In this seventh and final book in my Erik series, Erik wrestles with how to properly celebrate Easter. Are chocolate bunnies and Easter baskets displeasing to Jesus? Or does having a good time with family and friends please Jesus. (This book has yet to be published and can only be found here.)
© Jeannie
St. John Taylor
I dip a hard-boiled egg in red dye
and swirl the shell in purple. “Wow!” Chuck says. “That looks way better than the orange egg.”
Todd holds two decorated eggs
against his eyes, pretending they are fancy glasses. “I look cool!”
Right in the middle of all the fun,
a terrible thought strikes me and I say, “I wonder if it’s bad to celebrate
Easter by dying eggs since there are no Easter eggs in the Bible?”
Chuck looks worried, “I hope
not.”
Todd rolls his eyes. “Let’s go see
your new bunny!”
While we’re petting Jack I remember
something else. “There’s nothing about an Easter bunny in the Bible story. The
only animal in the story I can think of is the donkey Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.”
The whole time we play outside, we
talk about how God feels about Easter stuff that isn’t in the Bible . . . like
Easter baskets. Chuck and I worry God won’t like it. Todd says Easter eggs and
the Easter bunny are in the Bible. My
eyes meet Chuck’s.
When we walk past the Easter lily
on Mom’s dinning room table and I say, “No Easter lilies in the Bible story.” I
pinch my nose shut so I won’t accidently celebrate by smelling the lily. Chuck
holds his nose, too.
Todd leans over and sucks in a deep
breath. I’m shocked. Sometimes I think Todd isn’t a very good Christian.
Later, we drag our sleeping bags to
the middle of the family room floor for a
Good Friday sleepover. “Want to see
what the true Easter story says?” I ask. I expect Chuck will say yes, but I’m
surprised when Todd does.
We huddle around my Bible and read
about Jesus riding into Jerusalem
on a donkey colt no one has ever ridden before. Crowds of common people wave
palm branches (not lilies) and spread robes on the road for Jesus to ride over.
They shout “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” They plan
to crown Jesus king.
But it doesn’t happen.
Instead, a week later while Jesus
is praying in the Garden
of Gethsemane, one of his
best friends leads a bunch of soldiers and people with swords and clubs and
torches to find him. When Jesus steps forward and says, “I AM” to prove he is
God, just that one powerful word knocks the whole crowd flat to the ground. Even
though Jesus has already told the soldiers who he is, Judas kisses Jesus to
identify him. Jesus doesn’t even try to get away.
For the rest of the night, leaders
of both the Jews and gentiles mistreat Jesus. They spit on him, hit him, beat
him with clubs and make fun of him. Church leaders sentence Jesus to death –
even though he never committed a single sin in his whole life!
Another one of Jesus’ best friends,
Peter, denies he even knows Jesus! Can you imagine how alone Jesus feels?
When it’s almost morning, soldiers
take Jesus to the governor for one last chance. But when Governor Pilate offers
to free him, the common people who waved palm branches at him just the week
before chant, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
So Pilate shrugs, “Okay, fine. Kill
him if that’s what you want.”
Soldiers nail Jesus’ hands and feet
to a cross and he hangs with criminals on either side of him. Actual criminals!
And Jesus never did anything wrong in his whole life.
The very moment Jesus dies the
world goes as dark as midnight and the biggest earthquake ever shakes the whole
earth. It splits huge boulders and rips the four-inch-thick curtain hanging in
the temple straight down the middle.
Todd interrupts the story. “Even
the earth knows Jesus is God! That’s the coolest!”
I look at Chuck and wink. “That’s
not the coolest,” I say. “Jesus makes himself
come alive and rises from the dead. An angel who shines like lightning
rolls the stone away from the tomb to prove Jesus is gone and the tough
soldiers guarding his grave are so scared they faint like sissies.”
Todd says, “Wow! Jesus comes
alive?! That’s the coolest part!”
“Not yet,” I say. “The coolest part
is – he is still alive and forgives our sins.”
That should make us happy, but
Chuck says, “I didn’t see any eggs or baskets or bunnies. None of the ways we
celebrate Easter are in the Bible.” We all stop smiling.
Mom pokes her head in the door and
flips off the light. “Bed time, boys!”
We crawl into our sleeping bags.
“After everything Jesus did, I
don’t want to celebrate Easter wrong.” Todd has tears in his voice. Learning
more about Jesus changed him.
“Maybe what we just did is celebrating the right way.” I say.
“We read the Bible
and remembered Jesus. Easter is all
about Jesus.”
“I’m thankful for Jesus,” Chuck
says.
“Me too,” Todd whispers.
“Loving Jesus is the best way to
celebrate Easter,” I assure them.
“But is it wrong to dye eggs and
hunt for baskets?” Todd asks.
Guess who wakes us up the next
morning? The Easter bunny! (It’s really my dad
wearing a bunny suit.) He gives us
jelly beans and Peeps, but says we can’t eat them till after dinner. We forget
it might be wrong to have fun with the Easter Bunny since he’s not in the Bible.
We pile into the car and go to the
big Saturday-before-Easter egg hunt at the park. We are having a fantastic time
when suddenly I shout, “I’ve got it!” and my friends come running.
“As long as we remember the true meaning of Easter, there’s nothing
wrong with following Easter customs,”
I tell them. “We’re having fun, and Jesus wants
us to enjoy family and friends.”
“So decorated eggs are okay?” Chuck
asks.
“And chocolate bunnies?” Todd adds.
“Yes. And I can’t wait to hunt for my basket
early Easter Sunday morning!” I run and do a back flip. “And I know what we’ll
do after that!”
“Meet at church and really celebrate Easter,” we all shout
together.
*****
Levy, David M., The
Tabernacle, Shadows of the Messiah, Bellmawr, NJ, The Friends of Israel
Gospel Ministry, Inc., 1993
Lawrence, John L., The
Six Trials of Christ, Portland,
Oregon, Know Your Bible Hour, 1977