The Easter
Love Story
Fern Martins
As part of our mission to ‘Open The Bible’ to all people everywhere, by all means possible, Bible Society Australia assists in the translation and distribution of Bibles in the heart languages of Australia’s First Nations people. This Easter book provides an Indigenous artistic perspective on the traditional Easter narrative, using Indigenous storytelling techniques to narrate a familiar and beloved Bible story. We hope this different telling of the Easter story brings fresh encouragement and joy as you share it with your loved ones. Published by Bible Society Australia (ACN 127 775 973), GPO Box 4161, Sydney NSW 2001, Australia, www.biblesociety.org.au © Fern Martins, 2024. All rights reserved. Fern Martins asserts her right under section 193 of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) to be identified as the author of this work. ISBN: 978-0-647-53328-4 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, no part of this work may be reproduced by electronic or other means without the permission of the publisher. A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia.’ Artwork by Fern Martins. Cover and text design by Reanna Bono, Yakuwa Designs. Edited by Kristin Argall, Susannah McFarlane and Louise Sherman. Printed in Australia.
The Easter
Love Story Fern Martins
In Australian Aboriginal culture, stories are told in pictures (‘icons’) as well as words. Here are some of the icons the artist has used to tell her story, and what they mean.
Butterfly The butterfly represents the new creation we become when God gives us his Holy Spirit.
Can you see any of these symbols in the story pages? Tea tree flower This flower represents purity. It also has five petals, and ‘five’ is the number used to represent grace in the Bible. Grace is God’s love and favour on us, even when we muck up.
Footstep Footsteps represent our journey as we walk through life.
Jesus A cross. This symbol is used by Aboriginal artists to represent Jesus, our Saviour.
The Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Heart
Three U shapes joined together.
God’s love. God showed how much he loved the world by giving his one and only son – for whoever believes in him shall not die but have eternal life.
The Holy Spirit
God
Campsite
Blood
A dove. Through the Holy Spirit, God provides us with love, strength, comfort, healing, direction and teaching while we live on earth.
Three circles inside each other. It is the Aboriginal icon for God the creator.
If you look closely, you can see that the tea tree flowers have been turned into Aboriginal campsites, with people sitting around fires, yarning and praising Jesus.
Droplets of red blood. The colour red a sacred symbol of the blood sacrifice that Jesus made, as well as the initiation of people into God’s kingdom.
God the creator of everything sent his son Jesus to earth. Jesus came to show us how much God loved us and how we can love others. Jesus did lots of amazing things.
Jesus invited everyone to be with him. This was amazing, and lots of people followed him.
But some people didn’t. They had such hard hearts that they wanted to kill him.
As Jesus shared a last meal of bread and wine with his friends, he talked about how important it was to love each other, just like God loved them. Jesus knew he was about to die as part of God’s plan to show his love for the world.
Jesus prayed to God for strength and courage. He knew people would do terrible things to him, but he trusted his heavenly Father.
Jesus had done nothing wrong, but his enemies lied about him and put him in prison where they beat and whipped his body. They bullied him and pushed a crown of thorns into his head. It was terrible.
Because he loved them, Jesus forgave them, even as he was nailed to a cross and left to die.
All Jesus’ friends were very sad. They laid his body in a tomb. But, something amazing was going to happen …
Three days later, Jesus came back to life!
Angels came from heaven to tell people the good news.
Jesus died for all the bad and sad things people do. He came back to life to show us that we are forgiven and loved and that we can be with him forever!
If you would like to read this story in the Bible, you will find it in the New Testament book of Matthew, chapters 26 to 28. Here is a list of specific Bible verses that inspired the artworks featured in this book: 6–7 Jesus the light (Isaiah 9:1–7; John 1:14 & 12:36; Luke 4:18–19); 8–9 Some people did not welcome him (John 1:10–11; 11:45–53); 10–11 The last supper (Mark 14:22-24; John 13: 1, 34); 12–13 Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36–45); 14–15 Crown of thorns (Matthew 27:28–31);16–17 The death of Jesus (Luke 23:32–24:4); 18–19 Angels tell the good news (Matthew 28:1–9); 20–21 We are forgiven (John 3:16–17; Ephesians 1:7–8; 1 John 3:23–24). This little book has been funded by the generosity of the supporters of Bible Society Australia, who are passionate about Opening The Bible to all people everywhere by all means possible. The Bible can inspire us, challenge us and give us answers to the difficult questions of life. It can change us, for good. Fern Martins is a Waka Waka and Bungalung woman from New South Wales and Southern Queensland. She launched her career at the age of 19 with a one-woman sculptural exhibition and has developed her career as a sculptor, printmaker and artist. In 1988, together with other young Aboriginal urban artists, Fern started Boomalli, the Sydney Aboriginal Artists’ Cooperative. She has exhibited at the National Gallery of Australia and lectured at the University of Adelaide.
That’s why we and our supporters work so hard to make sure everyone who wants a Bible can have one. We open Bibles in Australia and all over the world: for refugees in the Middle East, for new Christians in China and for millions who struggle to access a Bible they can engage with, in their own language. To learn more, please visit biblesociety.org.au/our-work For more great books and resources, visit your nearest Koorong bookstore or Koorong.com
This book tells the story of Easter through the beautiful artwork of Aboriginal Australian artist Fern Martins. God, the maker of all things in heaven and on earth, sent his Son Jesus to live on earth. Jesus showed us how much we are loved by God in many ways. Jesus’ biggest act of love was to die in our place on the cross, but this is not the end of the story. In The Easter Love Story, we read about the life and death of Jesus, and how he rose again to life and is still alive today!’
ISBN 9780647533284
9 780647 533284