* LESSON
* HANDOUT
* TRIAL PLAY
Bible Memory Verse:
"…Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." John 18:37
“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
WHY WAS JESUS ARRESTED?
After Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, he was taken before the Sanhedrin, which is the Jewish court of law.
Jesus had done nothing wrong. The Jewish leaders had Him arrested because they were envious of Him. They were angry because the people were listening to Him instead of them. They were afraid they would have to give up their position of power. They had no evidence against Him. Even those that did testify against Him couldn’t agree.
Two men came forward and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.” (Jesus did say this, but He was talking about His body as the temple of God, not the actual building)
Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent.
The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
“Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied, “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
“He is worthy of death,” they answered. (Matthew 26:60-66)
WHAT IS BLASPHEMY? (talking against God) The Jewish leaders said He was talking against God because He claimed to be the Son of God, which was saying He was God. But He was God!
Early in the morning all the chief priests and elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the Roman governor.
The disciple Peter denied that he knew Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75, Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:54-62, John 18:15-18, 25-27). Jesus had foretold that Peter would deny Him when the disciples were having their last supper together.
When Judas, who had betrayed Him, found out they had condemned Jesus to death he was filled with guilt and tried to return the money. When they wouldn’t accept it, Judas went away and hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-10).
Then the whole assembly arose and took Jesus before Pilate, the Roman governor. He was a man with great authority who had ordered thousands of crucifixions.
The Jews handed Jesus over to Pilate because they had no right to execute anyone.
They told Pilate, “He claims to be Christ, a king.”
Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But, now, my kingdom is from another place.”
"You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born and for this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
“What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this Pilate went out to the Jews and said. “I find no basis for a charge against him.” John 18:33-38
Pilate wanted to Jesus free. It was the governor’s custom to release a prisoner at the Passover Feast that was chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. Pilate asked the crowd if they wanted to release Jesus or Barabbas. He knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. (Matthew 27:15-18) But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask for Barabbas. (Mark 15:11)
Pilate’s wife sent a message saying, “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” Matthew 27:19
Pilate had Jesus flogged hoping to satisfy the crowd so he could release Jesus. The soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head. They put a purple robe (purple is the color for kings) and went up to Him again and again saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they struck Him in the face.
Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”
When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purpose robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw Him, the shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!
But Pilate answered. “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
The Jews insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
When Pilate heard this he was even more afraid and went back inside the palace. " Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do you refuse to talk to me?" Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or crucify you?”
Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
Finally, wanting to satisfy the crowd (Mark 15:15), Pilate handed Him over to be crucified. (John 19:1-16)
QUESTIONS:
1. Why did the chief priests and teachers of the law want Jesus crucified?
2. What finally happened to Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus?
3. What did Peter do after he had denied Jesus three times?
4. Why couldn’t the Jewish leaders have Jesus crucified?
5. Who was Pontius Pilate?
6. Who told Pilate not to have anything to do with the innoent man (Jesus) because she had suffered in a dream because of Him?
7. Who was released instead of Jesus?
8. Why did Pilate finally have Jesus crucified?
TRIAL
Bible Memory Verse:
"…Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." John 18:37
Words to choose from: LAW, FORGIVENESS, DISCIPLES, DENIED, KINGDOM, CRUCIFIED, CLOUDS, AFRAID, PILATE, SINNED
1. Jesus’ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ ran away when Jesus was arrested.
2. Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, __ __ __ __ __ __ (said that he did not know) Jesus.
3. Jesus was first taken to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish court of __ __ __.
4. Jesus never__ __ __ __ __ __.
5. The Jewish leaders were __ __ __ __ __ __ Jesus would take away their position of power.
6. Jesus said they would see Him sitting on the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the __ __ __ __ __ __ of heaven.
7. Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, hanged himself instead of asking for __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __.
8. Later Jesus was taken before Pontius __ __ __ __ __ __, the Roman governor.
9. Jesus told Pilate that His __ __ __ __ __ __ __ was not of this world.
10. Pilate finally had Jesus __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __because he wanted to please the people.
Bible Memory Verse:
"…Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." John 18:37
CHARACTERS: Jolly the Giraffe, Polly the Polar Bear, Leo the Lion
JOLLY: (enter) Hi, Kids!
POLLY & LEO: (enter) Hi, Kids!
POLLY: I think one of the hardest things Jesus had to suffer was to know that one of His disciples, His friend, had betrayed Him.
LEO: And I guess Judas loved money so much. But his money didn’t do him any good.
POLLY: In fact, it did him harm.
JOLLY: And Jesus had been a really good friend—in fact, Jesus was perfect. If He ever had to tell someone they were doing something bad, He did it in a nice way. And He did it because He loved him. He always does everything out of love.
LEO: Judas was sorry for what He did. In fact, He was so sorry He hung himself? Why didn’t he just ask Jesus for forgiveness?
JOLLY: I think it was because He really didn’t know who Jesus was. He didn’t know Jesus was God, and He didn’t know God is love.
POLLY: He didn’t know Jesus could and would forgive him.
JOLLY: There are two kinds of being sorry. One is just sorry you got caught or that you will get punished—you’d do it again if you had the chance. The other kind is called godly sorrow because you are really sorry and repent or change.
LEO: That’s why when you accept Jesus and tell Him you are sorry for your sins, it is like you are born again. You had been a person that didn’t really know Jesus and didn’t care about your sins. Now you are sorry that you have hurt Jesus and happy to know that He will forgive you. God knows if your heart is changed.
POLLY: Poor Jesus! He had to appear before those judges that didn’t know who He was. I wonder why He didn’t say anything.
JOLLY: I think it was because He knew they were so blinded by the devil that nothing He said could change their minds. It would just have been a waste of time.
LEO: And everything Jesus did was perfect—nothing was a waste of time.
POLLY: I’m so glad to have Jesus for a friend. And for a Father. And for a King.
JOLLY: And He has promised to give us wisdom whenever we ask for it. He knows everything so His advice is perfect.
LEO: That’s right. I need some wisdom right now. I almost forgot to ask Jesus.
POLLY: What do you need wisdom about, Leo?
LEO: I need wisdom in deciding what I should do after school. I want to do so much, but I’m only one person. I don’t know if I should sign up for baseball or soccer. I could also be on the school newspaper staff or get a paper route.
JOLLY: Any of those things would be good. I can see why you need wisdom to choose what is best.
LEO: I’ll pray about it this week and tell you next week what I decide.
JOLLY: That’s a good idea.
POLLY: Except for one thing.
LEO: What’s that, Polly?
POLLY: I have to wait a whole week to find out the answer!
JOLLY & LEO (laugh) Oh, Polly!
JOLLY & POLLY & LEO: Good-bye, Kids!
(Puppets exit)