Scripture:
Luke 22 (for background) and 23 (main emphasis).
Memory Verse: “God loved the people of
this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in
him will have eternal life and never really die.” (John 3:16, CEV)
Concept: Jesus suffered and died so
that our souls can live forever.
Objectives: Participants will:
1.
Be
able to find the story of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion in the Bible (grades
3-5).
2.
Learn
the context (Luke 22) of the events of Luke 23
3.
Learn
the details of the story as told in Luke 23.
4. Discuss why Jesus suffered and died.
Procedure:
1.
As
the children come in the door, count them off by color -- Red, Orange, Green
and Purple -and have them go to the area of the room that is designated with
their color. Introduce yourself and open with a prayer.
2.
Make
sure that everyone is wearing a nametag, including you.
Scripture/Bible Story:
1. Review
the story. The first- and second-graders will not use Bibles, but do open yours
to Luke to show them the story is in there. For grades 3-5, make sure everybody
has a Bible.
Help the students find the book of Luke. (Get the shepherds to go around the
room and help with this.) If necessary, review the organization of the Bible:
The Bible is divided into two big parts, the Old and New Testaments. Each part
is made up of books, which are divided into chapters and verses. The first four
books of the New Testament are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – the gospels,
which tell the stories of Jesus’ life.
Show them that if they open their Bible in the middle, they’ll usually land in
the book of Psalms in the Old Testament.
Point out that the book name is at the top of each page. After finding Psalms, if they then take the
pages on the right side and divide them in half, they’ll land in one of the
gospels. From there they can find Luke.
(Some of the older children should know the books of the Bible. Encourage everyone to learn them.)
After they’ve found the book of Luke, help them find chapters 22-23, and tell
them this is one of the places where the story of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion
is told in the Bible. Some of the children will confuse chapters and verses.
Show them that chapter numbers are the big ones, and also are at top of every
page.
2. Tell
the story using the summary below as a guide. Let those who can follow along in
their Bibles. Consider using pictures from a children’s Bible or other visual
aids. Tell the children that even though they’ve heard the story before, they
need to listen very carefully and remember the details in order to play the
game that’s coming up.
After the first week, you might go over the background (chapter 22) and then
let the children help you tell the rest of the story. This will give you an
idea of how much they already know. (All workshops focus on chapter 23, but
they will not have been exposed to chapter 22 unless they have already been to
Holywood.)
Other ideas for reviewing the story after the first couple of weeks:
Photocopy the passage (remove verse numbers), cut it up and see if they can put
it back together correctly. (Works with older kids.)
Hand out, or call out, key words and ask the kids what they have to do with the
story. Or have them find the key word in the Bible passage and then read it.
(For more tips on biblical storytelling, see Amy Crane, Storytelling Manual, <http://www.rotation.org/lessons/storytell.htm>)
SUMMARY OF STORY
Chapter
22
Jesus
and his disciples were in Jerusalem for the Passover. The Jewish priests and
other leaders were afraid of the crowds that followed Jesus, so they wanted to
get rid of him. After the Last Supper with his disciples, Jesus went to a
garden to pray. Judas, one of Jesus’
disciples, led the priests and other leaders to Jesus, and they arrested
him. They brought him before a council
of leaders who questioned him, then they took him to Pilate, the Roman
governor.
Chapter
23
The
council members told Pilate, “This man caused the people to riot, told them not
to pay their taxes, and claims to be the Messiah.”
Pilate
asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “That’s what you
say.”
Pilate
did not think that Jesus had done anything wrong. He wanted to let Jesus go,
but the leaders said, “He stirs up the people by teaching all over Judea and
Galilee.”
(Show
older kids Judea and Galilee on a map. Point out that Jerusalem was in Judea.
Jesus was from Galilee, the region to the north.)
Herod,
the ruler of Galilee, happened to be in Jerusalem. When Pilate learned that
Jesus was from Galilee, he sent him to see Herod. Herod had heard of Jesus and wanted to see him perform a
miracle. Herod questioned Jesus, but
Jesus refused to answer, and the Jewish leaders stood by, repeating their
accusations. Herod and his soldiers
made fun of Jesus. They put an elegant
robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.
