Family Life

We took the kids to an Easter program this afternoon at one of the area’s big churches. We were curious to see how the boys would behave, whether they’d be interested, bored, or what. Besides, Easter is an excellent time to focus on Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, and we saw it as an educational opportunity.

The program was the salvation story, told from the point of view of the apostle Paul in a prison cell in a traditional style (no post-modern theatrics here). Good cast and costumes, excellent props and backgrounds, with music interspersed with narration and acting. The story included the first Passover in Egypt, Israel’s captivity and exile, Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his various trials, and ended with his crucifixion. On Sunday the church will complete the story with the resurrection, but we won’t be at that service.

So what did the boys think of it?

Daniel (4) was totally absorbed. He made sure he was at the end of the pew where he could get the best view, and he asked questions non-stop, much to the embarrassment of his Dad. It started off like this:

Daniel: “What’s that?”

Dad: “It’s a jail.”

Daniel: “Why?”

Dad: “That’s where the Romans put Christians.”

Daniel: “Why?”

Dad (in an urgent whisper): “Ssshh! Don’t talk! Just whisper! They’re about to start.”

Daniel (in his normal talking voice): “Who’s that?”

Dad: “That’s the apostle Paul. Whisper, don’t talk.”

Daniel (still in his normal talking voice): “Why are they putting him in jail?”

And so on. For the whole hour. He eventually grasped the concept of whispering quietly, which was an improvement, but it was a marathon trying to keep up with his commentary and questions. During the songs he’d ask about the lyrics. During the dialog he’d ask about the plot. During the quiet times he’d ask about the props.

Micah (11 months) liked the music. Whenever the cast broke out in song he’d stand on Debbie’s lap and jig up and down and wave his arms in time to the music and attempt to sing along. After a while though, he became restless and bored of being held in one spot. He wanted to be put down on the floor so he could explore. I had visions of crawling around under the pews trying to catch an escapee baby, and kept a super-watchful eye on him lest he break free. Eventually Debbie had to take him out of the auditorium to give him a change of scenery.

Joel (2) paid quiet attention for the first quarter, then played happily with the pencils and papers in the pew back for the second quarter, then fidgeted restlessly for the third quarter, grumpy with the prolonged inactivity.

Toward the end, the actor playing Jesus stumbled down the aisle, covered with blood, carrying a cross, pushed by Roman guards. Daniel stopped asking questions. In fact, he stopped talking altogether. Joel stopped fussing and fidgeting. Both boys stood on the seat on either side of me, holding me tight, absolutely silent, absolutely still. We watched as the soldiers recruited Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross. Not a word. Not a movement. We watched as they laid Jesus out on the cross, hammered the nails in, lifted him up. Still the boys were perfectly quiet. They knew the story. They’ve heard it many times. But this was the first time they saw it.

I know the story. I’ve read and heard it many times. I’ve seen it often. I’ve told it to others. Today I saw it through fresh eyes, and I wept anew at the sadness and the majesty and the love of God infinite.

Eventually Daniel found his tongue and wondered aloud when would they put Jesus in the tomb, and when would he come back to life. I told him they’d show the resurrection at the Sunday morning service, and Daniel immediately declared that we had to come back on Sunday. With an 8:15am start, I didn’t think that was likely.

When the service ended Daniel wanted to go straight to the stage to see Jesus dead on the cross, and started to push through the exiting crowds. But Debbie was struggling up the aisle with recalcitrant and grumpy Micah and Joel, and I convinced Daniel that we had to leave. Intellectually Daniel knew that they were only actors pretending to be someone else, and that the person up on stage wasn’t really bleeding and hadn’t really died. He told me that himself. And yet it made a powerful impression on him, the Bible come to life. I wasn’t sure what we’d find if we walked down to the stage, whether he’d realize anew that these were just ordinary people playing a part, the illusion shattered, or whether up close the powerful images would be further cemented in his mind. In the end I played it safe and decided to leave.

But God never played it safe with us:

For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

John 3:16-17 (NET)

But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8 (NET)

This entry was posted on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 7:51 pm. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.