Easter Story Trick Bag S11.99

Are you looking for a new way to tell an awesome old story? These trick bags will amaze and captivate your audience. When you turn the bag once they are not surprised, but when you turn it again and again they are amazed. Each of the colors in this beautiful pastel bag is a visual for the Resurrection Story. We used John 20 for this story.

Easter Print

Easter is a wonderful celebration. The chocolate bunny, marshmallow chicks and new clothes are ways to celebrate Easter, but they do not give us a picture of the real meaning. Easter is a Resurrection Celebration. Jesus really came back to life. The resurrection story isn’t a sweet little story someone made up and put in a book. Many eyewitnesses documented his resurrection.

It is easy to get so carried away celebrating that we miss the real meaning of the event. The sweetest part of Easter is enjoying the life long benefits that come from experiencing the real meaning of Easter. I’d like the share with you the real Easter Story using the colors of Easter. The only bunny in this story is any bunny that might have tried to find a hole to hide during the rock and roll performance, (better known as the earthquake) in the garden. 

Green

This green makes me think of the new green of springtime. Springtime is a glorious time of new beginnings. The grass is turning green. The flowers are blooming, but more important springtime is planting time. Jesus had explained just as a seed must be buried in the ground to produce a harvest, so He would have to die so He could bring new life to many. The message of the resurrection is illustrated every time a farmer reaps a harvest. Because Jesus died on the cross you can have new life. This new life is real life. It means having the giver of all life living inside you so you can do and be what God put you here to accomplish.

Not only does nature illustrate the resurrection message, nature was affected by the resurrection. The lifeless body of Jesus lay in the tomb of a rich man for three days. The tomb was in a garden. I’m sure the wild flowers were peeking their heads out of their blooms on that warm morning. The ground began to shake with a violent earthquake. The rocks began to roll back and forth, even the huge rock that had been rolled in front of the garden tomb opening. The stone was rolled away not so Jesus could get out. The stone was rolled away so witnesses could see Jesus was gone. Nature was shaken by this glorious event, but so was the world. This news affected different people very differently.

Now we can only imagine how the soldiers must have felt. Here they were with the no-brainer job of guarding the tomb of a dead man when suddenly everything turns topsy-turvy! Earthquakes can be terrifying even when you are in a protected area, but it must be horrifying if you are in the mountainous area with rocks tumbling down from all directions.

White

But the sight of the angel scared them even more!  The angel shined like lightning and his clothes were as white as snow. The soldiers were…what’s a word that means you’re more frightened than terrified, you’re more frightened than horrified. They were trembling and shaking like a leaf in the wind. They were so frightened they passed out! Now that is major frightened!  When they looked inside the tomb Jesus was gone. Now they were in big trouble.

The guards hurried to tell their unbelievable story to the priest in their white, linen robes in the temple. The priest had to hush this story. If word got out that Jesus was alive then everyone would believe that Jesus really was the Messiah. They understood that only God could perform a miracle of that magnitude!  That had to keep the soldiers from telling anyone their story, so the religious leaders agreed to pay the soldiers a large sum of money to tell a “little white lie”. They were instructed to tell everyone that the disciples of Jesus stole his body. If the governor hears the story, we’ll cover for you, they promised. So the soldiers took their money and repeated the story as the priest instructed.

The coins jiggling in their moneybag could never outweigh what they could have had if they had understood the meaning of what had just happened before their very eyes. They saw, but they didn’t believe.

Blue

There are just no words to describe the empty aching pain that Jesus’ disciples felt that morning. To say they were blue doesn’t begin to describe their loss. They loved Jesus. They saw his miracles. They carried the twelve baskets overflowing with bread and fish that started from a little boy’s lunch. They saw him walk on water. They saw blind eyes opened. They followed Jesus. They believed He was God’s Son, now Jesus was dead. It was too sad to be true, but it was true. They had witnessed the horrible scene themselves.

Jesus had tried to prepare them for this event. He had tried to explain that he would suffer and die, but they weren’t looking for a suffering savior, they were looking for a powerful King. Suffering didn’t fit in their picture of what the Messiah would be like. They didn’t understand Jesus came to deliver all mankind from a power greater than that of the Roman government. Jesus had come to deliver them from the strong hold of sin! He came to pay the price for sin, so anyone that would believe could go free. But they didn’t understand, they didn’t believe and now their loss was overwhelming. 

Pink

Pink is for the ladies that were the first visitors to the tomb that morning. Mary had risen early that morning with a mission. It was still dark as she made her way to the garden tomb carrying fragrant spices to anoint Jesus’ body. It was the least she could do for Jesus. She was worried, how could she get the stone rolled away so she could get inside. But as usual, there was no need to worry God had everything under control. When she got there the stone was rolled away, but when she looked inside the tomb, the body of Jesus was gone.

Mary ran to tell Peter and John. They would know what to do. When Mary came running into the village, they heard her before they saw her. “Peter! John! Come quickly!” Breathless she told what she had seen- an empty tomb. 

Peter and John raced toward the tomb. John got there first. They saw the grave clothes folded and lay neatly in place. The face napkin was folded and laying by itself. They couldn’t explain what had happened. They had seen Jesus die. They saw his body removed from the cross. Where was He now? The book of John records that he saw and believed. John left that empty tomb believing. But Peter saw the empty tomb and left confused. 

Blue

They went back home, but Mary stayed outside the tomb crying. Blue doesn’t describe Mary’s pain. Mary didn’t understand what was happening. Her sweet Jesus was gone. She had been a tormented woman, racked with pain when she first met Jesus. He had healed her and set her free from the torment that had gripped her life. She knew he was more than just an ordinary man. She knew He was from God, but how could He be dead? Where was his body? She wiped the tears with the back of her hand and stooped to look into the tomb again, but this time she saw two angels.

White

Two angels dressed in dazzling white sat at each end of where the body had lain. The angels asked her, “Why are you crying?”

Because they have taken away my Lord and I don’t know where they have put Him. When she turned back around she saw a man standing there.

It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Woman, why are you crying?”

Green

 Mary thought the man was the gardener. He wasn't the gardener, but she thought he was. She knew if anyone would know where Jesus was, he would. “Sir, please tell me where you have moved him.”

 Then Jesus spoke her name, “Mary.” She recognized him immediately. No one said Mary, like Jesus. “Master,” Mary squealed! 

Don’t touch me. I must go to my Father. Go to my brethren and tell them that I am going to my Father and your Father.”

 Mary didn’t need a green light. She wanted to tell everyone that Jesus was alive. Jesus really was the Son of God. Jesus had won over death. Can you imagine her excitement? This was news worth sharing.

 But the news has not grown stale or powerless.  Not only does Jesus offer new life, His resurrection means we can have eternal life. Life in Christ is not a life stripped of everything good. It is a life full of all the things that are really important. Mary must have looked like a wild woman as she ran back through the garden to where the disciples were. She told them everything Jesus had said. 

Easter Print

That evening all the disciples except Thomas were together. They locked the doors, afraid that they might be the next to be arrested. As they were sitting together, Jesus was suddenly in the room. He spoke a greeting of peace to them. He showed them the scars in his hands and his side. They were overjoyed when they saw Jesus.

 Many others saw Jesus. Everyone that saw Jesus didn’t believe. Seeing isn’t always believing, but believing is always seeing. Faith lets you see it before you see it.

 Easter is a wonderful celebration, but it’s more than a celebration. Easter is all about receiving new life in Jesus, abundant life, yes, even eternal life. Easter is about experiencing peace in troubled times and joy during dark trials. Easter is God’s ultimate triumphant over death, hell and the grave.