3 “Sweet” Ways to Share the Gospel this Easter

It’s that time of year again! Another holiday, another reason to buy candy. Christmas may have cookie decorating and Halloween trick-or-treating, but Easter has Peeps, chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, Cadbury Creams…the list of favorites just goes on and on.

But, Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday are the most sacred days in the Christian’s calendar. Within the span of one week we reflect on Jesus’s proclamation, servanthood, and finally His death and resurrection. We see Him riding into the holy city as a king would do, while crowds of people sing ancient songs proclaiming Him the long-awaited anointed king (and right under the government’s nose, no less). We picture Him celebrating the Passover feast with his closest friends, washing their feet and giving them the new command to love and serve one another rather than seeking power and position. Then our hearts and minds try to comprehend His betrayal by one of these same friends, arrested, tried for treason and blasphemy (among other things), and killed in one of the most brutal ways humankind has invented—then buried in a tomb, just in time for Sabbath.

But even with all this, the story of this one life-changing week is not over. On Sunday, women go to the tomb to finish the process of burial that was put on hold for Sabbath…and find that Jesus is alive. In the days, weeks, and months to come, his friends will begin to understand that Jesus, in fact, was and is the divinely anointed king and Messiah, and more, is God Himself come in the flesh to live among us and defeat the power of death and darkness.

So, yes. There’s a bit to ponder and wrestle with, as we walk with our families through Holy Week. So how do we help our kids navigate all the candy, when we long for them to fix their eyes on that which satisfies, the true Bread of Life?

Since the Peeps aren’t going away and the chocolate bunnies are delicious, I’ve found a few ways to unpack the ground-shaking truth of resurrection using…yes, candy.

Jelly Bean Jar

Every year on Palm Sunday, I set out a medium-to-large sized canning jar in the center of the kitchen table, as well as a container of jelly beans. I announce to my children that, in honor of Jesus and Holy Week, we are going to love Him by loving each other. Each time we do something special for one other, we get to put a jelly bean in the jar. And, if the jar is full by Resurrection Sunday, we get to share the candy together.

But, secretly, I’ve selected a jar I know is way too large for our levels of philanthropy. By Saturday night, the jar is nowhere close to full, and the jelly bean feast to come looks bleak and unlikely. Then, in the early hours of Sunday morning, I fill the jar to full and overflowing. When the kids arrive to breakfast and see the jar filled, I talk about grace. We consider the tension between following God’s commands to love and serve each other with the reality that we can never do this well enough on our own. We rely on grace—from God, from each other—to make it through. Yes, we must love with all our might…but God makes up the difference.

Granted, this game works best the first time through. But we’ve enjoyed doing it again and again—for the lesson, and for the candy at the end.

(Tip: If you have a child prone to worry or low self-esteem, consider filling the beans with grace on Saturday night lest they fall into hours of despair over their failure).

Resurrection Eggs

On Sunday afternoon, when dinner has been cleared away, our family brings out a basket full of brightly colored eggs. Each one contains a Bible verse with a bit of explanation, a token that symbolizes that verse, and…a few pieces of Easter candy. We go around the table and open the eggs in predetermined order, and piece by piece, we tell the entire story of Holy Week: from the Palm Sunday Procession, all the way through to death and resurrection.

You can buy a set of resurrection eggs, all ready to go if you’d like. Or, you can do like I did and make your own. (If you’d like, the Bible passages I selected, as well as the story I tell, can be printed out for your eggs here.)

(Tip: Hosting a meal on Easter Sunday? Use these eggs as a way to retell the resurrection story for those who have never heard it!)

Easter Egg Hunt

If there isn’t snow on the ground on Easter where you live, you’ve probably gone Easter egg hunting on Resurrection Sunday. A family or a church or a neighborhood spreads decorated hard-boiled eggs or plastic eggs (filled with candy, of course) all around the yard—and sets the kids loose. The key is to make it possible for even the youngest kids to find plenty to fill their basket (so big kids should limit themselves to the ones truly hard to find, designate a specific color for them, or direct them to a different section of yard entirely).

This is a time-honored tradition, but I like to search out more than just the eggs and candy. Depending on where you live and what month Easter falls, there is new life to discover all around. Buds are appearing in the trees. Daffodils and tulips are peeking up through the dirt. Clumps of dead, brown grasses are turning slowly green. So, while you munch the candy, go on a second hunt, a new-life hunt. Talk about how God is always making things new, always taking death and turning it into new life. This new life in spring is a beautiful metaphor of the new life we have received in Jesus. Our Creator is always nurturing new life, and we can learn about Him by watching it happen in the spring.

What about you? What are your favorite Easter candy and your most powerful Resurrection traditions? We’d love to hear how you celebrate with your family, church, or club!