This time of year highlights one of the toughest aspects of Bible study. Reruns. Not to take away from the wonder and glory of the Easter story, but I know from teaching my boys on Sunday morning that it’s a challenge to come up with a new angle before they glaze over. My ten-year-olds have studied this lesson at least four times in their young lives, twice with me. So how can we breathe new life into the old, old story?
1. Read it out loud, maybe in a new translation. This forces you to slow down and pay closer attention to what you read. You can’t skip or skim, and your brain stays engaged.
2. Follow the action. Pay attention to what the people do. Often when we read, we key on the conversations, but the Easter story is full of action and movement. Sometimes I even imagine what the bystanders were doing.
3. Details, details. One of my favorite details in the Easter story is a quick sentence in John 13:30. Jesus has just spoken to Judas, “What you do, do quickly.” Judas leaves immediately, and the verse ends with “And it was night.” Not just a report of the time of day, but a statement rich in implication.
How do you keep familiar stories fresh?
My son’s favorite way to revisit favorite stories is to stage them with Legos. Here’s his Lego Good Friday. (He was disappointed that he had to use Persians for the Romans. I told him folks would understand.)
