HE IS RISEN! -- RESURRECTION ROTATION (EASTER 4)

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HE IS RISEN! -- RESURRECTION ROTATION (EASTER 4)

EASTER MORNING. By He Qi.

OVERVIEW

Please note -- A different approach to workshops for this unit. We felt Palm Sunday and Easter are times when more than usual numbers of kids attend, are visiting, etc. So we have found planning a series of 'stations' with assorted activities for various age groups has given all a pleasant time. But here we have also included a series of more traditional worm-type workshops in case you want to do a several week study of this story.

TOPIC/STORY:

The quintessential mystery of sadness turned to joy, as experienced by certain women at the empty tomb. Click here for NEAT BACKGROUND NOTES. Here for DISCUSSION QUESTIONS.

WORKSHOPS:

Click the following links to go right to these workshops: Arts * Music * Drama * Kitchen * Storyteller * Computer * Movie * Egg hunt/pinata.

ACTIVITIES:

Various hands-on arts projects for younger and older children, noisemaking activity, make object puppets then put on puppet play, many food ideas, book reading station for younger kids, computer program, video clip.

SOURCE TEXTS:

Matthew 28: 1 - 10; Mark 16: 1 - 8; Luke 24: 1 - 12; John 20: 1 - 18.

KEY VERSES: Mark 16: 6.

But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here." (New King James Version).

AFTER STORYTIME IN CHURCH, ALL CHILDREN MEET FOR GATHERING TIME, BRIEF REVIEW, THEN GO TO SCHEDULED WORKSHOPS.

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WHERE DOES THIS SCENE FIT INTO EASTER STORY.
The discovery of the empty tomb by the women of Easter is the stunning conclusion of the Easter story.

WHAT IS MEANT BY THE EMPTY TOMB?
In the gospel according to John, we are told "there was a garden where he was crucified, and there was a new tomb in which no one had been laid (19.41)." To give an idea what this tomb might have looked like, here's a link to a picture of a proposed tomb site: CONTEMP PHOTO OF SUGG TOMB SITE

BACKGROUND NOTES & OTHER NEAT INFO.

Footnotes in the New Oxford Annotated Bible/NRSV about the tomb at Mark 16 explain that the 'stone' was a "disk shaped stone rolled in a groove to close the tomb's entry."

OTHER INTERESTING POINTS OF NOTE FROM FOOTNOTES

At Mark 16.1 - 8. Why the women went to the tomb. "The women go finally to perform proper rites of burial.

Mk 16.5. Young man dressed in white. Was dressed "as a martyr vindicated by God would be dressed (cf. Dan.11.35; Rev.7.9,13), reminiscent of Jesus' garments becoming 'dazzling white' in the transfiguration, 9.3."

Mk. 16.7. Jesus 'going on ahead.' "Jesus is vindicated and his movement is to continue. Mark's gospel is open-ended and must be completed by the hearers and readers of the Gospel.

Mk 16.8. "The narrative ends with the women terrified. Obviously however, they eventually told the tale, or Mark's Gospel could not have been written."

[SIDEBAR -- FROM INTRODUCTORY NOTES TO MARK, NOAB/NRSV]

"Mark is a story of conflict -- or rather of multiple conflicts. That is why it is so exciting to read and why it has such a compelling message...

"Surprisingly, however, a conflict between Jesus and the very disciples he designates as representative of the renewed people of Israel also develops in the course of the story. Although Jesus teaches them the mystery of the kingdom, they persistently fail to understand what he is teaching and doing, and at the end they betray, deny and desert him. By contrast with the misunderstanding and faithless disciples, women, who play an increasingly prominent role in Mark's story, serve as models of faithfulness...

"Mark is by far the shortest of the four canonical Gospels and is generally thought to be the earliest, and to have been used in the composition of both Matthew and Luke. Because of the vague and indefinite references to the destruction of Jerusalem in Mark 13 (contrast Mt 22.7; Lk 19.43), the Gospel is thought to have been composed just prior to the widespread Jewish popular revolt that began in 66 CE and the Roman reconquest and destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE."

OKAY. BACK TO NEAT FOOTNOTES. MOVING RIGHT ALONG (OR BACK!) TO MATTHEW...!

At Mt. 17. 62 - 66. Pilate's command about sealing the tomb. "Only Matthew includes these verses. They are presumably meant to counter a post-resurrection accusation that the disciples or someone else... had stolen the body."