Pilate
told the leaders, “I still don’t see where this man has done anything wrong,
and neither does Herod. I will have him
beaten and then release him.”
But
the crowd kept yelling, “Release Barabbas instead! Crucify Jesus!” Barabbas was
a man who was in prison for causing a riot and murdering someone. The crowd
kept demanding that Jesus should be crucified, until Pilate gave in and
sentenced Jesus to death, and set Barabbas free.
As
they led Jesus away, they met a man named Simon from the town of Cyrene, and forced
him to carry Jesus’ cross. A large
crowd followed them, including many women who were crying.
When
they got to a place called “The Skull,” the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross.
They crucified two criminals at the same time.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.”
The
soldiers played games to decide who would get Jesus' clothes. The people watched. The leaders and the soldiers made fun of
Jesus, saying “If he is the Messiah, let him save himself.” The soldiers offered
him sour wine and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” They
put a sign on his cross that said, “This is the king of the Jews.”
One
of the two criminals also made fun of Jesus, saying, “ Aren’t you the Messiah?
Save yourself and us. But the other
criminal said, “Don’t you fear God? We were sentenced fairly, we’re getting
what we deserve for our crimes, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he
said to Jesus, “Remember me when you come into power.” And Jesus answered, “I
promise that today you will be with me in Heaven.”
It
was the middle of the day, but suddenly, the sky became dark. It stayed dark for three hours. The curtain
of the temple split into two pieces.
Then Jesus called out, “Father, I put myself in your hands.” And he died.
A
Roman army officer, who saw these things, praised God and said, “Certainly this
man was innocent.”
There
was a rich man named Joseph, from the town of Arimathea. Joseph was a member of the Jewish leaders’
council but he did not agree with what they had done to Jesus. Joseph went to Pilate and asked to have
Jesus’ body. Pilate agreed. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in clean
cloth. He put Jesus' body in a new tomb
that was cut from a wall of rock.
Some
of the women followed Joseph and watched him put the body in the tomb. Then they went back to the city. The women prepared spices and ointments to
put on Jesus' body later. But it was
time for the Sabbath, so they rested for a day, as the law required.
Application:
1.
The children are already divided into four teams, named for
the four colors on the buzzer box – Red, Orange, Green, and Purple. Have either four (one from each team) or
eight players (two from each team) gather around a table with the buzzer box in
the middle (One of the round tables from the main room is good for this). Each
player holds a buzzer (the buzzer wires are color-coded; players on the same
team hold the same color wire). See instructions for using buzzers at the end
of this lesson plan.
2.
Explain that you will call out a question and players who
think they know the answer should press their buzzer. The first to buzz gets to give the answer. After several questions, switch to the next
group of players. Make sure everybody
gets to play
.
3.
Questions: At the end of the lesson plan you’ll
find two lists of questions. The ones for the younger kids are in
multiple-choice format. Feel free to
improve the questions or add to the list.
If you have the younger kids early in the rotation, you might ask the questions
in the order given, to reinforce the sequence of events. If it’s later in the rotation, they might
know the story well enough to mix the questions up.
Older kids: Let players use their Bibles to find the answers. Be ready to switch to the multiple-choice
questions if needed.
Younger kids: The buzzers are tricky
for first-graders. If you’d rather not
tackle using buzzers with first and second graders, you can just divide them
into two teams and alternate asking questions of each team. Let children take turns answering. (Or you might have a better idea! Feel free to devise your own game for them.)
4.
Scoring: Ask the
shepherd keep score on the white board.
Award 5 points for a correct answer.
No points for a wrong answer; let anyone who knows the correct answer
tell it. (You can use a different scoring system if you prefer, but keep it
simple.)
