Luke 19: 28-40
For God so loved the world. .. .
The story of the crucifixion can be disturbing to children. They have heard many Bible stories about Jesus. They are well aware of Jesus' birth and the meaning of Christmas. They know Jesus helped and healed many people. They know that God loved Jesus, and that He loves us.
It is God's love for us that we need to impress upon our young ones as we talk to them about the crucifixion.
. . .that He gave his only Son. . .
God gave Jesus to this world to teach us the true meaning of love. We learn how to love others and ourselves by following Jesus' example. We need to model this example of love in our own homes.
. . .that whoever believes. . .
As terrible as the story of the crucifixion is, we must know it and stress to our children that "happy" ending. The crux of the story is not the horrible crucifixion itself, but that Jesus did actually live again.
. . .shall not die. . .
The Story of the crucifixion can actually be comforting to a child at times of death and sorrow. It is important for us to let our children know early on that as Christians, we will all live together in heaven someday.
Re-published from St. Mark Presbyterian's 1998 Lenten Devotion with permission of the author, D. Schiro.
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