The Story of Easter

We’re here today celebrating Easter. I’m going to tell you the story of Easter.

There was once a man who loved big enough to change the world. His name is Jesus.

The people could tell that he was with God and God was with him. Everywhere he went, people would ask Jesus, “What’s the best way to live?” And Jesus would say, “Love. Love God and love yourself and love everyone else.”

Now there were some people who did not like what Jesus was teaching. They did not want to be told to love God, love themselves and love everyone else because it’s a very hard thing to do. So instead of learning this hard thing, they decided to have Jesus killed.

This is the hard part of the story. But remember, “This is not the end of the story.” Because God’s story always has a good ending. The hard part of the story is that Jesus’ enemies did a bad thing and they had him killed on a cross. It was a sad time.

Jesus’ friends, the ones who knew that God was in him and that he was in God, were very sad. Their hearts were broken.

They put Jesus in a tomb, which was like a cave, and they used a big stone for a door.

I imagine they took some time to cry and to hug each other and to try to fix their hearts.

Three of Jesus’s friends —people who loved him and missed him—went to the tomb where he was buried.

But when they got there, they discovered that the huge rock that had been blocking the door was moved.

When they went inside, they saw a man, dressed in a white robe, who said to them—Don’t be afraid! You’re sad about Jesus but this is Good News—he is alive again! Can you guess who that man was? Yes, it was Jesus!

This is a mysterious story.

This is the story that changes the cross from a sad thing to a good thing. It reminds us that no matter what happens, no matter how hard things get sometimes, God is always with us. This is what you should think of when you see a cross. This makes us brave enough to love God and love ourselves and love each other.

Amen

Adapted from a sermon by Amelia Richardson Dress