Expecting Easter: Touching the Crown

John 19:1-16

 1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.

2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head.

They clothed him in a purple robe

3 and went up to him again and again, saying,

“Hail, king of the Jews!”

And they slapped him in the face.

4 Once more Pilate came out

and said to the Jews gathered there,

“Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know

that I find no basis for a charge against him.”

5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns

and the purple robe, Pilate said to them,

“Here is the man!”

6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him,

they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him.

As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

7 The Jewish leaders insisted,

“We have a law, and according to that law he must die,

because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid,

9 and he went back inside the palace.

“Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus,

but Jesus gave him no answer.

10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said.

“Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

11 Jesus answered,

“You would have no power over me

if it were not given to you from above.

Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free,

but the Jewish leaders kept shouting,

“If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar.

Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

13 When Pilate heard this,

he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat

at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha).

14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

The lesson about Jesus' arrest and trial

can be a bit intense for little ones,

but I feel it is important for them to understand

what Jesus endured for us.

"A Sense of the Resurrection"

handles the subject matter well,

focusing on how the soldiers made fun of Jesus,

and NOT graphically describing

what a Crown of Thorns

could do to a person's head.

However,

I wanted my kiddos to have a good

physical reminder from this part

of the Easter Story... 

 ...so they all made Crowns of Thorns,

using Fimo clay and pre-dyed toothpicks.

(You can get the directions for this craft

by going HERE.)

We did bake our crowns, 

per the Fimo directions...

...so we could display them next to our

Easter family devotional area.

(Learn more about The Messiah Mystery HERE

and learn to make your own Lenten Cross candle set

by going HERE.)

***

After our Bible lesson,

I decided to tie in another fun activity...

...after I read

The Story of the Easter Robin

to the kiddos.

This story fit PERFECTLY with

our Bible lesson!

The totally brown Robin in the story

sees Jesus' Crown of Thorns and at first

mistakes it for a bird nest.

He then realizes the pain it is causing the Savior,

and tries to help him

by pulling out one of the thorns.

As he does this,

a drop of blood falls from Jesus' brow

and lands on the Robin's breast,

staining him as a permanent reminder.

After reading the story...

...the littles helped me make some

Robin Nest Cookies.

There are SEVERAL different recipes

out there on how to make these.

We just made ours by coating

some crispy Chow Mien noodles

with melted

chocolate and peanut butter chips...

Then we scooped the mixture into

pre-sprayed muffin tins,

Stuck them in the fridge for about 30 minutes,

popped them out of the tins with a spoon...

...and added some Speckled M&M's to them...

...for the finishing touch!

These cookies made the perfect dessert

for our bird themed lunch that afternoon...

 Mac 'n Cheese Bird Nests and Pea Eggs

 Egg-Shaped Ham Slices and Mandarin Orange "Tweets"

 Robin Nest Cookie for Dessert

What a fun way to FEEL the Easter story!

***

Up next on Expecting Easter:

The Taste of Sin