Tips: Try not to let one
knowledgeable or fast-fingered child dominate the game. Rotating the players
partially takes care of the problem, but you might run into a team that doesn’t
want to rotate, wants to let the sharpest member play the whole time. In this case you can announce that anybody
who answers three questions in a row will be retired as permanent champion
(with a big round of applause) to give everybody else a chance to compete. (You
might as well make this announcement in the beginning when you have
fifth-graders). Also, don’t let non-playing team members help the players; this
in effect lets the fast kid answer by proxy.
Be sure they know the answer before
buzzing. If they are buzzing and then
taking too long to think of the answer, use the timer in the supply bin and
give 5 seconds to answer after buzzing (this has not been a problem in the
past).
You might have to adjust the game as you go along. If it turns out that eight players make the game chaotic, try
letting just four play at a time.
Wrap-up:
1.
Gather
the children and discuss: The people in the crowd and the soldiers and one of
the criminals on the cross all made fun of Jesus and said, “If you’re the
Messiah, save yourself.” Do you think that a temptation for Jesus? Why didn’t
Jesus save himself? Jesus loved people so
much that he suffered and died for them.
That includes us. Jesus died so
that our souls can live forever.
2. Have the children recite the memory verse: “God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die” (John 3:16, CEV). Emphasize: Jesus’ death shows us how much God loves us.
Reflection Time:
Have
the shepherds pass out the journals. Optional: Give the children a sticker appropriate to
the story, or some other memento to put in their journals. Suggest that the children write down or draw
a picture of one thing they learned that they hadn’t known when they came into
the workshop.
Closing:
Prayer – Close with prayer. Suggestion: Thank you, God, for loving us so
much that you sent Jesus to die for us.
Amen.
Tidy and Dismissal – Ask the children for help with collecting Bibles and any other clean up. The shepherd should collect nametags and journals.
Note: I find that the kids participate better if they get little rewards along the way. Skittles are highly motivating for some reason. If I were leading this workshop I’d give them a Skittle for bringing their Bible, for finding the Bible passage, for attempting to answer a question, a Skittle to all 4 or 8 players after their turn is done, a Skittle to everybody on the winning team, a Skittle for participating in the discussion or writing in their journal, a Skittle to everybody on the way out the door, etc. I’d have several small jars of Skittles on hand and put the shepherds in charge of distribution. (Better check with shepherds and make sure nobody is diabetic!)
Extra Activity (Grades 3-5)
If you have extra time at the end, let the children race to find the other gospel accounts of the trial and crucifixion in their Bibles (or choose shorter passages within these chapters, such as Matthew 27:15-23, where the crowd chooses Barabbas).
Matthew 27
Mark 15
John 18:28-19: 42
Teacher
preparation in advance:
1.
Read
the Scripture to familiarize yourself with the details of the story. Be sure you know the meaning of unusual
words.
2. Attend
the Faith Quest Workshop Leaders Bible Study.
3.
Make
four small signs saying Red, Green, Purple, and Orange. Have questions for the game ready. You can read them off the sheet or put them
on index cards for easy mixing.
4.
Practice
using the buzzer box and be sure you understand how it works.
5.
Post
the signs designating Red, Orange, Green, Purple teams in different areas of
the room. Display the Scripture memory verse somewhere in the room. (Not on the white board; you’ll need that
for scorekeeping.)
6. Prepare an opening/closing prayer. Ask for prayer concerns.
Materials:
Buzzer
system
Timer
Dry-erase
marker
Stickers
or other mementos for journals
Skittles
(optional)
Four
signs with colors
Maps
(optional) of Judea, Galilee, Jerusalem and possibly Arimathea for use in
storytelling.
Any
pictures of props you choose to use for storytelling
Questions for
game (Grades 3-5)
When
Jesus was brought before Pilate, what was one
thing he was accused of doing?
Answer: any of these:
Trying
to get people to riot
Trying
to get people to stop paying taxes
Claiming
to be the Messiah
What
was another thing Jesus was accused
of?
Answer: one of the two
remaining answers from above
What
was another thing Jesus was accused of?
Answer: the final remaining
answer from above
When
Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” What did Jesus answer?
“Those
are your words.”
Where
was Jesus from?
Galilee
Who
was the ruler of Galilee?
