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D6 Family Easter Guide

Devotions: Danny Conn Activities: Sandy Atwood Editor: Katie Greenwood Editor: Carol Reid

© 2019

Published by Randall House114 Bush RoadNashville, TN 37217Visit www.randallhouse.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other means—except for brief quotation in critical reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (http://www.crossway.org/rights-permissions/esv/) Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible. All Scripture quotations in this publication marked NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. (http://www.biblica.com/biblica-about-us/terms-of-use/) Scripture marked NKJV is from the New King James Version®. Copyright ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. (http://help.thomasnelson.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/40/8/how-do-i-get-permission-to-quote-from-one-of-your-bible-translations-nkjv-ncv-icb-the-voice-the-expanded-bible)

13-ISBN 9780892654758

Printed in the United States of America

Easter is the more commonly recognized name for the season, but the week of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection is also known as Passion Week. Th at week begins with the Triumphant Entry or Palm Sunday and proceeds to Good Friday, the traditional day of Jesus’ death, and concludes with Resurrection Sunday.

Th e D6 Family Easter Guide is an eight-day journey with your family from Palm Sunday to the Resurrection. Each day includes a devotion from a passage of Scripture that shows how Jesus fulfi lled Messianic prophecy or demonstrates His divine nature. Daily family activities are included to reinforce the teaching of Scripture.

Th e passages of Scripture in the D6 Family Easter Guide highlight how Jesus’ death was designed by God as the means of our redemption. Th e sinless One took our place and suff ered for our sin. Th e ultimate goal is for each member of the family to identify with Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, Lord, and King.

Palm SundayJ O H N 1 2 : 1 2 - 1 5

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” (ESV)

The triumphant entry on what we call Palm Sunday fulfilled significant prophecies of Scripture. The people of Jerusalem recognized Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah—the Sent One—who was the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to His people. Jesus was acknowledged as the Savior as indicated by their exclamations of Hosanna, which was both an appeal and a confession that God saves.

He was also identified as the King. He was not coming as a conquering king riding on a warhorse. Rather, He was arriving in a peaceful manner on a young donkey, just as Zechariah had foretold (Zechariah 9:9), 500 years before the birth of Christ.

God’s plan of redemption unrolled across the centuries as He planned. All of history points to Jesus.

What would it have been like to see Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey with people shouting praises to Him?

How can we praise Him today?

• • •

ACTIVITY:

Plan your own parade to celebrate the coming of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

Make some simple instruments and play them in praise while marching through the house! There are tons of ideas on the web: coffee cans could become drums; rice in a water bottle could become maracas; a paper towel roll can become a horn; two matching pot lids can become cymbals; etc. Crank up some lively praise music to play as you march! 

Day 2

Judas’ betrayal did not take Jesus by surprise. He spoke of it to the disciples in John 13:18-21,

wonder, why did Jesus choose Judas to be a disciple if He knew Judas would betray Him? But we

He created us that we would sin, that we would need to be redeemed, and what that would cost.

• • •

ACTIVITY:

Share God's great love with others who may not know about it. Get creative with some of these ideas:

• Make a poster with a special Bible verse about God's love. Hang it on your mailbox as a special message to your neighbors. (Suggested verses: John 3:16, 1 Corinthians 15:57, 1 John 4:12) • Make a video of your family or a child reading the Easter story from Matthew 28 and send it to a friend or family member who needs to hear that God loves them! • Make a poster telling others that Jesus loves them. Hang it on your car and drive around your neighborhood. Do other Christian friends live in your neighborhood? Encourage them to do the same and make it into a parade of God's love!

Day 3

responsibility typically fell to a servant. Jesus’ action shocked the disciples. While none of them humbled themselves to wash the feet of their fellow disciples, they certainly felt embarrassed when Jesus took on the role of a servant to accomplish this lowly task.

But in a real sense, this action of Jesus pictured His incarnation. Jesus took on the form of a

of dying on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8).

Jesus demonstrated servant leadership. He did not come to be served. He came to serve others and instructs us to follow His example.

