Easter Bible Story and Illustration

Welcome to our Children's Easter Bible Story.  My name is Matthew and I'm going to read from the Bible, explain it to you, and then show you what it means to be forgiven by Jesus.  Are you all ready? 

Let's start with a prayer.  \

Let me read to you Luke 23:39-43.   

39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was [a]hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the [b]Christ? Save Yourself and us!” 40 But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving [c]what we deserve for our crimes, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” 43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Let's review our Bible Story and raise your hand if you know the answer.   

1.  Who was beside the cross of Jesus?  The Criminals.  They were thieves.  

2.  How many of them?  Two.  

3.  How was one different from the other?  One was giving insult to Jesus that if he is the Son of God, he should save himself and then the criminals too.   The other had more respect for Jesus.  Eventually, he asked Jesus to "remember him" when He comes into His kingdom.   

4.  What did Jesus say to this thief?  Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.  

This thief came to Jesus.  He knew only Jesus can save him.   Jesus assured him about going into heaven.  Some of us have a hard time understanding what it means to be forgiven like a thief.  I am going to illustrate it to you through this object lesson.  

OBJECT LESSON:

Smooth plate, clear drinking glass, penny, votive candle, and colored water 

Set the plate down.

For some of us, it might be hard to really understand what happened when Jesus died on the cross. What does that mean for you? Let's look at it this way: Imagine this is you.

Bring out the penny. Set it on the plate.

No matter how hard we try to be good, all of us have done bad things. We call this sin. 

Pour the colored water into the plate.*

Sin covers us up. We're drowning in it. There's no way out for us on our own. But then God sent his Son, Jesus.

Place the lit candle onto the plate. The candle needs to be setting in the water but not covering the penny.

Jesus came to be a light. He lived a perfect life. And then he died on the cross.

Place the drinking glass over the candle. (After a few seconds, the light will go out and then the water will soak up inside the glass.)

That amazing act of love takes our sin away. If we accept Jesus and ask for his forgiveness, he will forgive us of our sins. They are gone forever.

That's what Easter is all about.

***To ensure success, you need to practice this object lesson beforehand, experimenting with different amounts of water and making sure the plate has an even surface. To see what this lesson is supposed to look like, go to: http://anotherdayintheministry.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-object-lesson.html

Close In Prayer.  Dear Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins.  I would like to ask you to come into my life and forgive me of my sins.  In Jesus Name. Amen.