Holy Week in the Home
Let's celebrate the Risen Savior like never before!
Easter or Christmas?
Holidays are a big deal for our family, especially around Easter and Christmas. I’m sure it’s true for your family, too. Believe it or not, the Lenten season has actually become my favorite of them all…
Back in 2012, we used a family advent devotional before Christmas for the first time, which really laid the foundation for how our kids would begin to see the beauty of the Gospel throughout the pages of scripture. After our first “Jesse Tree” and advent wreath experience, soon followed Lent.
Continuing on with the same pattern of nightly devotional activities, we drew together again each evening as a family to focus on the events of the Holy Week between Palm Sunday and Easter. That first year, our oldest son prayed at Easter to follow Jesus, and my heart will never be the same! Ever since, I’ve continued to look around for inspiring ideas to add to our traditions that fit our family well.
The time has once again arrived when our little family of five turn our hearts toward Calvary. And because we could all use a strong dose of hope and joy, I’m sharing our Easter Holy Week Family Devotional and Christian Passover Seder Guide below. These resources are sure to be helpful treasures you’ll return to again and again as you create your very own Holy Week traditions.
He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' -Luke 24:6-7
With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all... -Acts 4:33
Click on the images above to download the FREE printable Holy Week Family Activity Guide and Christian Passover Seder Guide.
Easter Holy Week Family Devotional
Saturday before Palm Sunday – Create a Garden
Begin Resurrection Garden today. (See Kristen Welch's awesome instructions here: DIY Mini Resurrection Garden)
Palm Sunday – Resurrection Eggs
Open all 12 eggs one at a time, reading the entire Easter story (included in the booklet). Have kids guess what will be in each egg as the story is read prior to opening.
Have the kids retell the story back to you by deciding together what order the eggs go back into the carton.
At nighttime, light 6 candles around your resurrection garden. Tell the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Place a palm leaf (large plastic one or a real palm branch) near your resurrection garden and the donkey (from the eggs) inside the garden.
Blow out one candle to show how we are getting closer to the day where the Light of the World was killed on the cross and the world was left in darkness. (But remember…the story doesn’t end there!!)
Monday – Jesus Turned the Tables
Read in scripture (or an Easter book) how Jesus turned the tables and chased the money changers out of the temple courts on this day, and give each child a coin to feel as they listen.
Blow out one more candle. Pray. (Here is a great summary sheet for The Events of the Holy Week.)
Tuesday – Jesus Preached and Taught
Tell your children how much God loves them and how He has created each of them with a special plan in mind for their lives.
Teach your children something new (any short activity or skill).Read in scripture (or an Easter book) how Jesus preached and taught in Jerusalem on this day.
Blow out one candle. Pray.
Wednesday – Preview Passover Seder, Prayer in the Garden, Jesus Was Arrested
Read in scripture (or an Easter book) how Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples, prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, and was arrested by the temple guard and taken to an illegal night session of the Jewish court, the Sanhedrin, on Thursday night.
Blow out one candle. Pray.
Thursday – Seder
Observe the Passover Seder Meal. (Instructions below. For more info, see: Observing the Passover Seder Meal for Christians by Hebrew for Christians, or John Pontier's book, A Christian Passover Seder)
Blow out one candle.
*Note: Depending on your calendar, you could also switch this night with Wed and do those in the reverse order. Traditionally this is the day Jesus held the Passover meal, but Jewish observers may gather for Seder meals together all throughout the week.
Friday – Crucifixion and Burial
Make three crosses with twigs and twine. Place them in your resurrection garden at 9:00AM.
Read in scripture (or an Easter book) how Jesus was crucified on the cross at Golgotha, the place of the skull. Place a pipe cleaner Jesus figure on the center cross. (I recommend adapting the pipe cleaners to something more symbolic as your kids get older.)
Blow out the last candle at NOON, and read in scripture (or an Easter book) how the noonday sun went dark at this time, the earth shook, and the curtain in the temple was torn in half as Jesus died.
At 3:00PM, take the Jesus figure off the cross, wrap in a small piece of linen (from the resurrection eggs), and place inside the tomb of your resurrection garden. Roll the stone in front of the tomb to seal it. Pray.
Saturday – Sabbath Wait
Gather around your resurrection garden and talk about how Jesus’ body rested in the tomb today, and how the disciples observed the Sabbath on this day. Discuss how afraid and confused the disciples must have been feeling at this time. Pray.
Easter Sunday – Worship!!! He is risen!
Your seeds should be sprouting new life in your resurrection garden by today.
Before your kids wake up on Easter morning, place your Jesus figure/symbol triumphantly on top of the mountain in your garden. Roll the stone to the side of the tomb, and fold up the cloth inside the tomb.
Light all the candles – the Light of the world is alive and well! Display your Easter baskets nearby to celebrate.
Make resurrection rolls for breakfast with your kids. (recipe below)
“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” -John 1:29
“He is not here, for He has risen just as He said.” -Matthew 28:6
Passover Seder Meal
Materials Needed:
Traditional Seder Plate Candles and lighter
Wine glass(es) – either one to share, or one per person
Bowl or Pitcher of Water
Towel
Matzah Cloth – with 3 pockets
1 Child’s Reward – small treat or prize
Bible
Seder plate coloring sheet and colors, if desired
Food & Drink Needed:
Wine/Grape Juice
Matzah Bread (or crackers)
Index Cards w/4 Questions
Horseradish
Lettuce (Romaine or other)
Parsley
Salt Water in a small dish
Charoset (recipe below)
Roasted egg
Lamb Shank (You can usually get a free bone to roast from Whole Foods or Fresh Market.)