• • •

ACTIVITY:

Find a way to serve others this week. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Offer to serve your family dinner at dinner time. (Be the waiter!) • Let someone else go first.• Share one of your special toys with a sibling. • Help with chores without being asked. • Read a book to a younger sibling. • Make a "serve others" coupon book for a family member. Give it to them as a gift and serve them when they use a coupon. (Service ideas: make your bed, wash the car, empty the trash, give your mom a back massage.)

Day 4J O H N 1 8 : 1 2 - 1 4

Th en the band and the captain and offi cers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him, And led him away to Annas fi rst; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year. Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. (KJV)

In the Old Testament, the high priest had an important job. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, two goats were presented to the high priest. Th e high priest would place his hands on the head of one goat and confess the sins of the people, then this “scapegoat” would be driven out into the wilderness, symbolically “carrying away” the people’s sins. Th e blood of the other goat would be sprinkled on the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies as a sacrifi ce in payment for their sins.

Caiaphas could have been thinking of a scapegoat when he advised that one man should die for the people (John 11:50). He didn’t intentionally view Jesus as a sacrifi ce for the people; he just meant it was more convenient that Jesus should die rather than allow Him to continue to gain popularity and risk the Roman government’s intervention and removal of the Jewish leadership and eventual overthrow of the nation.

God used Caiaphas’ selfi sh desires as a prophecy that Jesus would die for the nation and, in fact, for the entire world. Jesus would be the substitute who would be sacrifi ced to pay for the sins of the people, as well as to carry away their sins.

How did both the scapegoat and the goat that was killed represent Jesus’ sacrifi ce?

• • •

ACTIVITY:

Do a simple demonstration to show how Jesus took our sin. Grab a black marker and two T-shirts (an old one that can be marked on and a new white T-shirt—kept out of sight until needed).

Jesus died for our sins. What are some sins—wrong things we think, say, or do? Let the kids write these sins in a messy, haphazard way on the fi rst T-shirt. Make big ugly marks as you talk about how sin breaks God’s rules and how sad it makes God. (Put the ugly T-shirt on one of the kids.)

We are all born with a desire to sin. God said sin must be punished. God knew that man would sin, so He made a plan before the world was ever created. Not only would sin have to be punished, but God would send His only Son to take the punishment. (Pull out the clean, white T-shirt.) Jesus, who was perfect and never sinned, was willing to suff er the punishment we should have received.

Jesus took our ugly sin (Take the ugly, “sin” shirt off of your child.) and made us clean. (Have him put on the clean shirt.) Why do you think He did this? Say a prayer of thanks that Jesus was willing to take our punishment, take away our sins, and make us clean.

Day 5M AT T H E W 2 7 : 1 - 1 0

Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus ex-ecuted. So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor. When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “Th at’s your responsibility.” So Judas threw the money into the temple and le� . Th en he went away and hanged himself. Th e chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s fi eld as a burial place for foreigners. Th at is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Th en what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfi lled: “Th ey took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter’s fi eld, as the Lord commanded me.” (NIV)

How ironic that the chief priests considered it unlawful to deposit “blood money” in the Temple treasury, but thought nothing of condemning an innocent man to death. Not only were they blind to the hypocrisy of their actions; they also failed to see how their reasoning fulfi lled prophetic Scrip-ture.

Th e book of Jeremiah was listed fi rst in the way the Jewish leaders arranged the books of the proph-ets, so oft en Jeremiah would be cited if a quote came from the book of the prophets, even if written by a diff erent prophet. In this passage, prophecies by Jeremiah and Zechariah are combined. Jeremiah was directed by the Lord to purchase a fi eld (Jeremiah 32:6-7); Zechariah foretold of the 30 pieces of silver being cast into the Temple for the potter (Zachariah 11:13). Matthew could not help but see how these prophecies fi t together with the circumstances surrounding the money exchanged to betray Christ. Again we see the sovereignty of God working through sinful men to accomplish His purpose.

What do you predict will happen tomorrow? next week? next year? in 100 years?

Do you think your prediction will come true? Why or why not?

• • •

ACTIVITY:

Only God knows the future. Even with scientifi c equipment, the weather forecasters still oft en make mistakes when they predict the weather. Test them today and tomorrow. Let your children write down the high and low temperature and precipitation forecast and see if the local meteorologist is correct.

