The Reason Why We Celebrate EasterWe celebrate Easter to remind us that Jesus came to earth so that he could be sacrificed to save us.
It was a day in spring, on the road to Jerusalem. Many people were going to celebrate the Passover festival at the Temple. Jesus came along, riding on a donkey.
The crowds welcomed him like a king. They waved palm branches and cheered. “This must be the beginning of Jesus making the whole world a better place,” they said to each other.
Jesus went to the Temple. It was like a marketplace. People were selling the things people needed to buy for the festival. Jesus could see that they were making people pay too much. Suddenly he began upsetting the whole market. “How dare you!” shouted the people in charge of the Temple. “The Temple is meant to be a place where you pray,” said Jesus. “Not a place where people are cheated.”
The people in charge were very angry. “We must get rid of Jesus,” they whispered. They began to make a plan. A few days later, Jesus met with his friends to eat the festival meal. He warned them of hard times ahead. He told them always to love one another.
He shared bread and wine with them. He told them always to share bread and wine and to remember him in this special way.
Then Jesus went out to a quiet place to pray. “Father God,” he said, “I don’t want these hard times, but I will do what you want.”
Already one of Jesus’ friends had joined the plan to get rid of Jesus. He came with soldiers who took Jesus away.
The next day, Jesus was put to death, nailed to a cross of wood. In the evening, a few friends came and took the body to a tomb. “We must say goodbye,” said one. The sky was getting dark. “This must be the end of Jesus making the world a better place,” they wept.
It was the weekly day of rest. Jesus’ friends were very sad, for Jesus was dead.
“We’ll have to hide,” said some. “We might get into trouble for being his friends. But we will go back to the tomb,” said the woman, “to say goodbye properly.”
The next morning, very early, the women went. To their surprise, the tomb was open. Inside were two angels in shinning white clothes. “Jesus is not here,” they said. “He is alive.”
They ran to tell the other’s, but no one really believed them.
That evening, two of Jesus’ friends left Jerusalem for home. A man was going the same way. As they walked, they talked about Jesus. “Stay with us,” said the two friends when they reached home. When they began the meal, the man said the mealtime prayer and broke the bread to share it.
The two friends gasped. It was Jesus. But all at once he was gone.
Other friends saw Jesus. He shared a meal with them.
He helped them understand that God is a friend when people face hard times, and that God can make everything good and right again. He gave them a job to do-to tell this news to the entire world.
Soon after, Jesus went to heaven. But God gave his friends the help they needed.
They suddenly felt brave. They knew what to say. They began to speak to anyone who would listen.
Jesus came to us from God, they explained. “He came to tell us how much God loves us. People tried to stop him, but their plan hasn’t worked. Jesus is alive, proving that his message is true: he wants everyone to give up bad ways and come home to a place of goodness. God welcomes us all as friends.
That’s everyone in the whole wide world, forever. The news has been spreading ever since.
Activities to do over Easter
1)Discuss this story with a grown up, to understand better why Jesus died.
2)Jesus came into the world to do good for others, say this pray at Easter time to remind you to do good things for others.