LESSON 25: Jesus, The Son Of God
Timeless Truth: Jesus is the promised Messiah.
Bible Basis: Mark 8:27-30, 34-38, 9:30-32; John 7:11-15, 25-31, 8:12-14, 31;
Mark 10:13-16; John 11:55-57; Mark 11:2-10; Matthew 21:10-11; John 12:27-33,
37, 42-50; Mark 14:1-2; Luke 22:3-6
Key Verse: “They all shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed is
the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ ” (Matthew
21:9).
Get the Point:
Preschool: Jesus, the Son of God, deserves our
worship. I can give him my best praise.
Elementary: Jesus, the Son of God, deserves our
worship. I can give him my best praise.
Middle/High School: Jesus is the Son of God and
deserves our everything.
Table Talk
Preschool/Elementary
• Jesus
loves children. In this chapter of The
Story, the disciples try to keep little children from coming to Jesus.
Jesus got mad and said, “let the little children come to me.” How does that
make you feel?
• Do you
think Jesus understands what it’s like to be a child? Why?
• Jesus
said, “Anyone who will not receive God’s kingdom like a little child will never
enter it.” What do you think that means?
• What
part do you like best about Jesus?
• What’s
your favorite story about Jesus so far?
Middle/High
School
• Jesus used startling statements
to grab people’s attention. In this chapter of The Story, he says “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever
loses his life for me . . . will save it” (Mark
8:35) and “many who are first
will be last, and the last first” (Mark 10:31). What
do you think that means? Do you think it’s true? Why?
• Why do some of Jesus’ teachings seem so opposite of what
society says?
• Which of Jesus’ teachings are the hardest for you to
understand?
• Is it possible to follow the Bible’s commands without fully
understanding them?
• Talk about how faith impacts your walk with the Lord.
Living Faith
In this
chapter of The Story, Jesus makes it
very clear that he is God’s Son and the Messiah who’s come to save people from
their sins. Some people didn’t like his teachings and walked away from him. The
same thing happens today as people wrestle with what Jesus said. History
records the fact that Jesus walked the earth and taught many people. But Jesus
said he was God, and that causes a dilemma for people—or as C.S. Lewis might
say a “trilemma” as they decide if they think Jesus was a liar, lunatic or
Lord. Figuring out what you think about Jesus is the most important decision
you’ll ever make.
C.S. Lewis is best known for writing
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and
all of The Chronicles of Narnia, but he also wrote some great books about
theology, including Mere Christianity. In that book he writes: "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really
foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a
great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one
thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things
Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -
on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be
the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the
Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a
fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet
and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense
about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did
not intend to."
After reading the above excerpt from
Mere Christianity, discuss it as a
family.
• What do you like best about Lewis’
thinking?
• Why is this argument so effective?
• What do you think people who
aren’t Jesus followers would think about these statement?
Extra Mile
Churches
love to re-enact Palm Sunday as Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey. Palm
branches and jackets paved the way for the coming King. Jesus didn’t run from
his destiny of dying on a cross. He rode straight into it. Watch this humorous
video on YouTube called “Skit Guys – Palm Sunday” (3.55).
Did you learn anything new from this video? Pray as a
family and thank God for sending his Son to die for your sins.
LESSON 26: The Hour Of Darkness
Timeless Truth: God gives eternal life to those who know Jesus Christ.
Bible Basis: John 13:21-30; Matthew 26:26-28; John 14:1-15; Matthew 26:33-35;
John 18:4-10; Luke
22:51-62, 23:32-45; Matthew 27:46-49; John 19:30
Key Verse: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust in me
also” (John 14:1).
Get the Point:
Preschool: Jesus died for our sins so we can be with
him forever. I can accept his love.
Elementary: Jesus died for our sins so we can be
with him forever. I can accept his love.
Middle/High School: Jesus died for our sins to allow us to
live fully now and have eternal life.
Table Talk
Preschool/Elementary
• If you
didn’t know how it was going to turn out, this would be the saddest chapter of The Story. A lot of terrible things
happened to Jesus. He was arrested, his friends let him down, and he was beaten
and killed. When Jesus asked his disciples to pray for him, they fell asleep
instead. Talk about a time that your friends let you down?
• Why is
it so hard to stay awake sometimes when you’re praying at night?
• How do
you think the disciples could’ve encouraged each other to stay awake—would’ve
pinching each other worked?
• After
all the miracles they’d seen, why did the disciples abandon Jesus? Don’t you
think they would’ve had more faith?
• Will
Jesus ever let you down? Why?
Note: Young readers will gain
understanding of Jesus’ last days by reading the three stories on pages 286-309
in the Jesus Storybook Bible.
Middle/High
School
• Jesus talks a lot about being
God in this chapter (John 14:9, etc.). Why is it so important that Jesus is
God?
• During his arrest, Jesus is
asked if he’s Jesus of Nazareth. He responds, “I am he” and everybody falls
down. Why did those words have so much power? Why didn’t Jesus run away when
everybody fell?
• Peter got a little bold when
Jesus was arrested and cut of the high priest’s servant’s ear. Jesus told Peter
to back off, picked up the ear, and healed the servant. If you were one of the
soldiers, what would you have thought about this Jesus who knocks over people
with his words and has the power to heal?
• Because Jesus hadn’t done
anything wrong, the Jewish leaders had to make up false testimony against him.
Why was Jesus ultimately sentenced to death? (Blasphemy—saying he was God.)
• What sets Jesus apart from other
people who have claimed to be God?
Living Faith
In a
poignant act of servanthood, Jesus washes the disciples feet at the Last
Supper. He was the ultimate leader and the ultimate servant. As parents,
display that same kind of servant leadership by washing your children’s feet.
You’ll need a basin of warm water and a towel. The idea isn’t to scrub and
clean the person’s feet. You just need to gently bathe the feet with water and
dry them with a towel. As you wash their
feet, tell your kids the way you want to serve them (i.e. by providing food and
place to live, by showing them how to serve Jesus, by encouraging them to be
their best.)
After you’ve washed your children’s
feet, give them the opportunity to wash yours. If they want to, your kids can
let you know how they want to serve you.
When you’ve cleaned up from the foot
washing, put on a video or some music and have family members give each other
foot rubs. A good-smelling lotion can make this even more enjoyable. Be wary of
family members with ticklish feet—they tend to kick when they’re rubbed.
You can add to this experience by
reading John 13:1-16 and by asking these questions:
• What most surprises you about
Jesus washing his disciples feet?
• Do you think it was hard for Jesus
to wash Judas’ feet, knowing that Judas would soon betray him?
• Do you think it’s important for
leaders to show they love and care for the people they’re leading?
• What are some other ways that
Jesus showed the disciples that he loved them?
Extra Mile
Chris
Tomlin’s song “Jesus Messiah” has a beautiful message that goes along with this
chapter of The Story. Watch him
perform it in a 6:05 video on YouTube called “Chris Tomlin - Jesus Messiah -
LIVE @ SPIRIT 105.3 FM.”
After you’ve watched the video, talk
about the parts that you liked the best. What lyrics from the song impacted
you?
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