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Purpose:
to think about what the scars on Jesus’ resurrected body mean for us
Suitable for:
Families familiar with the Easter story
You will need:
Paper, pens, pencils, paints, paper
Preparation time: none
Activity time: 10 – 30 minutes
1 Scar stories
Ask if anyone has a scar with a story. Ask them if they would like to share their story. If it’s in an appropriate place, they may want to show their scar.
2 Bible story
Chat about how the Bible tells us about how Jesus appeared to his friends after he died and came back to life. However, one of his friends, Thomas, wasn’t there and said he needed to see the marks on Jesus’ body to be able to believe he was alive. The story continues with Jesus appearing to Thomas and inviting Thomas to touch his scars. You might like to read the story from John 20:24-28.
3 Reflection
Ask everyone – What do you notice in this story about Jesus’ resurrected body? (It still has the scars from his death.) But why and what does this mean for us and our scars?
Chat about how many people have scars; sometimes these are physical ones, sometimes mental or emotional. They can be from accidents or operations in hospital. Some are still in the process of healing, others are hardly noticeable. All of them are part of our story, the pain and the healing we have experienced.
Many people look forward to having a ‘new body’ in heaven. Will those bodies have scars like Jesus’ resurrected body did? Allow space to chat.
4 Imagine
Ask everyone to close their eyes if they’re comfortable doing so and imagine themselves or someone else with a scar meeting Jesus. Where they might meet? What might Jesus do or say? How might they compare scars? What might It feel like? How might the encounter end?
5 Draw
Create space for everyone to draw a picture of themselves or someone else with a scar comparing scars with Jesus. They could also paint or create with other art materials. They might prefer to create a different piece of art expressing how they feel after the imagination exercise. As they create art, they may want to reflect or share their thoughts or feelings.
6 Invitation
Explain that if they’d like to, they can be part of a community art project to help children and young people in hospitals engage with the mystery of Jesus’ resurrected body having scars. The Comparing Scars Community Art Project is creating a collection of images of children and young people comparing their scars with Jesus.
If you’d like to join in, you can enter the picture you’ve made or create a new one. To be considered for inclusion in this collection, you need to email a good quality photo of it or attach a digital design (maximum size 15 MB) with your name and age (under 16s only) to: [email protected] by 30 April 2025.
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