Unit 5: Passion Week to Ascension NT5.3 Mary Anoints Jesus

Transcription

1 1 Unit 5: Passion Week to Ascension NT5.3 Mary Anoints Jesus Scripture: Matthew 26:6-16; Mark 14: 1-11; John 12:1-11 Lesson Goal All of Jesus' friends in Bethany were invited to a special dinner to honor Jesus. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were there. During the dinner Mary decided to give Jesus a very special gift. This gift showed that she really loved Him and understood that He was going to die for the sins of the world. Introduction: This is the second lesson in Unit 5: The Passion Week to the Ascension. All of Jesus' friends in Bethany were invited to a special dinner to honor Jesus. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were there. During the dinner Mary decided to give Jesus a very special gift. This gift showed that she really loved Him and understood that He was going to die for the sins of the world. This lesson is found in the books of Matthew, Mark, and John. These books are part of the four Gospels which are the first four books in the New Testament. This book is part of the four books called the Gospels in the New Testament. The word Gospel means the "Good News about Jesus." The Gospels tell the life and ministry of Jesus while He was here on earth. Let's say the names of the gospels--matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Attention Getter: Say: "What is the best present you could imagine giving to someone you like a lot? Would it be an I pad? How about a video game player? Maybe it would be a special doll? Why would the person like your gift?" Give each child in your class an 8" X 12" piece of wrapping paper. Say: "I am giving each of you a rectangle of wrapping paper. On the back of your sheet of wrapping paper you are to draw a picture of a gift that you would like to give to someone in this class. Use the colored markers to draw your gift." When children are finished drawing a picture of their gift have them fold their papers in half and trade papers. Children can open each other's papers to see the pictures. Say: "In this lesson we will hear about someone who gave Jesus a very special, expensive gift. This gift showed Jesus that she loved him very much and that she understood that He was going to be a sacrifice for sins." Opening Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, I know that I have sinned against you. I am sorry for the things that I have done that are wrong and are disobedient to you. Forgive me. I believe that you are the Son of God and that you died on the cross to pay for my sins. I ask you to forgive me and give me the gift of eternal life. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Memory Verse: Our memory verse is 1 John 4:9,10 "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." Lesson Video: It was a happy day for Lazarus and his sister, Mary and Martha. Their favorite friend Jesus was coming to town that very night. Lazarus was especially excited to see Jesus again, Everyone was still amazed by what had happened to Lazarus. Not long ago he had died! But Jesus had brought him back to life! And now Jesus was coming back to Bethany to visit with them again! Bethany was two miles east of Jerusalem on the way to Jericho. It was a quiet little town on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. Mary Martha, and Lazarus were Jesus' closest friends in the little town