Mt. 28. 1 - 8. Women at the tomb. "Matthew follows Mk 16.1 - 8 in presenting women as the only witnesses to the empty tomb.

Mt 28. 10. Gather in Galilee. "The followers are told to gather in Galilee, their homeland and starting point of the movement. Thus their return is part of God's plan, not flight from Jerusalem.

At Luke 23.50 - 54. The burial of Jesus. "The sabbath began at sundown. Luke, perhaps having Gentile readers in mind, indicates the urgency of this burial custom."

Lk 23.55 - 56. Women at the burial. "Spices and ointments were applied to the corpse."

Lk 24. 4. Two men at the tomb. "The two men wear clothing that identifies them as angels, not ordinary humans... as do their sudden appearance and supernatural knowledge.

At John 20. 5. Wrapping lying there. Grave robbers "would not have left the linen behind."

WOMEN AT THE TOMB.

Canadian writer and former moderator of the United Church of Canada, Lois Wilson, gives a wonderful dissertation (short!) on the significance of the women at the tomb in her book, "Stories Seldom Told." She opens her notes with this quotation:

"Church history begins when a few women set out to pay their last respects to their dead friend Jesus. It begins when, contrary to all reason and hope, a few women identify themselves with a national traitor, and do what they consider to be right... namely, never abandoning him as dead. Church history begins when Jesus comes to them, greets them, lets them touch him just as he touched and restored them in their lives. Church history begins when the women are told to share with the men this experience, this life they now comprehend, this life their hands have touched... Officially church history begins with the mission of the men apostles, and officially no women were present on that occasion." (From Elisabeth Moltmann-Wendell and Jurgen Moltmann, "Becoming Human in the New Community," in the Community of Women and Men in the Church, p. 29.)

Then Wilson adds her own comments:

"The most convincing evidence for the resurrection is the emergence of a community of believers in history, of which we are one small part... Additional convincing evidence is that the gospels tell many different versions of the resurrection. If there were only one fixed story, it would make me wonder if the event actually took place, or whether it had been 'cooked up.'"

That women represent a powerful symbol of community is one also expounded on by Canadian writer and scholar Northrop Frye. In Chp 5 of "Biblical and Classical Myths,' Frye writes:

"The image of a wedding, the union of the bridegroom and the bride, is one of Jesus' favourite images for the apocalyptic or ideal world. It is essential to realize that in this case, the bride is actually the entire body of Christian followers. In the book of Revelation, this bride is identified with Jerusalem [21:2], or Israel, meaning people of God.

"That suggests, first of all, that sexual imagery has relatively little to do with the actual relations of men and women. Thus, in this relationship where Christ is the bridegroom and the bride is the people of Christ, it follows that Christ is symbolically the only male. He is also symbolically the only individual, the only person with a right to say 'I am.' That means that the souls of the people of God, whether they are souls of men or of women, are all symbolically female, and make up a single bride figure."

MEMORABLE MUSIC.
Let's return to Jane Siberry's CD, "Shushan the Palace." The closing song on the album is 'If God be for us,' another aria from Handel's Messiah, (lyric based on Rom 8.31,33, 34). A terrific musical resurrection rallying cry! To hear a sample, click the link below, select country name, then scroll down to Shushan the Palace, then over to 'If God be for us:'

'IF GOD BE FOR US,' SAMPLE, JANE SIBERRY

BRILLIANT ART.

The amount of art available for viewing on sites like Biblical Art on the WWW is almost overwhelming (Here's the link to the 'Women at the Tomb' subject area: WOMEN AT THE TOMB ON BIBLICAL-ART.COM .) So I'm going to take the simple approach and select just one piece. I'm absolutely hooked on the work of artist HE Qi right now. Here's a link to one of his many pieces on the resurrection, 'Easter Morning.' (Make sure you follow the links to his homepage. There's a nice paragraph about the many influences on his work. Here's the link:

EASTER MORNING, HE QI

MATCHLESS POETRY.
I include here "The Lamb," by William Blake. 'Lamb' is one of Blake's illustrated poems from a work called 'Songs of Innocence.' Some kind of maturation to the state of 'greater innocence' seems to me what the resurrection is all about!

Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life & bid thee feed,
By the stream & o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, wooly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb.
He is meek & he is mild;
He became a little child.
I a child & thou a lamb.
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Little Lamb, God bless thee!

