The Miracle of Easter (A Child's Story)

©Susan Noyes Anderson, All Rights Reserved

The Miracle of Easter: A Child’s Story

©2011 Susan Noyes Anderson

Easter is filled with so many good things:

bunnies and babies and butterfly wings,

Easter egg hunts, colored baskets and bows,

showers and sunshine, bright blossoms, new clothes,

and secret surprises that hide in tall grass,

like candy and colored eggs, fragile as glass.

But Easter is more than the magic of spring.

It’s more than sweet jasmine and birds on the wing.

The reason for Easter is far more than these,

though its truth can be seen in the flowers, the trees,

and in all living things, as they take on new life,

overcoming bleak seasons of sorrow and strife.

In winter, for instance, plants die or turn brown.

Bears nap in a cave; woodchucks sleep underground.

A layer of ice and a blanket of snow

keep seedlings from sprouting, but deep down below

lies the hope of renewal when winter is gone

and the promise of spring as the cycle goes on.

This promise of new life belongs to us, too.

When we die, we can live again, just as plants do.

Even if we are under the earth in a grave,

like a woodchuck or bear, sound asleep in his cave,

we can rise up again when the season is right

and come out from the darkness and into the light.

Do you know why we can? Have you heard the real story?

Easter’s about Jesus, in all of His glory.

He came to the earth as a baby, remember?

We celebrate Christmas, His birth, in December.

But Christ didn’t stay just a baby for long,

He grew up. And He grew to be perfect and strong.

He was God’s Son, and oh, what great things He could do!...

Bless the sick, heal the blind, even raise the dead, too.

People thought He was magic, and yet He was not.

He was just like His Father, and all that He taught

was to love one another, to always be kind,

and to try to be like Him in heart, soul, and mind.

Christ had some disciples that helped Him, twelve men.

They loved Him, and He loved them right back again.

They tried to protect Him from envy and hate,

but evil men plotted and sealed Jesus’ fate.

Betrayed by a friend, beaten by leather strands,

He would die on a cross with nails piercing His hands.

“If thou wilt, let this cup pass from me,” He had prayed.

But God’s answer was no, and so Jesus obeyed.

He had power to save Himself, but He did not.

He remembered His mission and never forgot

that by giving His life, He’d be saving our own.

So He gave it up freely and said with a groan:

“Father forgive; they know not what they do.”

Then He said, “It is finished.” He died in full view

of the people who killed Him, the people He saved,

the people who put their Lord into His grave.

But do you think He stayed there, like regular men?

He did not. Three days later, He rose up again.

For three days, His loved ones had suffered and cried.

Their hearts had been broken the day Jesus died.

But now they were happy and calm, for they knew

their Master had overcome death. It was true.

Every life was eternal, forever and ever.

And one day, we’d all be in heaven together.

Christ loved us so much, He was willing to die

so that we could be saved from our sins, you and I.

In some wonderful way that no one can explain,

Jesus took from us all of our sorrow and pain

and made it His own; somehow, death was undone.

When our Savior arose from the grave, we all won.

Do you see now why Easter is more than a bunny––

sweeter than jelly beans, chocolate, or honey?

Easter is the day Jesus rose from the tomb

and went to prepare, in God’s mansion, a room

for each one of us, so we can live with Him there.

And THAT is a miracle beyond compare.

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