2 2 of Bethany, but He had other friends there too. Another friend was Simon. Simon had been sick with leprosy and Jesus had healed him! When everyone heard that Jesus was coming to visit they all wanted to honor Jesus with a special supper. They decided to have it at the home of Simon. Simon invited everyone in for the meal. Martha gladly served the food. Jesus and his good friends enjoyed their time eating and talking together. Every bit of the meal must have tasted delicious. Lazarus was also at the meal. He sat at the table with Jesus and His disciples. No doubt everyone was still expressing their amazement at how Jesus had raised him from the dead! All evening Mary sat at Jesus' feet and listened to every word He said. She wished that she could do something for Him--something to show her love for Him. Suddenly Mary had an idea! She quietly hurried out of the room Mary came back into the room just as quietly as she had left. But this time she was carrying a very expensive bottle of perfume called nard. She had a gift for Jesus. This perfume was very expensive. It was worth about a year's wages. Mary got down on her knees at Jesus' feet. Everyone watched her wondering what she was going to do. Just then--she broke the precious bottle to open it! Everyone was surprised. The lovely scent filled the room. Mary poured the perfume all over Jesus' feet. Then she unfastened her long hair. Mary wiped Jesus' feet with her own hair! She had poured out her gift on Jesus. When Judas saw what Mary had done, he got very angry and said, "Why wasn't the perfume sold and the money given to the poor?" That perfume was worth a whole years' wages! Judas did not say this because he cared for the poor but because he was a thief. He looked after the money given to help the poor and had been secretly helping himself to some of it. Judas' words started others arguing about whether or not Mary's gift was a waste of money. Jesus knew that Mary's gift was a gift of love. "Leave her alone," Jesus replied, "She has poured perfume on me in preparation for my burial. She has done a beautiful thing. "You will always have the poor among you," Jesus continued, "but you will not always have me." "Listen to this. Where ever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her." Jesus knew that He would die soon. That's why he said that His friends would not always have Him with them. But most important, Jesus knew that Mary's incredible gift would teach everyone the very best thing to do--love Jesus. When Judas heard what Jesus said, he was so upset that he left the house and headed off to find the chief priests. After Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead the Jewish leaders plotted to have Jesus killed. They had spies on the lookout for Jesus. The Jewish leaders wanted to find a time when Jesus was away from the crowds so they could arrest Him. Now Judas was so angry that he decided to betray Jesus. "How much will you pay me to get Jesus into your hands?" he asked. They gave Judas thirty silver coins. From that time on, Judas watched for an opportunity to betray Jesus to them. Jesus knew that soon He would be arrested and be put to death on the cross. His death would be the punishment for all the wrong things we have done. He told his disciples many times about how this would happen but still they did not accept it. However, one special friend did understand. It was Mary! Mary showed her love for Jesus by giving him a gift of anointing which showed that she understood that Jesus had to die for the sins of the world. Because Jesus first loved us, we want to show our love to Him. Just like Mary we can show our love for Jesus. One way to show our love to Jesus is to become members of His family. We do that by believing that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins. If we repent of our sins and ask Jesus to forgive us, He promises us that He will. When we ask Jesus to save us, He promises to give us the gift of eternal life so we can go to heaven to be with Him. Would you like to do that today? You

3 3 can do that by bowing your head and saying this prayer with me. Make it your very own words as you talk to Jesus. Remember we love God because He first loved us! Review Questions: "Roll the Dice" Preparation: You will need one dice. Procedure: Divide the class into two teams. Each team member takes a turn rolling the dice. The number on the top of the dice is the number of points that team will receive if they answer the following questions correctly. Allow only one answer per team. Encourage children to collaborate and choose the one who rolled the dice as the spokesperson. 1. Why were the people in Bethany excited? (Jesus was returning to visit their village.) 2. Who were some of Jesus' friends in Bethany? (Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and Simon) 3. What special thing had happened to Lazarus that made him glad to see Jesus again? (Jesus had raised him from the dead.) 4. Why was Simon especially glad to have Jesus return? (Jesus had healed him from leprosy.) 5. What did Jesus' friends decided to do to honor Him? (Have a banquet in His honor.) 6. Who was prepared the meal for the banquet? (Martha) 7. Who came to the dinner? (Mary, Martha, Lazarus, Simon, Jesus, the disciples, and perhaps others.) 8. What did Mary do all evening? (She sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to every word He said.) 9. What special gift did Mary give Jesus? (She gave him a bottle of very expensive perfume and used it to anoint his feet.) 10. Why did Mary choose this gift? (She loved Jesus and wanted to give Him something very special and expensive. ) 11. Why was anointing Jesus' feet so special? (It showed that Mary understood that Jesus was the resurrection and life. He was going to die on the cross for the punishment of sin and that He was giving to us the gift of eternal life. 12. Why was Judas angry? (He thought the perfume should be sold and the money be given to the poor. But he really wanted to steal it for himself.) 13. What did Judas do to show his anger? (He went to the Jewish leaders and offered to betray Jesus for money. He bargained for 30 pieces of silver as payment.) 14. What special thing did Jesus say that would happen to Mary because of her great gift? (She would be remembered wherever the gospel would be told around the world.) 15. How can we show our love for Jesus? (By believing in Him and asking Him to forgive us and give us the gift of eternal life. Bible Memory Verse Activity: Who's Saying the Verse? (Grades K-3) Our memory verse is 1 John 4:9,10 "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." This verse says to us that God's love for us is so great that He made a way for our sins to be forgiven! What a wonderful truth that is! Let's say our verses again. Have students locate the verse in Scripture and read it aloud together. Repeat several times. Procedure: Divide the class into two groups. Ask two volunteers to hold us a sheet between the two groups so that one group cannot see the other group. Say 1 John 4:9, 10 as you point to a child in the first group. The child that you pointed to then repeats the verse after you. Volunteers drop the sheet. Children in the second group guess who repeated the verse. Continue with new volunteers and new children repeating the verse, alternating who guess, as time permits.