The William Blake Page has kindly reproduced this work by Blake in the illustrated poem form in which it initially appeared. Creating their own illustrated poems is one of the suggested art activities for this rotation. So here's the link to the illustration version of Blake's "The Lamb:"

COLOUR ENGRAVING, BLAKE'S THE LAMB

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QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION.

1. Where does this scene fit into the Easter story [beg, mid, end; give bit of detail].

2. Why did the women go to the tomb?

3. Was this any big deal? Weren't they just following Jewish custom for burying the dead [yes, but there was risk because Jesus was considered a traitor].

4. Is it significant to you that Jesus's resurrection was revealed 1st to these women, rather than to the chosen followers, the disciples, who were mainly men.

5. What do you that significance might be.

6. Does it matter that the gospel accounts of Jesus's revelation to the women at the tomb vary in detail.

[Consider Wilson's argument that variation adds credibility by not having all accounts line up too perfectly]

7. Describe the range of emotions the women of Easter morning would have felt.

8. What do you feel on Easter morning. What feelings do you share with your family.

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WORKSHOPS

Please note -- A different approach to workshops for this unit. We felt Palm Sunday and Easter are times when more than usual numbers of kids attend, are visiting, etc. So we have found planning a series of 'stations' with assorted activities for various age groups has given all a pleasant time. But here we have also included a series of more traditional worm-type workshops in case you want to do a several week study of this story.

ARTS

(Since many activities and supporting links are provided here, for this section I will let you copy and paste the links into your browser.)

MAIN ACTIVITY: MAKE ILLUSTRATED COLOUR PLATE, AFTER THE MANNER OF BLAKE, FOR KEY BIBLE VERSE. SUGG VERSE: "HE IS RISEN!"

MATERIALS:
- choice of light coloured and darker heavy stock const. paper
- sample quote in marker on lg piece lecture type paper
- rough paper for drafting design
- pencils for drafting design
- neat effect markers for printing and filling in design, ie gold and silver pens, neon glowy markers, 3d spider writers, etc.
- watercolour pencils
- small paint brushes

INSTRUCTIONS:
a. Show the kids a print out of Blake's 'The Lamb' -- see link in background notes.
b. Tell them they are going to make their own illustration sort of like this for a verse from the resurrection story. Could simply be 'HE IS RISEN.' You could pick another Bible verse. Or they could draft their own 4-line or so verse about how easter makes them feel.
c. Work out draft design using scrap paper and pencils
d. Work up finished designs on heavy stock with special markers.
e. another idea -- it would be even more Blakean to use watercolour for the illustrations. Those watercolour pencils, where you draw and colour with the coloured pencils, then make watercoloury by swishing with water and a thin brush, would work great! Probably just lighter colour heavy stock paper would be best for finished designs.

OTHER CRAFT IDEAS FOR OTHER STATIONS.

POM POM SHEEP. Kids could make own oversize pom poms. (Good inst for these using just 2 fingers and yarn in Kids Can Press book of Crochet.) After pom pom made, kids can add googly eyes, maybe on black felt triangle with rounded corners for black face sheep, with black felt floppy ears and skinny rectangles for legs.

BUTTERFLIES.
BAGGIE BUTTERFLIES. (Explain to kids that butterflies are something that turn into something new (from larvae and cocoons to pretty flying bugs!). So they are like Jesus, who died but lives on in a new way. For this craft, basically fill a baggie with multi-colour tissue paper scraps, seal off, wrap a pipe cleaner around, bend into antennae, and voila! Picture and more detail can be found at this link to Danielle's Place (scroll down about half way): INSTRUCTIONS FOR BAGGY BUTTERFLIES

BUTTERFLY MOBILE. I've seen a variation of this done with origami cranes and a super-large branch of a forsythia bush. Make a lot of tiny, multi-colour paper fans. Bind middles with half size pipe cleaners, ends bent for antennae. Attach with thread to one of ends of branch of some pruned bush. You need a cutting that has at least half a dozen nice twiggy ends. Find mid-section, balance point for attaching main top string. Should be good for 6 + fan butterflies.

STAINED GLASS BUTTERFLIES
WAXED PAPER STAINED GLASS BUTTERFLIES. A neat idea for making b.f. shaped light catchers from shaved crayon and wax paper. More detail at this link: STAINED GLASS BUTTERFLIES

EGG DECORATING.
SPONGE PAINTED EGGS. Dab hardboiled eggs with quick drying paint on sponge.

