THE EMPTY TOMB Cookies and Scriptures

I came across this recipe with scripture readings years ago; I no longer know the source. I inserted the text of the scriptures to make it easier and so that you will not need to worry about getting your Bible dirty. However, I suggest you stress to your children that the Bible is the source for the readings. The text used here is from the New King James Version.

THE EMPTY TOMB COOKIES—To be made the evening before Easter

1 cup whole pecans        ziplock bag
1 teaspoon vinegar         wooden spoon
3 egg whites                   medium sized mixing bowl
pinch salt                       cookie sheet and wax paper
1 cup sugar                    tape

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Place pecans in ziplock bag and let children beat them with wooden spoons to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested he was beaten by the Roman soldiers.

• READ John 19:1-3: So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.
  

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 teaspoon vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, he was given vinegar to drink.

• READ John 19:28-30:  After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
  

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave his life to give us life.

• READ John 10:10-11: The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
  

Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers and the bitterness of our own sin.

• READ Luke 23:27: And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.
  

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetness part of the story is that Jesus died because he loves us. He wants us to know and belong to him.

• READ Psalm 34:8:Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
  
• READ John 3:16: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
  

Beat mixture with a mixer on high speed until stiff peaks are formed
(when you cut through them with a knife, they should remain standing). Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.

• READ Isaiah 1:18: “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”
  

• READ John 3:1-3: There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

  Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid.

• READ Matthew 27:57-60: Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.
  

Put the cookie sheet in the oven. Close the door and turn the oven OFF.

Give each child a piece of tape to seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed.

• READ Matthew 27:65-66: Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.
  

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

• READ John 16:20, 22: Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
  

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.

• READ Matthew 24:1-7: Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'”

A Broken Heart, or…..

….. (or) Well Done Faithful Servant?

Deuteronomy 34:1-7:
Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the city of Palms, as far as Zoar. Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, “I will give it to your descendants.” I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.” And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.

Initially I felt as if Moses died of a broken heart. He had led his people here, but was not allowed to go into the Promised Land with them. But as I thought about the passage, the words “Moses the servant of the Lord” jumped out at me, and made me think of the parable of the faithful servant. Moses had faithfully completed the huge task that God had set out for him; he had seen their destination, and now that his job was completed he was able to be at peace and go to be with his God in the heavenly promised land, for eternity. What a wonderful reward!

When I die I hope that I will be old and yet still strong and healthy. But most importantly, I hope it will happen after I have faithfully completed God’s purpose for my life. I know I’ll never be like Moses, but that’s ok.  I still have work to do, and I want to do it well. That is something I can strive for every day through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God!

A Difficult Question

I’m rereading The Daily Bible (which is in chronological order) this year and I had a lot of difficulty with part of the reading for February 24th. According to Leviticus 21:16 – 24, no one who “has any defect” is  allowed to “go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary.” The list of defects includes those who are “blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; no man with a crippled foot or hand, or who is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or who has any eye defect…” They are, however, allowed to eat the holy food. I work with the disabled, and I think I deliberately put this passage out of my mind when I have read this passage in the past. But this time it really stuck with me.

Then, in the March 4th reading in Numbers 5:1-5, those who are unclean due to infectious skin diseases or discharges or who are ceremonially unclean are to live outside the camp “so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.” I understand the need to quarantine those who may have infectious diseases. But it seems as if a second class of citizens is being set up, and that they are being characterized as “not good enough” to be in God’s presence. It seems very harsh. This is not how I have perceived God, and in the New Testament scriptures Jesus is presented as ministering to the ill, lame, and outcast.

Today’s (March 5th) reading from Deuteronomy and Leviticus places an emphasis on benevolence for the poor, widows and orphans, and aliens among them. It includes this passage in Leviticus 19:14 “Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.” This is good, but it doesn’t seem to go far enough. I’d like to read that the people are required to provide adequate food, clothing and shelter for those who are unable to fully provide for themselves; to supplement what they are able to do and provide for themselves.

I’d appreciate input to help me understand these difficult passages; to enable a new perspective.

Snow Blossoms

“Snow Blossoms” Bronx, NY

February 2010

Cardinal in Snowy Bush

Bronx, NY Feb. 2010