Resurrection Activity-Day 5 Good Friday

Today I read to the kids from Matt. 27:45-56. We talked all about the three hours that Jesus spent hanging on the cross and the pain and agony that He went through for us. We used the sense of taste and touch to more accurately understand what all Jesus went through. As we focused on taste, I let the kids experience the taste of wine vinegar, the same thing they put on a soaked sponge, stuck onto a stick and then offered to Jesus...it was terrible, Peyton didn't want to try it at all, just the smell was repulsive...and to think that's what they offered to Jesus as He was thirsty, yet again it was more mocking of Him...it was a terrible jesture for sure, unthinkable!


We talked about the extreme pain He must have felt as the nails dug into his hands and feet. I used a red marker to draw circles on each of their palms and the top of one of their feet, showing where the nails may have gone in on Jesus as He was hung on the cross. As I drew on them I made sure to press really hard and to "poke" them as I did it, asking them "can you imagine how it felt when an actual nail was going through Him?" They couldn't believe all that Jesus had done for them!



Going through these historical accounts of Jesus' last days as I read from my Bible and then again from their Beginner Bible and as we paralleled that by incorporating a "sense" that went along with each day, has been a GREAT way to reinforce what Jesus really did for us, the pain He endured, the atrocities that He went through...even though He could have stopped it all at any moment, was such a great reminder for me as well! I think the boys really were able to absorb these accounts, not stories, I'm very much adament about not calling the Bible accounts a "story" (like it falls in the same category as Llama Llama Red Pajama or a Dr. Seuss book)...the Bible is historically accurate and very much a history book of truth. I want my boys to really understand when I ask, "what book is this?" and they say "the Bible" and I say "And the Bible is God's word"...and "God's word is ____?..."TRUE"! I want them to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God's word is completely true, that they can believe 100% of it and know that He offers us answers if we'll seek Him with all our hearts, souls and minds!

This Resurrection Activity using our senses and leading up to Good Friday and this wonderful Easter holiday weekend, has been great, we will definitely do it again!

Lord Jesus, thank you so much for the sacrifice you made on my account, for the pain you endured even though you could've stopped it all at any point, thank You for being so selfless and for loving me SO deeply! I am grateful that you are my King and my God! (Ps 44:4)