Hundreds of years before Jesus came to earth, men such as Zechariah and Jeremiah wrote many predictions about Jesus’ death. Did you know that these predictions came true? How could these men know these things before they happened? Only God knows the future and He told these men what to write. Th is is one way we can know that Jesus was not an ordinary man but was God’s chosen One to take away our sins.

Day 6J O H N 1 9 : 1 - 7 , 1 6 - 1 9 , 2 3 - 2 4

Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, … Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots (Psalm 22:18). These things therefore the soldiers did. (KJV)

The torture and humility heaped upon Jesus was the most extreme humans could devise. But in taking our place, Jesus received all the punishment due to humanity. All of our guilt was put upon Him. He willingly took the penalty we deserved. In exchange for our sin He offers His righteousness.

Why do we call the day Jesus died “Good Friday”? Without Jesus’ death there could be no forgiveness of sin.

• • •

ACTIVITY:

Plan a special dinner on Good Friday to remember Jesus’ death. Eat by candlelight and read parts of the crucifixion story. Blow out the candle when you speak of His death to symbolize the hours of darkness. Re-light the candle and thank Jesus for being the light to show us the way to Heaven.

We want to remember Jesus’ death because without it, we could never have our sins forgiven or go to Heaven.

Day 7J O H N 1 9 : 3 1 - 3 7 , 4 0 - 4 2

Th erefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Th en the soldiers came and broke the legs of the fi rst and of the other who was crucifi ed with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testifi ed, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfi lled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “Th ey shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

Th en they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where He was crucifi ed there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby. (NKJV)

Th e Sabbath described as a high day meant it was a special holy day. Th e Passover was one of the annual national holidays. It occurred on the fourteenth day of the fi rst month, which did not happen on a particular day of the week. As a “holy day,” the Passover was also considered a “Sabbath” day. Th e Passover could have been the day before the weekly Sabbath, making the crucifi xion of Christ a day earlier on Th ursday instead of Friday (allowing for three days and three nights in the grave).

Passover commemorated God’s deliverance of His people from Egyptian bondage when the death angel “passed over” those who were symbolically covered by the blood on the doorposts. Th e Israelites were instructed to mark the sides and top of the door with blood. Th e wounds Jesus received on the cross with the crown of thorns, pierced side, and both hands nailed to the crossbeam could be pictured in the pattern of the bloodstains at the door. Jesus was our Passover Lamb, the sacrifi ce whose blood covered our sin and delivered us from bondage.

Why was Jesus called the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29)?

• • •

ACTIVITY:

Give your children half the pieces in a puzzle and ask them to put it together. (Adapt if you don’t have a puzzle, cutting “puzzle pieces” from a magazine picture.) Don’t tell them you are only giving them half of the pieces; keep them hidden until later. When they complain that they can’t work the puzzle, give them the missing pieces.

Why was it so hard to put the puzzle together with only half the pieces? What might you have thought if you only had half the story of the resurrection—the crucifi xion part, but not the resurrec-tion part? We have the benefi t of seeing the whole picture! Th e disciples were sad when Jesus died. On Sunday, the disciples and others saw the whole picture that Jesus was God and had power over death!

Resurrection SundayM AT T H E W 2 8 : 1 - 6

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” (ESV)

“He is not here, He is risen” was more than an announcement of the resurrection of Jesus. Those words declared the reliability and authority of everything Jesus had said. His resurrection proved His claim to be the Son of God. Jesus could accomplish everything He promised, including for-giveness of sin, abundant life, and an eternal dwelling with God in Heaven.

The guards who stood watch verified that no human deception was involved in removing the body of Jesus. Only the power of God could have rolled back that stone and restored life to the One who had been buried in the grave. The empty tomb was irrefutable proof that Jesus had power over death. From that day forward, the followers of Jesus would gather on the first day of the week to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What might you have thought if you went to the tomb and it was empty?

How did Jesus’ resurrection prove He was the Son of God?

Why is the resurrection of Jesus such good news?

• • •

ACTIVITY:

Make a Celebration banner. Write each letter of a message (Jesus is Alive, Happy Easter, He is Risen, etc.) on a separate piece of card stock. Let your children decorate each one and tape them to a long piece of ribbon or twine. Hang it outside, if possible, to share the good news with your neighbors. 

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