Scripture: Luke 22: 7 – 20 and John 13: 3 – 30 or pages 440 – 443 in The Golden Children’s Bible
Target Age Group: 1st through 6th grade
Welcome the children to the classroom and chat with them about their week as they gather around the table.
Pray and ask God to teach the children not just head knowledge, but also heart knowledge.
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Bible Lesson:
Have the children open their Bibles to Luke 22: 7 – 20 and John 13: 3 – 30 or pages 440 – 443 in The Golden Children’s Bible
(Read the story to the children because at this age some of the children do not read smoothly, which hinders comprehension for the whole class.)
Introduction:
Have you ever painted a picture of an event before the event happened? Do you think that anybody can paint a picture of an event before it happened? It would be hard to paint a picture if you didn’t know what was going to happen yet, wouldn’t it. But, God knows what will happen, doesn’t He. He filled the Old Testament full of pictures that He has painted of who? That’s right, Jesus. The Old Testament always points us to Jesus by showing us who He would be and what He would be like.
Well, do you remember the story of Moses and the Israelites on the night when they were to paint their doorposts with the blood of a perfect lamb? Do you remember why they had to do that? Because the angel of death would come that night and kill all of the first-born boys unless they had the blood on their doorposts. So, the Israelites were saved by the blood of the lamb. Every year after that they would remember how God saved them by celebrating the Passover meal.
That story was a picture of who? That’s right. It was to show us what Jesus would do. He is the Lamb of God, isn’t He. And He would die on the cross and shed his blood to save us from our sins.
But, the disciples didn’t understand that yet. Jesus had to show them that He himself was the Passover Lamb. So, when they all sat down to the Passover meal He said, “This is my body” and “This is my blood.” And He told them that from that day forward when they celebrated the Passover they were to do it to remember him.
Let’s read the story….
Luke 22: 7 – 20
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
“Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.
He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
John 13: 3 – 30
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
“I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’…
After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”
His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”
Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”
Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.
So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
- What Jewish holiday were Jesus and the disciples celebrating? the Passover
- What was the Passover story? The night that the Israelites left Egypt they were to paint their doorposts with the blood of a lamb. If they had the blood on the doorpost their oldest sons’ lives were spared. Every year after that the Jewish people celebrated the passover feast, which helped them to remember that event.
- Where did Jesus tell the disciples to get the passover meal ready? In the upper room. The house of a man carrying a jar of water.
- What did Jesus say that the bread represented? His body
- What did Jesus say that the wine represented? His blood
- How is Jesus’ body and blood like the body and blood of the Passover Lamb? His death on the cross saves us from our sins and eternal death.
- What else did Jesus do to serve the disciples? He washed their feet.
- We don’t wash each other’s feet today do we. In Jesus’ time instead of shoes they wore sandals and their feet would get dirty. So, they would wash their feet when they came into the house.
- Who told Jesus that he didn’t want him to wash his feet? Simon Peter
- Why do you think that he didn’t want Jesus to wash his feet? Because he thought that he should wash Jesus’ feet.
- How did Jesus answer Peter? “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
- Then what did Peter say? “Then, Lord, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
- Why did Jesus wash their feet? To show them that they should likewise serve each other. To demonstrate that He would wash away their sins.
- What act of servanthood would Jesus do the next day? Die on the cross for our sins.
- Do you think that Jesus wanted the disciples to also be willing to give up their own lives to serve Him and others? Yes
- What did Jesus say one of the disciples would do? betray him
- Peter asked Jesus who the betrayer was. What did Jesus say? “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.”
- Which disciple received the bread? Judas
- What did Judas do after that? He went out into the night to betray Jesus.
- Let’s pray and thank Jesus for giving his life for us and let’s promise to never betray him…
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During the remaining class time do activities that help to reinforce what the children have learned. Here are some suggestions…
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Memorize the verse.
John 1:29b (KJV) “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
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Have the children use colors or pastels to draw their own vision of the story on a sketch pad page. Or have them color a color page related to the story.
Here is a perfect color page from Kids Talk About God.
Color page #3 from Crafting the Word of God
Color page #6 from What’s in the Bible? (Last Supper color page)
An excellent color page book is “Through-the-Bible Coloring Pages For Ages 4-8” by Janet Skiles. The pages are reproducible.
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Show a video of this story:
Video #1 from Crossroads Kids’ Club
Video #2 from The Jesus Film
My favorite video for this story is“The Servant King” from The Jesus Story Book Bible. (Make sure that, if you buy it, you order the collector’s edition or the curriculum edition, which has the DVD with the stories animated and narrated. It’s wonderful.) This video is similar, but someone has re-animated and only covers half of the story. The original also talks about the bread and the wine, which is the most important part of the story.
This is a wonderful video, that demonstrates the connection between the Passover and the death of our Lord.
And this video, “Messiah in the Passover” from Zola Levitt is for the teacher.
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Mission Bible Class has an excellent lesson with a great introduction idea.
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This is the perfect craft for this lesson from Auntie’s Bible Lessons. She has another worksheet for this lesson here.
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Recreate a Seder Dinner with Jesus. There are more ideas here and here. Learn more about Passover at Messianic Education Trust.
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Share the music video of the song “Behold the Lamb” by Keith & Kristyn Getty.
Another good one is “In Remembrance of Me” by Cheri Keaggy
Or make your own music video with your i-movie program. I did mine with the song “Come to the Table” by Michael Card.
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Share this object lesson or this one from sermons4kids.
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Here are some puzzles and work sheets from Kids Clubs 4 Jesus. And there are more here from Calvary Curriculum. Or have them do this crossword puzzle from Bible Wise.
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Have the children make the booklet “Jesus Eats with His Friends” or “Washing Feet” by Jill Kemp and Richard Gunther from Lamb Songs. Scroll Down.
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This is a cute craft that helps the kids focus on the fact that Jesus is Himself the Passover Lamb.
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Here are some great ideas for older kids.
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Have the older children split into 2 groups and pretend to do a TV news report of the first Passover and the Last Supper.
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Evaluate what the children have learned. While they are coloring or crafting ask each one what they learned today.
Send each child’s parent an e-mail (or a hard copy) of the Parents’ Page.
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