MARBLED EGGS. Put crayon bits in container of very hot water. Lower in hb egg on slotted spoon. Swirl thru wax for marbled look.

AND WITH THOSE LEFTOVER SHELLS...
EGG SHELL MOSAICS. Cut cross about of heavy boxboard. Collect broken shell bits from egg decorating. Cover cross with glue. Stick on coloured egg shell bits with glue.

** The above three neat ideas come from the following site. You have to scroll down and look for the titles of the crafts: EGG DECORATING IDEAS **

REAL TIME WITH THE CHILDREN
Ready. Quickly review or recap the story with them before starting activity.

Set. Link or explain your activity to the current story.

Go. LET ART TRANSFORM!

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DRAMA

ACTIVITY: MAKE OBJECT THEATRE PUPPETS FROM KITCHEN UTENSILS. THEN ACT OUT PUPPET SHOW USING SCRIPT PROVIDED.

MATERIALS:

- kitchen and cleaning utensils picked up cheap at recycling depot. Since ones with 'hair' like mini-mops and feather dusters would be good for the women hilited in this story, sanitary therefore new is better. These items best picked up at dollar store!

- puppet decorating items, like eyes, feathers, yarn, plastic forks for hands...

- glue gun or bond fast/weldbond white glue.

- simple backdrop watercolour painted on large paper.

- long low table for puppeteers to crouch behind

- could also use sheet across lower half of doorwar, backdrop on easel behind puppeteers area.

- maybe some kind of disk on wire for the stone that rolls away

- long cloth strips for burial linen

- simple script for narrator plus few other voices. To see it, click link at end of drama workshop text.

NOTE ON THIS SCRIPT.

- Another simple script from point of view of one character, let's start with one of the women.

- Script taken mainly from John's account, which has lots of running around, therefore good for overacting with puppets.

- Narr. mainly sets up scenes. Puppets act out in moving tableau style.

- If time allows, play can be done again, with kids trading narr and other major roles.

- Easy to change narrative point of view. Altho not a lot of chars in this story after women, disciples and angel. You could insert some. How about some mystery onlooker. Or a grave robber (who got freaked out). Or some kind of animal at the scene (Hey, rabbit..could become some kind of myth blending Easter/rebirth/new babies in spring/Easter bunny perspective!!!).

REAL TIME WITH THE CHILDREN
Ready. Quickly review or recap the story with them before starting activity.

Set. Link or explain your activity to the current story.

Go. ACT UP!

SCRIPT FOR OBJECT THEATRE/PUPPET PLAY, RESURRECTION ROTATION

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KITCHEN

ACTIVITY: FOCUS ON POPCORN -- A FOOD THAT STARTS OUT AS A TOUGH UNTASTY KERNEL AND BECOMES A LIGHT FLUFFY SNACK FOOD (THAT TRANSFORMATION THEME AGAIN).

RECIPES.

There are tons of recipes that use popped popcorn on the web. Maybe use a popcorn maker. Or a glass pot for popping corn the old fashioned way so kids can see (sort of) it transform. Here are just a few recipes to choose from.

POPCORN BALL EGGS. Form ball from popcorn and basic microwave zapped, marshmallow and marg mixture used for rice krispy squares. Decorate eggs with various cake decorating sprinkle and candies.

POPCORN BUNNIES (CHICKS, WHATEVER...). Form animal from basic popcorn ball. Add const paper ears, feet, etc. Embellish with various candies stuck on with vanilla icing in a can.

POPCORN GARLANDS. Like the perennial Christmas favourite, only the Easter version. Day old popcorn works best for poking with pin. Add dried fruit, maybe some small cut out paper crosses and hippy style flower power peacenik daisies.

** Most of these terrific ideas come from the JOLLY TIME POPCORN SITE.

POPCORN NECKLACES. Make like garland above, only shorter, using all edible material. String with pc, dried fruit, day-old marshmallows, marshmallow candies, fruit loops.

RESURRECTION ROLLS. These are neat to do if your kids haven't done them before. Insert marshmallow in Pilsbury crescent roll (seal edges really well!), bake as directed, and when rolls are finished the roll is empty, just like the tomb.

REAL TIME WITH THE CHILDREN
Ready. Quickly review or recap the story with them before starting activity.

Set. Link or explain your activity to the current story.

Go. TEMPERATURE RISING!

