Bringing the Easter story close to children's hearts
Photo Canva.com, EPA, Grzegorz Momot
Christian Life
The Bible provides us with wonderful stories to celebrate Easter with children, columnist Chiara notes. A column about how common people are types of Christ.
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With our three-year-old son, we are in the middle of his obsession with the story of David and Goliath. It is his favourite Bible story, and he asks us to read it over and over from his children’s Bible. He knows all the details and keeps asking questions about the sling, the size of Goliath, and how a little boy could defeat him with just one stone. It is a story with a more compelling plot than any other superhero story.
A shepherd boy defeats a giant armed to the teeth with a stone! What an exciting story!
His passion for the story of David gives us the opportunity to talk about Easter through a story he loves. In fact, the story of David and Goliath is about a little boy who says, “I don’t need weapons! The outcome of the battle depends on the Lord. He fights for me. I am not strong; I am strong because I trust in God!” David goes on to become king and is still remembered and celebrated today for his deeds.
Enemy
But as we think about Easter, we ask our children if they can think of a king who defeated an enemy even more terrible, dangerous and frightening than a giant. Is there a king, even greater than David, who, having defeated the greatest enemy, gives us a chance to feel safe?
The answer is yes! Jesus, God made man, walked on this earth as a humble and meek Man. Just as David was not raised as a warrior like his older brothers, Jesus was not born as a fierce fighter.
But He fulfilled the greatest mission of all for God’s chosen people. He defeated the mighty and terrible giant of sin and death without weapons. Instead, He did it by sacrificing Himself on the cross, believing in the power of God the Father.
Emotion
At Easter, we celebrate this victory. The greatest battle ever fought in the history of mankind has already been won! Jesus is risen. He has conquered death. He is the true King, a King more powerful than David. This is the story we tell our children. A story that continues with even more emotion!
The story of David is exciting. I can understand my son’s excitement when we get to the part where the young man breaks through the ranks of the Israeli army and offers to fight him for them all. But like everyone’s story, King David’s story ends with his death and the passing on of his legacy of integrity to future generations.
Nevertheless, the Lord, Who is sovereign over all, raised from the house of David a greater and more powerful King Who reigns forever, a King Who left His tomb empty.
He is risen and sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. Through His victory, we are not only protected from the giants or the Philistines, but through His death, we have peace and eternal life if we believe in Him. In Him, we have salvation and reconciliation with the Father for eternity.
On Easter Sunday, we will probably read the story of David and Goliath again. But it will be wonderful to say that on that day, the whole Church will be celebrating the greatest victory of the greatest King of all time.
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