Dinner food – additional things to eat after the ceremony
SEDER CEREMONY
1. Lighting of the Candles by the Eldest Woman of the House
DO: Eldest woman of the house waves her hands over the flames of the candles on your table 3x to welcome the holiday.
READ/SAY: Since Messiah was “born of a woman, born under the Torah,” it is fitting that a woman begins the Seder and brings light to the table. As we look upon the candles, may we remember that Messiah is the Light of the world. Blessed are you, LORD, who calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light! Amen.
2. Pouring Four Cups of Wine/Grape Juice
READ/SAY: Four Cups of Wine are traditionally drunk throughout the Jewish Passover Seder, each recalling a special promise made by God to his people. (Maybe this explains why the disciples were so sleepy later in the garden?!)
DO: Pour your wine/grape juice into four glasses while reading the explanations below.
*Note: As an alternative, you could use only one cup of wine/juice and simply pour into your glass four times.
The First Cup, the cup of Sanctification: God said, “I will bring you out of Egypt” and set you apart as holy. Therefore, we are reborn as his own special people (ie. passing through the cloud and the sea like baptism or rebirth). Jesus drank this cup according to the Jewish tradition with his disciples. Traditionally, all say while drinking, “Messiah our sanctification.” (1 Cor. 1:30)
The Second Cup, the cup of Deliverance: “I will deliver you.” Jesus also drank this cup per tradition with his disciples.
The Third Cup, the cup of Redemption: “I will redeem you with My power.” Jesus drank this cup and said, “This is my blood of the New Covenant.” (Matt.26:27-39)
The Fourth Cup, the cup of Restoration: “I will acquire you as My people.” Jesus did not drink this cup but promised his disciples he will do so with them in the coming Kingdom. (Matt.26:29)
A Fifth Cup of Wine is traditionally observed only on the Jewish table, “Elijah’s Cup.” (Read a Jewish explanation of this here: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/117141/jewish/The-Silent-Cup.htm)
3. Ceremonial Hand Washing
READ/SAY: While traditionally Jewish participants wash their hands at this point, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet (John 13:4-12). We follow Jesus’ example, and the man of the house or leader of our ceremony will wash the feet of others.
DO: Wash the feet of everyone at your seder meal.
4. Breaking & Wrapping the Afikoman
READ/SAY: Three matzahs represent Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the middle represents Isaac, broken to recall how he was himself offered in sacrifice in obedience to the will of his father. The middle one is broken also to represent the heart of God, broken for the pain Messiah endured by taking our sins upon Him at the cross.
*Note: the word for “heart” in Hebrew means middle.
DO: Take the middle piece of matzah bread out of the matzah cloth. Break the middle piece and hold it up. Wrap the larger broken piece, the “Afikoman,” in linen or a cloth napkin (symbolizing a burial shroud).
READ/SAY: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
DO: Hide the Afikoman for the children to find later.
5. Telling the Passover Story & Four Questions
*Note: Have a child read each of the four questions below, written on index cards.
QUESTION 1: WHY ARE WE EATING UNLEAVENED BREAD, OR MATZAH, TONIGHT?
READ/SAY: Notice that the matzah is striped (“By his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5) and pierced (“They shall look upon me whom they’ve pierced.” Zechariah 12:10) and pure/without leaven, as Jesus’ body was without any sin (“God made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor. 5:21). And we break the bread, representing how Jesus was broken on our behalf.
DO: Break the matzah and give each person a piece. Taste the matzah.
READ/SAY: “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’” Luke 22:19
QUESTION 2: WHY ARE WE EATING BITTER HERBS?
DO: Taste the horseradish on the lettuce leaves.
READ/SAY: This reminds us of the bitterness of God’s people in slavery in Egypt and of our own slavery to sin. Our reaction to the bitter taste should resemble our reaction of disgust toward our own sin.
QUESTION 3: WHY DO WE DIP OUR HERBS TWICE?
DO: Dip parsley in salt water twice, shake some drops off, eat.
READ/SAY: This reminds us of the sweat and tears of God’s people as they endured slavery and as they painted the door with the blood of the Passover lamb so that the Angel of Death would pass over their homes, and of our own sadness over what it cost God to redeem us from the consequences of our sin.
“Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.” Hebrews 9:22
DO: Taste the Charoset.
READ/SAY: This reminds us of the sweetness of hope in our Rescuer, Jesus, the one who willingly sacrificed himself on the cross because of his deep love for us.
DO: Lift up the roasted egg and the lamb shank bone.
READ/SAY: This reminds us of the sacrificial burnt offerings repeatedly brought to the Temple and of the Passover lamb, and we remember that Jesus was our ultimate and final sacrifice, offering us complete forgiveness of sin and new life that lasts forever!
“Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29
QUESTION 4: WHY ARE WE EATING THIS MEAL RECLINING?
DO: Pass the cup of wine/juice and drink.
READ/SAY: Remember that our freedom has been bought at a high cost, and we are now Royalty, heirs of the King, princes and princesses who now have the freedom to live eternally with our Rescuer, Redeemer and King Jesus, and our Abba Father, our Daddy God.
6. Eat Dinner (Yum!)
7. Children Find the Afikoman During Dinner
DO: Break it and have everyone eat a small piece. Reward the child who finds the Afikoman with a special reward!
READ/SAY: A child is rewarded for finding this to remind us of the special place in history and in the heart of God for women and children, who at this time in history were typically given little importance in society. Remember, Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the Risen Christ, and Jesus personally expressed his affection for children, saying the Kingdom belongs to “such as these.” (Mark 16:9, Matthew 19:14)
8. Closing Benediction
DO: All hold hands out in an open, receiving position.
READ/SAY: “Now to the One who is able to keep you from falling, and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, without blemish before his glorious presence, to the only God our Savior through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord and great Lamb of God, be glory, majesty, power and authority, before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.”