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STORY CENTRE

ACTIVITY: ASSIGN SOMEONE TO RESERVE SOME NICE PICTURE BOOKS TO READ TO LITTLE GUYS. OUR LITTLE ONES ENJOYED THIS BREAK FROM THE MAYHEM OF THE LARGE GROUP ACTIVITIES, THE STROLL TO THE RESOURCE/READING AREA. AND OUR READER ENJOYED AN UNCOMMON MOMENT WITH THESE TINY KIDS.

BOOK SUGGESTIONS:

There are lots of great Palm Sunday/Easter picture books for small children. For example, "The Easter Story," by Carol Heyer. Best to consult ahead of time with your resource centre coordinator, and pull half a dozen good ones.

REAL TIME WITH THE CHILDREN
Ready. Quickly review or recap the story with them before starting activity.

Set. Link or explain your activity to the current story.

Go. READ ON!

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MUSIC (!)/NOISEMAKER

ACTIVITY: HAVE KIDS (YOUNGER) ACCOMPANY NARRATED EASTER STORY (SUGG. MATT'S VERSION) WITH VARIOUS TYPES OF NOISEMAKERS PROVIDED, RANGING FROM RAINSTICKS TO POTLIDS -- WHICHEVER BEST CAPTURES MOOD.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Terrific instructions for this idea can be found on the rotation.org site: NOISEMAKER WORKSHOP ON ROTATION.ORG.

REAL TIME WITH THE CHILDREN
Ready. Quickly review or recap the story with them before starting activity.

Set. Link or explain your activity to the current story.

Go. MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE!

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COMPUTER

ACTIVITY: RESURRECTION SECTION ON LIFE OF CHRIST COMPUTER PROGRAM. ALSO DESIGN WEBPAGE TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS.

MATERIALS:

i. reinforce story thru 'Life of Christ' activity CD, Lesson 34. Here's the short summary from the lesson index:

34. The Burial and Resurrection (Matthew 27:57-28:15, Luke 24:1-7). The women discover the empty tomb. How would you have reacted?

To see more about this program, click this link: LIFE OF CHRIST LESSON INDEX ON SUNDAYSOFTWARE.COM

ii. After reviewing story, have kids make own webpage. If Jesus (or angels) had appeared to them at the tomb in modern times, this might be one way they would get the message out.

- Pick a point of view, ie Mary Mag. Site could be something like Mary Mag's Resurrection Sensation Site.

- Kids decide what elements should be on it. Maybe file picture of a similar tomb. Maybe own art sketched in Child's Play.

- Decide on other elements. Mary needs own account/feature story. She could also also post quotes from other in the story who can't believe it, say they are glad, whatever.

- How about a mock poll. 'Can you believe it, yes or no? ' Fave links (made up)? Web photo album?

- The list of possibilities goes on. The kids know best what they like on sites they frequent.

REAL TIME WITH THE CHILDREN

Ready. Quickly review or recap the story with them before starting activity.

Set. Link or explain your activity to the current story.

Go. BOOT UP!

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MOVIE/VIDEO

ACTIVITY: VIEW SECTION OF CHARLOTTE'S WEB WHERE WILBUR WATCHES HER DAUGHTERS HATCH.

INSTRUCTIONS. This excellent idea comes from 'Movie Clips for Kids, Faith Building Devotionals' by Group Publishing. This lesson idea also suggests a demonstration after the movie, where you drop lifeless raisins in a soda water bottle. After you drop them in, the raisins hop around in the fizz, which shows how Jesus's life and death brought forth new life, as shown also by Charlotte's babies.

MATERIALS:

- 'Charlotte's Web' movie or DVD.

- video or DVD player + TV.

- popcorn

- juice boxes.

REAL TIME WITH THE CHILDREN
Ready. Quickly review or recap the story with them before starting activity.

Set. Link or explain your activity to the current story.

Go. PUSH PLAY!

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EASTER EGG HUNT/PINATA IDEA. FOR LARGE GROUP.

Many variations of this seem way too complex for me. I'm leaning toward a 2-part combination where:

Part 1. the kids hunt for coloured plastic unfilled eggs. When done hunting, they talk about how all their eggs are empty and how that makes them feel.

Part 2. The kids break a big pinata. Pinata could be shaped like an egg and painted like earth from space. When kids break this egg, goodies rain down on everyone. Shows how ultimately Christ's gift was for us all.

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