Herod
Why
was Herod happy to see Jesus?
He
wanted to see him perform a miracle.
Herod
asked Jesus a lot of questions. How did Jesus reply?
He
did not answer.
What
did Herod do then?
He
and his soldiers made fun of Jesus, put a fine robe on him and sent him back to
Pilate.
When
Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate, what did Pilate tell the Jewish leaders and
the crowd?
“I
have not found Jesus guilty of anything you said he has done, and neither has
Herod.”
What
did Pilate say he would do to Jesus instead of having him put to death?
Have
him beaten with a whip and set free.
How
did the crowd react to that proposal?
They
shouted, “Kill Jesus! Give us Barabbas!”
Why
was Barabbas in jail?
He
had started a riot and murdered someone.
How
many times did Pilate speak to the crowd, saying that Jesus was innocent and he
would have him beaten, not killed?
Three
times.
What
did Pilate finally do?
Gave
into the crowd, freed Barabbas and handed Jesus over to be crucified.
Whom
did the soldiers force to carry the cross?
Simon
of Cyrene.
Not
everybody in the crowd wanted to see Jesus killed. How do we know that?
A
lot of women in the crowd were crying for him.
What
was the name of the place where Jesus was crucified?
The
Skull
Who
else was crucified at the same time?
Two
criminals
As
Jesus was nailed to the cross, what did he say?
Father,
forgive these people. They don’t know what they're doing.
What
did the soldiers do with Jesus’ clothes?
They
gambled to see who would get to keep them
The
Jewish leaders, the soldiers, and one of the criminals all insulted Jesus. What
did they say?
If
you are the Messiah, save yourself.
What
did one criminal say to the criminal who insulted Jesus?
We
are getting what we deserve, but this man didn’t do anything wrong.”
What
did the second criminal say to Jesus?
Remember
me when you come into power.
What
did Jesus say to the second criminal?
I
promise that today you will be with me in heaven.
What
happened to the sky?
It
turned dark in the middle of the day.
What
happened at the temple?
The
curtain split down the middle.
What
did Jesus say before he died?
Father,
I put myself in your hands!
What
did the Roman officer say when he saw what had happened?
Jesus
must really have been a good man!
What
did Jesus’ friends do after Jesus died?
They
stood at a distance and watched.
Who
took Jesus’ body down from the cross?
Joseph
of Arimathea.
What
did Joseph do with Jesus’ body?
Wrapped
it in cloth and put it in a new tomb cut from rock.
After
Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb, what did the women who had followed him do?
They
prepared sweet-smelling spices to put on his body.
Why
didn’t they put the spices on the body right away?
It
was time for the Sabbath, and the law commanded them to rest.
Questions for game (Grades
1-2)
When
Jesus was brought before Pilate, what was one
thing he was accused of doing?
Stealing
food
Trying to get people to riot
Killing
someone
What
was another thing Jesus was accused
of?
Cheating
poor people
Robbing
rich people
Trying to get people to stop
paying taxes
What
was another thing Jesus was accused
of?
Claiming to be the Messiah
Smuggling
drugs
Frightening
children
Pilate
asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” What did Jesus answer?
“Those are your words.”
Yes,
I am.
No,
I am not.
Where
was Jesus from?
Jerusalem
Galilee
Judea
Who
was the ruler of Galilee?
Pilate
Simon
of Cyrene
Herod
Why
was Herod happy to see Jesus?
He wanted to see him perform
a miracle.
He
wanted to have Jesus put to death.
He
wanted to give a party for Jesus.
Herod
asked Jesus a lot of questions. How did Jesus reply?
He
gave answers that were very clever
He
answered angrily.
He did not answer.
What
did Herod do after he questioned Jesus?
He
ordered Jesus put to death
He and his soldiers made fun
of Jesus, put a fine robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.
He
set Jesus free
When
Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate, what did Pilate tell the Jewish leaders and
the crowd?
“I have not found Jesus
guilty, and neither has Herod.”
“Herod
and I both find Jesus guilty as charged.”
“This
man deserves to die.”
