Easter - The Most Important Holiday for Christians

For most schools in Kansas, there is no school on Good Friday.  Good Friday is always two days before Easter and commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and His cruel death on Calvary. Christian theology teaches that Christ's death is the perfect atonement for sins, and as a result, the crucifix, or cross, is one of the fundamental symbols of Christianity.

On Easter, our family will gather at church to celebrate Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead. The New Testament teaches that the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of Christianity. It establishes Jesus as the powerful Son of God and as a living Savior because He conquered death through His resurrection. It is a day of joyous celebration when many hymns as well as arrangements of special music and songs of the faith are sung.

In our current culture, I'm not sure what people really know or understand about Easter, especially children. Is it just Easter egg hunts, Easter candy and chocolate Easter bunnies? To find out what my group of girls at church knew, I created an Easter Crossword Puzzle based on the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 

$3.00

The purpose of these two crosswords is to practice, review, and study the true story of Easter. Both feature 25 clues with corresponding Bible references where the answers can be found. The clues are: Judas, darkness, angel, feet, thirty, Peter, Barabbas, two, Jews, Joseph, tomb, stone, Mary Magdalene, thorns, purple, Thomas, resurrection, bread, blood, Gethsemane, three, crucify, Simon, Golgotha and risen. One crossword includes a word bank which makes it easier to solve while the more challenging one does not. Even though the same 25 clues are used for each crossword, each grid is laid out in a different way; so, you have two distinct puzzles. Here are some ways you might use these puzzles with your children:

• Use as a review or as an introduction to the true Biblical Easter story.
  
• Work in groups to complete the crossword, using the Bible references to look up the verses.
  
• Use the puzzle with the word bank as a review; then hand out the second puzzle to solve.

I am thankful for this holiday and for the grace of Jesus Christ.

Happy Easter!