Easy pre-Easter Bible readings for families

Easter is approaching and it’s time for our families to be reminded again of the wonderful sacrifice of Christ for us. We anticipate Good Friday as a day to reflect on the power of the cross, and Easter Sunday, when we will rejoice that Christ is risen. In next week’s post, we’ll consider some ways to celebrate these events over the Easter weekend. 

This post, however, is an encouragement to allow time for family Bible readings in the lead up to Easter. Doing so helps us to prepare our hearts to commemorate the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and teaches our children the core of our faith.  

Now I know it’s a busy time of year, and some of us feel like we are just crawling to the end of Term 1. Can this be done without adding yet another burden to our lives? Yes, it certainly can—with just a bit of pre-work (not much, I promise!) you can use a Bible reading plan to focus everyone on the events leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection.  

Our family did this every year over the pre-school and primary school years. It took about ten minutes a day and was a lovely chance to sit together, open God’s word, consider what it meant for us and pray together. In our version, all the readings are contained in one printable booklet, with the option of opening a plastic egg (some people call it a ‘resurrection egg’) each day that contains a Bible verse and a small item that ties in with the reading. 

 

These days there are some great Bible reading books available. They include: Mission Accomplished (Scott James), Darkest Night, Brightest Day (Marty Machowski), and The Wonder of Easter (Ed Drew). However, when my kids were little, there were very few resources around, so I made my own. They are free and available to download here. There are two options:

Preparing for Easter with your family: Readings from the Gospel of Luke

•    Aimed more at primary school ages (5–12), although flexible and adaptable
•    PDF format available to download and print 
•    Start on the Wednesday nine days before Good Friday (March 29 in 2023) and go until Easter Tuesday
•    A printable version of egg inserts is also available which include the titles of the days, the Bible verses and some suggestions for pictures.

Preparing for Easter with your family: Readings from the Gospel of Matthew

•    Aimed at families with pre-school and younger primary school children (3–10), although flexible and adaptable
•    PDF format available to download and print 
•    Start on the Monday 11 days before Good Friday (March 27 in 2023) and go until Easter Sunday.
•    A printable version of egg inserts is also available which include the titles of the days, the Bible verses and some suggestions for pictures.

Openable eggs are often available at craft stores this time of year. For another option, treat everyone to Kinder Surprises for a couple of weeks and save the little openable eggs. Don’t forget to write the correct number on each!

With a few weeks to go before Easter, hopefully this encourages you to spend some family time wondering at God’s love shown to us in the person and work of Christ.

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Wendy Lin is a theology graduate, ministry wife and mother of three (almost) young adults. She loves time in God’s word and the opportunity to teach it, reading books and catching up with women. She has enjoyed her return to university to study counselling and is involved with her wonderful husband in marriage ministry. Wendy blogs at musingsinadelaide.
 

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