Good Friday … for kids

Yesterday Jesus explained to us (his best friends and disciples) what love really means and showed us how we can be a gift to one another. Today, on Good Friday, Jesus goes even further, He completely gives himself to us on the cross.

How many times during the day do we pass by an image of Jesus crucified or do we eat at the table above which the cross hangs? Sometimes we barely notice anymore.

But today we are here with Jesus, looking straight at Him, into his eyes: we receive His gift of love. What do you see in His eyes? Pain, fatigue, loneliness … But I see a very special spark! Even more than a spark: a fire! The fire of love, that is so strong that nothing can stop it, not even death. For us, the cross of Jesus is not an end, but it becomes a ladder which leads to our Heavenly Father: into His arms, into His embrace.

We already have the figure of Jesus ready, right? Don’t forget to turn Jesus around, because he is not smiling on the cross today! Yesterday we prepared a table for Jesus’ last supper, remember? Today we can use this table as part of the Cross for Jesus. This way today we only need to make a longer part of the cross and the inscription INRI to complete our project. Do you even know what INRI means? It is an abbreviation of the Latin inscribtion “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum” which in English means: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

With a sad face, with wide spread arms on the cross, Jesus gifts all of himself – even his life – to bring us closer to our Heavenly Father. But this is not the end of the Easter story. Love cannot be stopped by anything, not even by death! Jesus’ death on the cross was neither the end nor the goal of Lent or Easter. Tomorrow, on Holy Saturday, we will visit Jesus in the grave. Even though we will be going there with tears in our eyes, we will be glad to see that He is already risen and alive … and will remain alive in our hearts forever!

We prepared a printout version for you, that you can download here: