* LESSON
* HANDOUT
* LORD’S SUPPER PLAY
Bible Memory Verse:
"do this in remembrance of me." Luke 22:19
“For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in his shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Jesus did many things following His Triumphal entry into Jerusalem when the people waved palm branches to praise Him because they thought He would be their king. He drove out those who were buying and selling in the temple. He overturned the table of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.
He said, "Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’ But you have made it a den of robbers."
The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for ways to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching (Mark 12:13-17, 18-27, 28-34).
That week Jesus answered His disciples’ questions about the future. He told them that no one knew when He was coming back to set up His kingdom, not even the angels or Himself, only God the Father, but He told them many signs to look for that would happen just before He came back.
The Passover celebration lasted for eight days.
During Passover week Judas promised to betray Jesus to the chief priests (Matthew 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-11, Luke 22:1-6). They were delighted and gave him 30 pieces of silver.
Near the end of Passover a special meal was celebrated. Jesus disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
He told two of them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."
The Passover meal would be the last meal Jesus would eat with His disciples. They ate lying on couches, which was the custom.
The Passover meal had to have certain foods: a roasted lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs and juice from grapes. It was a special meal to remember when God delivered the people out of slavery in Egypt.
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me…woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better form him if he had not been born."
They were sad and each one said, "Surely not I." When Judas asked Him, Jesus told him, "What you are about to do, do quickly." No one at the meal understood why Jesus had said this to him. Since Judas was in charge of the money, some thought he was to buy things for the feast or give money to the poor. Then Judas left.
A symbol is something that stands for or represents something else. WHAT IS A HEART A SYMBOL OF? WHAT WOULD IT MEAN IF SOMEONE HAD A GOLD RING ON THEIR FINGER? WHAT IS THE CANADIAN FLAG A SYMBOL OF?
God planned what had happened in the past to be a symbol of what would happen with Jesus. At the Passover meal the roast lamb symbolized the lamb that the Israelites were to eat and put its blood over the doorposts of their houses so the death angel would pass over. God planned it to show that Jesus was the Passover Lamb who had to die to take away the sins of the world. The bread symbolized His body that would be sacrificed for others. The wine or grape juice would symbolize His blood.
Jesus knew He would return to God in Heaven very soon. He knew how easy it would be to forget Him. He wanted to be sure that His followers did not forget Him. He told them to do something that would remind them of His death, burial and resurrection.
Jesus thanked God for the unleavened bread (bread with no yeast so it is flat and hard). He broke the bread into small pieces and began to pass the bread to His disciples. The bread broken into pieces was like His body. He said, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19 Very soon Jesus would die on the cross.
Jesus gave thanks to God and offered the juice from grapes to His disciples, saying, “Drink from it… This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ..I will not drink of this fruit of the wine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Matthew 26:27-29
Does Jesus still want people to eat bread and drink grape juice to remember Him? Yes, He does! The Communion (Lord’s Supper) is a symbol to remember what Jesus did for us. He died to pay the penalty for our sins. He rose from the dead and lives again. We can live forever in Heaven because of what He did.
QUESTIONS:
1. What does it mean to betray someone?
2. Who betrayed Jesus?
3. What was Judas given for betraying Jesus?
4. What is Passover?
5. What are some of the foods the Jewish people eat on Passover?
6. What does symbolize mean?
7. Jesus is called the Lamb of God. The Bible says, “…Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, the receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Revelation 5:12 Why is Jesus sometimes called the Passover Lamb?
8. What do the bitter herbs symbolize?
9. What does the unleavened bread symbolize?
10. What does the grape juice symbolize?
11. Why do we celebrate the communion or the Lord’s Supper?
LORD’S SUPPER
Bible Memory Verse:
"do this in remembrance of me." Luke 22:19
Words to choose from: TEACHING, LAMB, BETRAY, BREAD, PRAYER, PASSOVER, PERFUME, SYMBOL, WATER, WINE
1. Jesus wants His house to be a house of __ __ __ __ __ __.
2. All the people were amazed at the __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of Jesus.
3. Mary poured __ __ __ __ __ __ __ on Jesus’ feet.
4. Judas went to the chief priests in order to __ __ __ __ __ __ Jesus.
5. Jesus wanted to celebrate the __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ meal with His disciples.
6. Jesus told two of His disciples to go into Jerusalem and find a man carrying a jar of __ __ __ __ __ and follow him in order to find the place where they should celebrate the Passover meal.
7. A __ __ __ __ __ __ is something that stands for or represents something else.
8. The roasted __ __ __ __ symbolizes Jesus who came to die because He loved us.
9. The __ __ __ __ __ symbolizes Jesus’ body which He willingly gave to pay for our sins.
10. The __ __ __ __ or juice symbolizes Jesus’ blood that He would shed to pay for our sins.
Bible Memory Verse:
"…do this in remembrance of me." Luke 22:19
CHARACTERS–LORD’S SUPPER PLAY: Jolly the Giraffe, Polly the Polar Bear, Leo the Lion
POLLY & LEO (enter) Hi, Kids?
POLLY: We wanted to get here right away because this week Jolly is going to tell what she did to show love to someone. She probably shows love to someone all the time, but she has something special to tell us about.
LEO: Do you know why Jolly shows love to people all the time?
POLLY: Because she is so nice?
LEO: Well, kind of. But it is really because she loves Jesus, and Jesus shows love all the time.
POLLY: That’s true, Leo. All of us that love Jesus should follow His example and show love whenever we have a chance. Oh, here comes Jolly!
(Jolly enters)
JOLLY: Hi Kids and Polly and Leo. You beat me here today.
LEO: We were waiting for you. And we were talking about you. We noticed that you always show love to people just like Jesus did.
POLLY: And we wanted to hear about the special way you showed love to someone that you were going to tell us about last week before we ran out of time.
JOLLY: All right, I can’t wait to tell you. I was walking down the street in Hay River when I saw a boy who had broken his leg or someone because he had crutches. All of a sudden he said, “Oh, no!”
I asked him what the matter was and he said that it was colder out than he thought, and he had left his jacket inside. He lived on the second floor, and it was so hard for him to go up stairs to get it.
I asked him which apartment was his, and he pointed to the window.
I went over to the window and hit my nose against it (I have a long neck, you know, but I could barely reach). When his mother opened the window I told her that her son had forgotten his jacket. She put it over my nose, and I gave it to the boy. Then I knelt down, and he crawled on my back, and I took him to school. Everyone came around us to find out what was going on. His friends look care of him after that. It was really exciting, and I was so thankful I could help.
POLLY: Is that ever an exciting story!
LEO: It sure is! You know we celebrate the Lord’s supper to remember Him…Remember our memory verse: "…do this in remembrance of me." Luke 22:19
POLLY: Yes?
LEO: I know another way we can remember Him.
POLLY: What?
LEO: We can show love to other people remembering that Jesus showed love to us.
JOLLY: That’s a good idea, Leo! We should remember Jesus all the time in every thing we do. Is there any of you kids that did something to show love to someone that you want to tell us about? (wait for answers) It’s time to go, but we’ll see you next week. Good-bye, Kids!
POLLY & LEO: Good-bye, Kids!
(Puppets exit)