Adult Object Lesson: Easter
The Imagery of Easter
Ask your adults to name the images of Easter.
A typical list will include:
- The egg
- The rabbit
- Flowers
- Butterflies
- Seeds and flowers
- Lilies
- Candy
All of these are symbols of new life and growth. Even candy eggs have a surprise sweet filling inside and jelly beans will grow your belly if nothing else.
And there is the symbol of the lamb—the sacrificial lamb.
No shortage of objects for Easter lessons!
But one symbol is missing. Surely someone will name the cross. If they don’t be prepared to point to the cross.
Without Easter, without Jesus’ conquering of sin and death, the cross would mean very little to us. The whole Lenten journey would have evaporated—untold—into history. All those other symbols would be the trappings of pagan celebrations.
The cross on its own is a symbol of torture and death. The vilest sinners were tortured on crosses. Many of the disciples standing at the foot of the cross would have their turn at torture. We have to think to remember which martyrs died which way.
We would not be likely to hang the symbol of crime, torture and death on the walls of our home—without the Resurrection.
We remember Jesus’ death on the cross, because he beat it. We look to this gruesome symbol with incongruous feelings.
In remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice, some denominations emphasize the Crucifix. Jesus is depicted in agony on the cross.
For others, the empty cross is a symbol of Easter. The cross has been overcome.
All the other symbols of Easter, many borrowed from pre-Christian customs, point to the cross — the empty cross — as the foundational symbol of our faith. It is the symbol of hope and expectation.
This topic resonates very differently with adults than with children. Hope is that core feeling inside of us that something in our lives will result in good.
Children hope that good will happen to them—that people will be kind—that their needs and wishes will be met.
Adult hope is often more desperate.
Will our lives make a difference? Will we accomplish what God intends for us? Will we die appreciated? Does life mean anything? Does death mean anything?
Help your adults think about these things and draw strength today from the Easter story.
You might close with a hymn written in the 1980s by Natalie Sleeth. It is a simple hymn suitable for all ages. It is a hopeful. Despite its simplicity, adults can embrace it.
The tune is lovely and simple. You can learn it by listening. Key of G or F will work.
Listen to the tune here. The singer is playing the guitar in the key of G, so you can follow his chording. The sheet music is written in F.
Hymn of Promise
In the bulb there is a flower;
In the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise:
Butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter,
There’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season,
Something God alone can see.
There’s a song in every silence,
Seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness,
bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future;
What it holds, a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season,
Something God alone can see.
In our end is our beginning;
In our time, infinity.
In our doubt, there is believing;
In our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection;
At the last, a victory
Unrevealed until its season,
Something God alone can see.