April 6, 2014 Lesson 26: Jesus Condemned

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1 April 6, 2014 Lesson 26: Jesus Condemned John 19:1-16 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, ʻHail, King of the Jews!ʼ and striking him on the face. Pilate went out again and said to them, ʻLook, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.ʼ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ʻHere is the man!ʼ When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, ʻCrucify him! Crucify him!ʼ Pilate said to them, ʻTake him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.ʼ The Jews answered him, ʻWe have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.ʼ Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, ʻWhere are you from?ʼ But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, ʻDo you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?ʼ Jesus answered him, ʻYou would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.ʼ From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, ʻIf you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.ʼ When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judgeʼs bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, ʻHere is your King!ʼ They cried out, ʻAway with him! Away with him! Crucify him!ʼ Pilate asked them, ʻShall I crucify your King?ʼ The chief priests answered, ʻWe have no king but the emperor.ʼ Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

2 April 6, 2014 The Big Story Truth: Jesus is our king! Jesus Condemned John 19:1-16 He said to the Jews, Here is your king! They cried out, Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him! About This Scripture Passage: This passage is filled with political language. In order to understand what is happening here it is necessary to know that the Jews lived under Roman occupation. The power that the Jewish leadership enjoyed came in part from their relationships with the Roman rulers. They used political allegiance to the Roman emperor as an excuse to have Jesus killed by the Romans. They knew that if they could paint Jesus as a political criminal, and charge him with inciting rebellion, that the punishment would be crucifixion. That Pilate s soldiers respond by having Jesus dressed up as the king of the Jews is a mockery both of Jesus and of the Jews claim that Jesus is a serious threat. So the Jewish leaders resort to accusing Pilate of not following the law--- not doing his duty as their ruler. The thought that his own political position could be threatened by how this trial proceeds makes Pilate fearful and he gives in to their demand that Jesus be crucified. The reality, though, is that for all this political maneuvering and strategizing, Jesus is adamant that the power all the rulers have is only that which they have been given by God. The truth is that Jesus really does stand before them as king and the one who has authority over what will happen next.

3 Making the Connection: The people in our Bible story may be trying to accuse Jesus and make fun of him, but ironically, Jesus really is king! Jesus is a much different kind of king than what their image of king is, though. People think of kings as being powerful and bossy and trying to make people do things. Jesus is the opposite. Jesus is powerful, but he doesn t use his power even to stop his own death. Jesus willingly lays down his life for those he loves. Jesus didn t come demanding to be served, he came to serve. Jesus isn t like any other king. Jesus kingdom is different. Today s lesson is an opportunity for us to think with our kids about the kind of king that Jesus is and what it means that we say that Jesus is our king. For Your Reflection: Few of us have much personal experience with kings, but plenty with authority. We are often even in positions of authority ourselves: in our families, in our classrooms, maybe even in our workplaces. How might Jesus example of authority shape how you use your authority? Where in the World Are We? Like last week, still in Pilate s headquarters in Jerusalem. The same two possibilities exist for location: 1. The royal palace 2. the fortress Antonia. 1 2

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5 Family Faith 5 April 6, Each person shares their high and low (the best and worst things that happened this week.) 2. Read together this Bible Verse: He said to the Jews, Here is your king! They cried out, Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him! 3. Talk about how the Bible verse relates to your highs and lows. 4. Pray aloud for one another s highs and lows. 5. Bless one another. Make the sign of the cross on each other s heads and say these words:, Jesus loves you so much!

6 Large Group Gathering and Lesson Plan Welcome kids and families. Give family groups 5 minutes to complete their Faith 5 activity. Then kick the parents out! We have work to do to get ready for worship today! Give classes time to finish up preparing their individual portions of the puppet show. Any kids who were not present last week will need to make a puppet. Fairly early in the hour, call together all the classes to do a run through of the whole thing. When you get to the part where Pilate asks who should be released, help the little kids learn to shout Barabbas! When it comes to the part where the crowd shouts that Jesus should be crucified, help the little kids shout Crucify Him! Snack: Grape flavored fruit roll ups and circle shaped pretzels can represent the purple robe and crown of thorns. Additional Activity Options: Have a few coloring pages about Jesus death and resurrection from your favorite Bible story coloring book run off and ready for kids who finish early and need to have something to do. Be ready also to share the good news of the resurrection with any young children who maybe haven t heard that there is a happy ending to this sad story.