Telling this to 8-9 year olds or 12 year olds from the NIRV (from the Last Supper on) you can add the stories leading up to the cross and resurrection, the betrayal, the court scenes, the mockery, the beating. I probably wouldn't read about Judas killing himself but you could. You can add the guards so afraid that they looked like they were dead.
This is more for parents: Looking at the way the chapters are divided in the NIrV you have 10-15 stories leading up to Easter. If you read one each day, that's about 2 weeks. You can do that with the Christmas story, too. Read one part of the story each day leading up to Christmas. We used to do that.
Whether or not kids really "hear" straight scripture might be open to debate but His word won't return to Him empty without accomplishing what He sent it to accomplish...
Maybe reading the scriptures unaltered is more in keeping with the reading of the Word when the Israelites gathered. Didn't those gatherings include everyone? As a child got older, more and more would make sense to him/her.
Funny how sensitive we are now trying to make things kid-friendly, understandable, and fun compared to times when children did what they were told without questioning or talking about it. Some of the sermon would make sense, some of it wouldn't. Whether learning was fun or not you learned what you had to learn.
For everything, there's a season ...I sometimes wonder if the proportion of the congregation that believed was the same then as it is now or whether it's different.
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I do believe that our children should hear the Word of God. I like the idea of using stones to symbolize the days.
ReplyDeleteHowever, since the Torah was mostly an oral history, back in the day. I believe the children were more engaged in hearing of God's Word than just listening to someone read it. This may good impetus for adults to memorize the portion for recitation or simply making sure that what is shared is dynamic.