The Joy of Easter

My favorite part of Easter this year was teaching Caleb about it.  We spent the few days beforehand helping him understand that Easter is a special day.  We explained that Jesus died on the cross but that He rose again and that's why we celebrate: the Resurrection!  We watched Easter story videos on the Bible for Kids app on my phone and we continued talking about this special day.

But it's hard for a kid to understand Easter.  He's still only 2 years old and the concept of death doesn't exist in his world outside of orca whales eating fish.  And if he doesn't understand death, he certainly doesn't understand resurrection.  But we know it's important to teach him anyway so that someday he'll have a vocabulary for the concepts he's beginning to learn now.  The day before Easter when I asked him what happened to Jesus, Caleb said with enthusiasm, "He fell off the cross into the lion's den!"  So yeah, it's confusing :)

Easter Day was wonderful.  We slipped into the back of the packed sanctuary and I held Caleb in my arms while we stood and worshipped.  (He's going through a phase in which he refuses to go to his class, so he's been hanging out with us during the service the past couple months.)  As we sang, Caleb pulled back to look at me and whispered, "We're singing to Jesus.  Learning about Jesus."  And my heart melted in the most beautiful way possible.  My son, who was just repeating something he's heard us say before, was basically telling me that he's beginning to understand our relationship with Jesus.  We sing to Him.  We learn about Him.  He died on the cross and rose again, and that is why we celebrate Easter!  So we're ecstatic and encouraged to keep teaching him, even though his young mind cannot yet understand what the meaning of Easter really is.  Bible apps on my phone will help, but the most important thing is teaching, talking, repeating.  "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds: tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (Deuteronomy 11:18-19).  And someday these precious children will understand who Jesus is and why we love Him and celebrate all He did for us.

My greatest joy this Easter was listening to my son talk about Jesus.  His greatest joy was probably his Easter basket :)  Or maybe dying eggs for the first time.  Or maybe eating lots of treats.  There was no doubt in his mind that Easter was a special day!

So Happy Easter to you!  May we experience the power of the Resurrected Christ and the hope it brings to our broken and hurting world.  He is risen!  He is risen indeed!