. The disciples did not suspect Judas. Their question to Jesus meant, ‘I am sure that you cannot mean me.’

Jesus’ words were a last appeal to Judas to change his mind. Jesus was also warning him. The fate of the man who handed him over would be terrible. Jesus could have stopped Judas. If the other disciples knew, they would have acted at once. But Jesus knew that his death on the cross was in the plan of God. However, Judas was responsible for his actions. Nobody forced him to hand Jesus over to his enemies. Jesus knew what Judas planned. But that did not make Judas carry out his plan. To know that something will happen does not make it happen.

Jesus used the words of thanks that the head of a family would use before a meal. ‘Thanks be to you, Lord our God, King of the World, who brings food from the earth.’ He broke the bread as a picture of the fact that he was going to give his life for them. He told them to ‘take it’. They were free to accept what Jesus would do for them by his death. God would forgive them because Jesus died.

They all drank from the same cup of wine as a sign of their unity. Jesus said that the wine was the sign of his blood. He also said that he would pour it out. His final words were words of hope. He knew that death was not the end.

Day 10: Jesus is Betrayed and Arrested

Place a toy soldier in this egg. Read Matthew 26:47-56

Judas was wicked. He handed Jesus over to his enemies. But the religious leaders expected that Jesus would fight. They thought that his disciples might defend him. So they had sent their soldiers ready to fight them.

People were saying that Jesus was the Messiah. So the leaders were afraid that he might try to establish himself as a political king by force. Judas had

arranged to kiss Jesus. Then the soldiers would know who was the right person. Then they could arrest him. Jesus did not want his disciples to defend him. It was not like a war. That only leads to more war. Jesus had chosen to show how much he loved people.

In the Old Testament scriptures, God spoke about His purpose. Jesus knew that it must come true. He could have asked God to protect him. But in Gethsemane, he had accepted his Father’s purpose for him. The disciples had all said that they would remain loyal to Jesus. But Jesus’ words of warning came true. The disciples all ran away.

Day 9 = Jesus is Crowned with Thorns

Place a thorn in the egg. Read Matthew 27:27-31

Jews had accused Jesus of being a king. The soldiers knew that, so they laughed at him. They pretended to give him honor as a king. A soldier wore a red coat that looked like the king’s clothes. So they put a red coat on Jesus. They made the crown from ‘thorns’, which were the very sharp small branches of a tree. They put a stick in Jesus’ hand that looked like the special stick that a king carried. It showed that he had authority. The soldiers would have given a welcome to the great king in Rome. So they pretended to give Jesus a welcome in the same way. People bent down on their knees to show respect to important officials. The soldiers knew that the Jews did not have a king. So they insulted and joked about both Jesus and the Jews. Then the soldiers became more cruel. They spat at Jesus and they hit him with the stick.

The Crucifixion

Day 8 = Read John 19:17-27

Put nails in the egg.

The Romans crucified many people. It was a common punishment. The soldiers forced the person to carry his own cross through the streets. They wanted many people to see this. Such events reminded people how the Romans punished criminals. And such events warned people not to oppose the Romans. The Romans crucified people in different ways. Sometimes, they tied the person to the cross with ropes. But they fixed Jesus to his cross with nails. They hammered the nails through his hands and his feet. Then they lifted the cross up and they fixed it in the ground.

Day 7 = Read Matthew 27:33-44

Put a sponge in the egg.

Jesus was on his way to die on a cross. So he had to carry the cross himself. He was too weak to continue to carry his cross. So the soldiers forced Simon to carry it for him. Some women in Jerusalem provided a drink for the men who were going to die. It was wine that contained gall. It would make the pain a little less terrible. They offered it to a person before the soldiers fixed him to a cross with nails. But Jesus refused it. He wanted to be aware of what was happening to the very end. He needed to show how much he loved other people.

Day 6 = Read John 19:31-37

Put a toothpick in the egg.

Day 5 = Read Luke 23:33-43

Put dice in the egg.

Jesus was praying for the Roman soldiers when he prayed to his Father to forgive them. They were only obeying their orders. He also meant all the Jews who had brought about his death. The clothes of a person whom the soldiers killed in this way became their property. The soldiers threw special stones on the ground to decide who should have the clothes.

Day 4 = Jesus Dies on the Cross

Put a cross and a black cloth in the egg. Read Luke 23-44-49

The country was dark for three hours. This was evidence that evil was happening to Jesus. He was the ‘Light of the World’ (John 8:12). In the Bible, darkness is often evidence of God’s judgement.

A special curtain in the Temple separated the Holy Place from the ‘Holy of Holies’ (Exodus 26:31-33). The curtain was huge and very heavy. No human

hands could have torn it. The tear was from the top (Mark 15:38). Jesus was confident that God, his Father would care for him. His last words showed that. The officer heard how Jesus spoke on the cross. He praised God. He said that Jesus had not been guilty of any crime. The people who had been watching returned home. They were very sad. But they had changed their attitude. This happened because they saw the darkness and because of the way that Jesus had spoken before he died.

Day 3 = The Burial of Jesus

Read John 19:38-42

Put a white cloth and cinnamon stick in the egg.

Joseph from Arimathea and Nicodemus were both Jewish leaders. Joseph could ask Pilate for Jesus’ body because he (Joseph) was an important man. Both men were followers of Jesus. But they had followed him secretly. They had not followed him in public. Myrrh and aloes were two kinds of spices. They had a good smell. Spices were very expensive. Nicodemus brought 30 kilos, which was a very large amount. Such a large quantity of spices would be extremely expensive. It was the amount that people used on a king. Nicodemus considered that Jesus was a king. So Nicodemus brought these expensive spices to prove this. He wanted to give Jesus the honour that a king deserves.

Jewish graves were caves. People cut these caves out of rocks. The caves were big enough for two people to walk inside. People put the body on a shelf in the cave, after they had wrapped it in cloths. It was hard work to build a grave like this. After they had put a body inside, they rolled a large rock across the entrance. This rock would make sure that thieves could not enter the grave. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus put Jesus’ body into a grave that belonged to Joseph himself (Matthew 27:59-60). Joseph wanted to show that he, too, respected Jesus greatly. Joseph and Nicodemus had to finish their work quickly. It was nearly evening, at the start of the Sabbath.

Day 2 = Read Mark 15:42-47

Put a stone in the egg.

Pilate was surprised that Jesus had died so quickly. But the Roman officer was able to support Joseph’s request. Pilate, the Roman officer, Joseph and the women all knew that Jesus had died. Joseph had little time between Jesus’ death at three o’clock and the beginning of the Sabbath at six o’clock.

Nicodemus helped him. The grave was a large cave that men had dug out of the rock. They used a heavy stone to roll across the entrance. The women (“Mary Magdalene and the other Mary” Matthew 27:61 ) knew which cave Joseph had put Jesus in. They intended to return after the Sabbath in order to anoint Jesus’ body with spices and perfumed oils.

Day 1 = The Resurrection of Jesus

There is no egg, Jesus has risen! (If you have an extra egg, leave it empty.)

Read Luke 24:1-12

As soon as the sun rose, very early on Sunday, the women went to the tomb.

There had been a heavy round stone that closed the entrance to the tomb. Someone had rolled this stone away. When the women arrived, they saw that. So they could get in. But the body of Jesus was no longer there. The two men who were there were actually angels in human shape. Their shining appearance greatly frightened the women. But the angels reminded them what Jesus had said about his death and resurrection. What had happened was all in the plan of God. The word ‘must’ emphasises that. The apostles did not believe the women. But Peter ran to see for himself. He found only the cloths that Joseph had wrapped round the body.