Celebrating the Resurrection

On small pieces of paper, the students in the science lab wrote down their sins.

One by one, the middle-schoolers at Northwest Christian Schools in Colbert took turns putting the pieces of paper into a jar of red liquid – symbolizing the blood of Jesus Christ.

“If we confess our sins to the Lord, he will forgive us,” seventh-grader Hannah Comi told her peers as they watched the wads of paper sink to the bottom of the jar. “God’s blood takes away our sins.”

Accompanied by prayer and a passage from the Gospel of Luke, the science lab activity was one of eight stations Thursday that commemorated the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

To observe Holy Week – which begins on Palm Sunday this weekend, 120 middle-school students took part in an exercise that required them to immerse themselves in the symbolic experience of Jesus’ suffering.

“They’ve been taught the truth of Easter all their lives, so what we’re trying to do is renew their sense of relationship and commitment to Christ,” said Dave Jennings, the middle school principal at Northwest Christian Schools, a Bible-centered learning environment with more than 770 students.

“This is a time for us to really think about what Jesus Christ did for us,” he said.

Every year during Lent, people throughout the world commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ by taking part in the Stations of the Cross, a devotional exercise that centers on Jesus’ final hours.

While traditionally a Roman Catholic ritual, the Stations of the Cross in recent years have become a powerful means of worship for Christians of various denominations.

The stations at Northwest Christian Schools, however, were a little different. Instead of focusing on the hours before Jesus’ death, the school’s version began with Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and continued all the way to the events of Easter Sunday.

Organized by the middle school’s leadership class, the activity enabled students to experience Jesus’ death and resurrection in a more personal way, said teacher Cathy Richards.

With Bibles in hand, the students divided themselves into small groups and spent about 10 minutes at each station Thursday morning. They started in the auditorium, where they reflected on worship and Palm Sunday while listening to music and holding a small piece of a palm leaf.

The second station was in a nearby office and commemorated the Last Supper. “As you eat this, think of how much time you spend with God,” said eighth-grader Ashley Graham as she broke bread and passed the pieces to her classmates.

During two other stations, students watched portions of “The Passion of the Christ.” They also took turns carrying a long, heavy branch outside to symbolize how Simon helped Jesus carry the cross. “In what ways can you take up the cross and follow Jesus?” seventh-grader Grant Bakken asked his peers.

Perhaps the two most memorable stations were the ones at the end – the Tomb and the Resurrection. To experience the darkness of the tomb, students sat blindfolded in a classroom illuminated only by a few candles. To celebrate the resurrection, students wrote “I love Jesus,” “He is risen” and other messages on helium balloons before releasing them outside.

All the stations included prayer, readings from the Bible and reflection time.

Some students said they had fun and learned a lot as they moved from station to station. Others said the activity brought them closer to God.

“It was awesome to be part of that and to know that Jesus died for me,” said 12-year-old Julie Nowak. “It made me feel proud to be a Christian.”