The Cross in the Egg falls short of presenting the gospel

The Cross in the Egg: The Easter Story Retold for Children is a children’s book by Shirley Taylor, published in 1999. The author was (as of 1999) a banker from Altheimer, Arkansas who was active in Altheimer United Methodist Church. I don’t question the motives or sincerity of the author, but the story, even allowing that it’s written for children, is not an adequate retelling of the Easter story. The story is about a rabbit who comes across Jesus while He’s praying in the garden of Gethsemane the night before His crucifixion. One of Jesus’ tears falls onto Rabbit’s head, and Jesus touches the place where the tear fell. Rabbit’s heart is filled with love for Jesus, and he goes home to see if he can find a gift for Jesus to make Him happy. Mrs. Hen collects a basket of eggs, and Rabbit makes some dyes out of berries and colours the eggs. He weaves roses around the basket and fills the basket with a dozen eggs. One of the eggs cracks (the crack is shaped like a cross), but Owl tells rabbit that jesus will love the broken egg as much as all the others. Rabbit goes to Jerusalem to find Jesus, but Crow tells him that Jesus was crucified by soldiers, and is dead and buried. Rabbit reaches the tomb, and finds it empty, with the stone rolled away. Rabbit is confused and heartbroken, and stops for a nap. He’s awakened by a bright light and a voice telling him that Jesus has risen. When Rabbit tells the voice about the gift he’d brought, the voice tells him that he’s already given the gift that Jesus treasures more than any other, by opening his heart to receive His love. The voice then tells him to share the eggs with children everywhere to remind them of God’s gift of eternal life. Rabbit does so, except for the cracked egg, which he keeps as a reminder of his meeting with Jesus.

A major problem with The Cross in the Egg isn't so much error within, as truth left out. For example, we’re not told who Jesus is; He’s just a man with some disciples who gets crucified and rises from the dead. When Jesus prays, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want" in the garden of Gethsemane, His prayer, although biblically correct (Matthew 26:39), isn’t put into any context; although you can’t tell from the story what Jesus is referring to when He mentions "this cup." When Crow tells Rabbit, "I saw soldiers crucify Him on a cross" (which is biblically correct--Matthew 27:27-35; Mark 15:16-25; John 19:16-23), we’re not told why He was crucified. The roles played by the Jews (Matthew 26:57-68, 27:26; Mark 14:53-63; John 18:12-14, 19-24; Acts 2:23, 7:52), Pontius Pilate (Matthew 27:11-25; Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:1-23; John 18:28-19:16), and indeed, the rest of us (Isaiah 53:5-6) in His crucifixion are ignored. There’s no mention of Him being crucified for our sins (Isaiah 53:5-6; I Peter 2:24, 3:18); that the shedding of His blood satisfied His Father’s condition of forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22; I John 2:2, 4:10); or of the necessity of repentance (Acts 17:30).

When one of the eggs gets cracked, Owl says, "Jesus will love the broken egg as much as all the others." That’s a nice-sounding sentiment, but it doesn’t square with what the Bible says. In the Old Testament, God commanded that animals that were sacrificed as offerings to Him be without any physical defect (Exodus 12:5, 29:1; Leviticus 1:3, 10; 4:23; Numbers 19:2, 28:3,9). God rebuked Israel for disobedience in this area (Malachi 1:7-8, 13-14). Even the priests presenting the offerings were to be without physical defect (Leviticus 21:17-23). Of course, the eggs in this story were offered as a gift rather than as a sacrifice; nevertheless, it’s hardly appropriate to offer something that’s broken as a gift to the King of Kings. When the wise men followed the star in the eastern sky in search of Jesus (Matthew 2:1-2), they brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:11)--items fit for a King.

When Rabbit goes to the tomb, he finds the stone rolled away, and the voice tells him that Jesus has been raised from the tomb. This is biblically correct (Matthew 28:2-6; Mark 16:4-6; Luke 24:2-6; John 20:1-17). The voice then says, "Rabbit, you have already given the one gift that Jesus treasures more than any other. You have opened your eyes to receive His love. Therefore, He is with you always." The trouble with this is that it’s not stated that Jesus Christ’s death on the cross was His supreme expression of His love (But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8).

It hardly needs to be pointed out that Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross for the sins of man, not for animals. To try to communicate the gospel through fictitious animals just doesn’t work, in my opinion. Especially is it not appropriate to try to communicate the truths about the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ using the traditional symbols of rabbits and eggs. The word "Easter" itself is derived from Astarte (also sometimes rendered as Ishtar), the Babylonian fertility goddess. Rabbits and eggs are obvious symbols of fertility, and the book ends up Christianizing pagan symbols. When you mix truth and error, you don’t end up with truth.

According to the book’s dust jacket,

Taylor has recast the Easter Bunny as Rabbit, who tells the Easter story in a child-friendly way. By so doing, the author prepares young children for key gospel concepts.

Taylor’s story is brought to life by animal and human characters who combine...to tell the story of God’s love through grace--in spite of our feelings of unworthiness.

As for the last part of the preceding paragraph, our problem isn’t feelings of unworthiness, but actual unworthiness. It’s often said, and rightly so, that the gospel is so simple that even a child can believe it. However, it’s necessary that the gospel be clearly communicated and clearly understood. If I were reading this book as a child (and I was one, once), I wouldn’t come away with an adequate idea of what the gospel is. The Cross in the Egg contains some truth, but not enough, and it falls short of the mark when it comes to presenting the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.