What
did Pilate say he would do to Jesus instead of having him put to death?
Set
him free with no punishment.
Have him beaten with a whip
and set free.
Make
him pay a big fine and set him free.
How
did the crowd react to that proposal?
They
agreed and shouted, Hooray!
They shouted, “Kill Jesus!
Give us Barabbas!”
They
shouted, “Kill Barabbas! Give us Jesus!”
Why
was Barabbas in jail?
He
had stolen money from the temple.
He had started a riot and
murdered someone.
He
had claimed to be the Messiah.
How
many times did Pilate speak to the crowd, saying that Jesus was innocent and he
would have him beaten, not killed?
Two
times.
Three times.
Seven
times.
What
did Pilate finally do?
Ignored
the crowd, set Jesus free and kept Barabbas in jail.
Gave in to the crowd, freed
Barabbas and handed Jesus over to be crucified.
Handed
both Barabbas and Jesus over to be crucified.
Whom
did the soldiers force to carry the cross?
Joseph
of Arimathea.
Barabbas
Simon of Cyrene.
Not
everybody in the crowd wanted to see Jesus killed. Who in the crowd showed
their support for Jesus?
The
Roman soldiers
Some
disciples who tried to fight the crowd and free Jesus
A lot of women who were
crying for him.
What
was the name of the place where Jesus was crucified?
The Skull
Mount
Sinai
The
temple
Who
else was crucified at the same time?
Two
women
Two criminals
Two
Jewish leaders
As
Jesus was nailed to the cross, what did he say?
“Father,
punish these people for what they’re doing to me.”
“Father,
help these people to see what they're doing.”
“Father, forgive these
people. They don’t know what they're doing.”
What
did the soldiers do with Jesus’ clothes?
They
burned them.
They gambled to see who
would get to keep them
They
took turns trying them on.
The
Jewish leaders, the soldiers, and one of the criminals all insulted Jesus. What
did they say?
“If you are the Messiah,
save yourself.”
“If
you are the Messiah, turn this water into wine.”
“If
you are the Messiah, heal a sick person.”
When
the first criminal insulted Jesus, what did the second criminal say to him?
“You’re
right, if he’s the Messiah he should save us and himself.”
“We are getting what we
deserve, but this man didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You
are getting what you deserve, but I didn’t do anything wrong.”
What
did the second criminal say to Jesus?
“Help
me get down from this cross.”
“Today
I’ll be with you in paradise.”
“Remember me when you come
into power.”
What
did Jesus say to the second criminal?
“You’re
right, you’re getting what you deserve.”
“Today you will be with me
in paradise.”
“Love
your neighbor as yourself.”
What
happened to the sky?
It turned dark in the middle
of the day.
It
turned cloudy and started to rain.
It
got unusually sunny and bright.
What
happened at the temple?
The
door fell off.
The curtain split down the
middle.
The
ceiling came falling down.
What
did Jesus say before he died?
“Father,
don’t let me die.”
“Father,
punish my enemies.
“Father, I put myself in
your hands!”
What
did the Roman officer say after Jesus died?
“I’m
glad that’s over with.”
“Jesus must really have been
a good man!”
“Jesus
must really have been a bad man!”
What
did Jesus’ friends do after Jesus died?
They stood at a distance and
watched.
They
helped to take down his body.
They
started a riot in the city.
Who
took Jesus’ body down from the cross?
Simon
of Cyrene.
Joseph of Arimathea.
The
Roman officer.
What
did Joseph do with Jesus’ body?
Wrapped
it in cloth and put it in a grave he had dug in the ground.
Wrapped
it in cloth and put sweet-smelling spices on it.
Wrapped it in cloth and put
it in a new tomb cut from rock.
After
Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb, what did the women who had followed him do?
They
did nothing.
They prepared sweet-smelling
spices to put on his body.
They
put sweet-smelling spices on his body.
Why
didn’t they put the spices on the body right away?
It was time for the Sabbath,
and the law commanded them to rest.
They
were afraid of the crowd.
It
was nighttime and too dark.