Bed Time Stories

I have been trying to read a Bible story to the boys at night before bed. With this being Holy Week, Sunday I read them what is called the Triumphal Entry, Tonight I read them the last Passover and betrayal of Jesus at the hands of Judas (Matthew 20). This is a transcript of the conversation that followed with Fish and One Sock.

Ben: What happened to the criminals?
Dad: No, buddy they treated Jesus like a criminal and arrested him.
Jake: Was this at the Passover?
Dad: Yes. Jesus and his disciples would have celebrated the Passover tonight. They would have gone to the garden of Gethsemane and Jesus would have been arrested. Tomorrow is the day that we remember as the day Jesus was crucified on the cross.
Jake: Tomorrow?
Dad: Yes, tomorrow.
Jake: At what time?
Dad: At about noon, when you normally eat lunch.
Jake: I hate non-Christians!
Dad: Well Jake, we should love all people no matter if they are Christ followers or not. By the way, are you a "Christians?"
Jake: Well kinda.
Dad: Do you know what a Christian is?
Jake: Yeah, but i can't explain it.
Dad: If you can't explain are you really a Christian.
Jake: That is why I said, "kinda."
Dad: Do you want to know what a Christian is?
Jake: Yes.
Dad: A Christians is someone who believes Jesus is God, that he died on the cross for our sins and rose again on Easter Sunday.
Jake: So this is what don't get: who raised Jesus from the dead? Was it God or did Jesus raise himself.
Ben: Dad is Toby Mac real? (Ben was looking at an inlay card for Portable Sounds)
Dad: Yes, he is a real person. Jake, Jesus is God. There is God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. Lets read John 10:17-18...So, Jesus raised himself.
Jake: So it was God the "J." Not God the "F" or God the "HS."
Dad: Well, the Bible says in other places that God the Father raised Jesus (Acts 2:24) and it says that God the Holy Spirit raised Jesus too (Romans 8:11).
Ben: Dad, where does Toby Mac live?
Dad: Tennessee, I think.
Jake: Somewhere near Nashville?
Dad: Yes, I think so.
Jake: So all three Gods raised Jesus.
Ben: Dad, how far is Tennessee?
Dad: Far. There is only one God, Jake, but three persons. (I had to really fight getting into the finer points of the Trinity here. That could come later, I wanted to get back to, "What is a Christian?") So, a Christian is someone who believes that Jesus is God, that he died on the cross for our sins and rose again on Easter Sunday. Because of this, a Christian is someone who obeys Jesus and does what he asks. Tomorrow we will go to worship and remember the death of Jesus on the cross.
Jake: How long was Jesus in the grave?
Dad: Three days. Now, worship tomorrow will be a time of being quite and sad.
Ben: Sad?
Dad: Yes, sad, because we remember that Jesus died on the cross for the bad things we do, so we don't have to. He died so we don't have to be separated from God.
Ben: So, we don't have to die?
Dad: No, we don't have to die. Good night.

I love my boys...I love my God!