The Crucifixion of Christ

“What this country needs is not more liberty but fewer people who take liberty with liberty.”
(By E. C. McKenzie from 1800 Quotable Quotes)

As children’s ministers and as parents, there are many parts of the bible that are hard to teach children because they are so brutal, with many references to killing.   Most often we avoid those stories or pass over them until the kids are older.  Sometimes we make slight changes to make them less brutal and I am not saying that is wrong.  When you ask kids about Noah’s ark, they remember all the fluffy animals in the boat, not all the ones who died.  Even at Christmas, people rarely think of all of the sadness in Bethlehem the morning after Christ’s birth caused by the killing of all of the boys two years old and under.

There is one account that I believe should never be softened up.  Every detail needs to be engraved into our hearts so that we never take lightly the cross that gave us liberty.  When we teach the crucifixion of Christ, I think we need to share the difficult details, like how he didn’t even look like a man any more after the whipping.

During the age when my son was 3 to 6 years old, he only ever wanted to read one story in the bible.  “Jesus on the Cross” he called it.  It made a great impression upon him.  May we never loose the awe of that sacrifice.

When you are teaching the crucifixion, keep it serious.

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