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Scripture: Luke 23
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)
Concepts:
·
Even
though he was accused of doing wrong, Jesus was innocent.
·
When
we mess up, Jesus forgives us.
Objectives
1.
The
class will learn the story of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion by listening to Luke
23 and acting out the story using “frozen pictures”.
2.
By listening and acting the children will understand that Jesus was
accused of doing wrong even though he was innocent.
3.
Children will understand that Jesus forgives people who were cruel to
him or who have sinned.
Procedure:
Welcome and Introductions:
1.
Greet
the children and introduce yourself.
Wear your nametag.
2.
Explain
to the class that they will be acting out the story of Jesus’ trial and
crucifixion using “frozen picture acting.”
Scripture/Bible Story:
1. Luke 23
2. Read
the passage to them (it is fairly long) while they read along. If they have
read it in previous weeks you may choose only to summarize the events.
3. To
reinforce the sequence of events you could play a game where the class puts the
events in order. Write the event on
cards, shuffle, and have the class discuss the events and place in order.
-Pilate questions Jesus
-Jesus is brought before Herod
-Crowd yells “Nail Him to a cross!”
-Pilate gives Jesus the death sentence
-Simon carries Jesus’ cross
-Jesus is nailed to the cross and says “Father, forgive these people.”
-Soldiers tease Jesus and gamble for his clothes.
-Jesus shouts “Father I put myself in Your hands.”
-Jesus dies.
-Jesus is placed in the tomb
Application:
1. Explain to the class they will be acting out the events in Luke 23 using a frozen picture technique. The narrator will read the lines while actors are showing the motions. Four scenes in the action will be frozen when the narrator says, “Freeze”. The object is to show a snapshot of a dramatic moment.
2. Warm-up exercise: Have the class practice while you read the following. They act out the motions silently and freeze when told. In this passage the children can all act out Simon’s actions such as rowing the boat and throwing and pulling up nets: Jesus was standing by a lake near Simon Peter’s fishing boat. He asked Simon Peter to take him out to a deeper part of the lake (freeze) and let down his nets (freeze). They caught so many fish that their nets began ripping apart (freeze).
3. The class will be divided into three groups each having a scene to rehearse:
1) Pilate & Herod question Jesus and give death sentence.
2) Jesus walks through the street and is nailed to the cross.
3) Jesus dies on the cross and is buried.
4. Give each group their lines (see attached scripts), assign a narrator, assist with costumes, and assign an area to rehearse. Shepherd and workshop leader provide assistance and suggestions as they rehearse (about 15 minutes).
5. Have each group present their drama (going in correct sequence) with actors freezing action for 30 seconds when narrator says Freeze.
6. Take picture! (either use a Polaroid camera or pretend to take a picture) Applause!
7. Put
away props and costumes.
Sharing and discussion:
Here
are a few questions that can be discussed with possible answers.
1.
Why did Pilate condemn Jesus to death even when Jesus was innocent?
-Possibly Pilate thought that Jesus and the
crowds were causing trouble and may start dangerous rioting so that it would be
easier to get rid of Jesus to avoid riots, or it could be that Pilate wanted to
be a popular leader, so when the people asked for Jesus to be hung on the cross
he agreed.
2.Jesus
is very calm and doesn’t struggle or argue. How do you know he is calm?
-He shows calmness by comforting women on the
way to the cross, reassuring the criminal on the cross, and by forgiving those
who nail him to the cross.
3.
Why
do you think Jesus is calm?
-He trusts in God. He knows this is part of God’s plan. He is teaching his disciples by showing self-control and
forgiveness because he knows they will help spread God’s love.
4.
Why does the Roman officer change his mind about Jesus?
-Perhaps he saw
Jesus’ strength, serenity, and calmness, and knew that he must get it from a
powerful source (God).
Suggestion: You may wish to give the children a sticker or some memento to paste in their journal as a reminder of the story or activity.
Prompts for journal writing:
Readers: give children strips of paper with the events (those listed in scripture section previously) and ask them to glue them in the correct order onto their sheet of paper.
Non-readers: draw a picture of Jesus showing forgiveness.
Prayer: Ask for prayer
requests. Lead a prayer. Suggestions include: thanking God for
sending Jesus and forgiving our sins.
Asking for help in being forgiving and obedient to God like Jesus was.
Amen
Tidy and Dismissal: Ask children to help tidy
up. Put costumes back into box on the
stage.
Teacher preparation in
advance:
1. Read the scripture passages and attend the Faith Quest Workshop Leaders Bible Study.
2. Prepare a closing prayer.
3. Get props, costumes and scripts together.
Supply List
· Biblical costumes
· strips of paper with the events (those listed in scripture section previously)
· Polaroid camera (optional)
· Copies of scripts
· Events on individual cards for sequencing the story
References
· Luke 23
· Notes supplied by Susan Mazzara for curriculum writers’ Bible study Jan. 2002
· Ritz, Randy L. Act It Out! Cincinnati, Ohio: The Standard Publishing Company, 1999.
The council takes Jesus to
see Pilate. (FREEZE) They are angry with him and say he was trying to start riots
and claiming to be the Messiah. Pilate asks Jesus “ Are you the King of the
Jews.” “Those are your words,” says Jesus. Pilate
tells the council that he doesn’t find Jesus guilty (FREEZE), but they
say Jesus has been causing trouble all over the place even in Galilee. Pilate
says, “If he is from Galilee then send
him to Herod.”
Herod
asks Jesus a lot of questions, but Jesus doesn’t answer. The priests and teachers say Jesus broke the
law. Then Herod and his soldiers make
fun of Jesus (FREEZE) and send him back to Pilate. Pilate calls
together the leaders and people and says that Herod didn’t find him guilty
either. Pilate says, “He doesn’t deserve to die, maybe we should beat him and
send him away.”
The
crowd disagrees, they yell “Kill Jesus! Kill Jesus!” Pilate says again, “He isn’t guilty.” The crowd keeps
shouting “Nail him to a cross!” They
keep shouting as loud as they can. Finally,
Pilate gives Jesus to the angry crowd. (FREEZE)
As
Jesus is being led away some soldiers grab hold of a man named Simon. They put the heavy cross on him and make
him carry it behind Jesus. (FREEZE)
A large crowd is following Jesus. In
the crowd a lot of women are crying and weeping. (FREEZE) Jesus says to the
women, “Don’t cry for me.” Finally they arrive at a rocky place called “The
Skull.”
Soldiers nail Jesus to a
cross. (FREEZE) He cries out, “Father, forgive
these people. They don’t know what they’re doing.” While Jesus is on the cross the soldiers play dice to see who wins
his clothes. (FREEZE) They
tease him by saying, “If you are a king then save yourself.”
One
of the criminals felt sorry for Jesus because Jesus hadn’t done anything wrong.
The criminal says, “Remember me when you come into power.” Jesus replies, “I
promise that today you will be with me in heaven.”
Death of Jesus
Around
noon the sun stops shining. Jesus
shouts, “Father I put myself in your hands.” Then he dies. (FREEZE) When the roman officer saw
what had happened he praised God. The officer says, “Jesus must really have
been a good man.”
The
crowd is sad when Jesus dies. They
walk home sadly. (FREEZE) A
man named Joseph wants to help bury Jesus. Joseph goes to Pilate and asks for
Jesus’ body. Then he takes the body
down from the cross and wraps it in cloth. (FREEZE)
He puts Jesus’ body in a
rock tomb.
(FREEZE) The women who had come with
Jesus watch how his body is placed in the tomb.