4 4 Group Learning Activity: "Choose a Way" (Grades 3-6) Preparation: On four large sheets of chart paper print the following words: "Pray"; "Read the Bible"; "Help Others", and "Give." Place the chart paper on the floor or on separate tables in different areas of the room. Place colored markers beside each of the sheets of chart paper. Say: "When we realize how much Jesus loves us we want to show our love to Him. I have put four sheets of paper on the floor. (Read the titles of the sheets of chart paper.) These are some way we can choose to show love to Jesus. Today we are going to choose a way we can show love to Jesus!" Procedure: Tell the children to walk around the room. When you call out "Choose!" each child walks to one of the four papers and draws a picture of himself or herself showing love in the way described on the paper. When finished with the picture the child begins to walk around the room again. Once several children have finished drawing their pictures and are walking around the room, call out "Choose!" again. Repeat several times encouraging children to draw pictures on several different papers. Read 1 John 4: 9.10 (memory verse) aloud. Say: "What did Jesus do to show love for us?" (He lived on earth to show us what God is like. He died to take the punishment for our sins. He promised to be with us always.) "Which way will you choose to show love to Jesus this week?" Group Learning Game: Mary's Jar Match Game (Grades K-3) Purpose: This activity is a version of the Concentration Game. Preparation: Print two sets of the cards with the pictures of the jars below. Cut out the cards along the black lines. Procedure: Mix up the cards and lay them fact down in rows. Turn over any two cards at a time. If the pictures match, remove them from the table. This counts as one set. If you make a match, you may take another turn. If they do not match, turn them back over and let the next person try. The person with the most sets wins! Group Learning Activity: Gift Game (Grades 2-6) Preparation: Fill a tray with small gift items: perfume, razor, card game, pin, crayons, bookmark, candy, gloves, flashlight, lotion. Procedure: Have children come up to front of class and select one item they would give to different family members. Say: "Which of the following items would you give as a gift to your Mother? Father? sister? brother? How did you decide which gift to choose? What makes a gift special? (When it's given in love with thought from the heart.) Why do we give each other gifts? (Because it makes us feel good to create a happy feeling in someone else.) Give a 3 X5" card to each child. Tell the students to draw a big heart on the back side of their card. Ask for real ways they can give their love to Jesus. (Do things with and for Him because we want to, not because we're made to. Like praying, going to Sunday school, worship, being kind to someone, etc.) Have them write some of these ideas onto their hearts. Make sure each child writes at least one thing. The idea they write down should be a REAL way they WILL show Jesus love this week. Have students take the cards home to help remind them of their commitment.

5 5 Group Learning Activity: Guess the Smell (Grades 3-5) Preparation: You will need to prepare several boxes with holes punched in them or bags out of fabric that can breathe but not seen through. You can also use old medicine bottles with lids. Each one will have a different distinct scent in it. Ideas might include: cloves, lemon, chocolate, garlic, lavender, moth balls. One must have perfume in it. Say: In our Bible story today someone gave a special gift of love to Jesus. An item like that gift is in one of these boxes. Let's do a sniff test and discover what it was. Procedure: Pass one box (or bag) around the circle. Have each of the kids take turns smelling it. Tell them not to say anything about what it smells like to them. Once they have all smelled it, ask what they think it is. Do this for each box/bag. Ask which smell they think is the gift that a woman gave Jesus. (perfume) This gift was not just any old thing the woman in the story could find. The perfume she gave Jesus was the best and showed how much she loved Jesus. Group Learning Activity: Best or Left-Overs? (Grades 2-6) Say: "Do you know what leftovers are? The remains of what has already been picked over. What's left after everyone has taken what they want. We usually think about food first when we think about leftovers but I want you to think about leftovers in a different way. Mary knew she wanted to give Jesus her best, not just leftovers. Are the kids in the following scenarios giving their best or leftovers? If you think they are giving their best, give a thumbs up. If you think Jesus is getting leftovers, give a thumbs down." So they aren t influenced by each other you might want to have them close their eyes while voting. 1. The only time Susie prays is before she drops in bed at night. (Leftovers) 2. At night time Sam reads a Bible story with his parents before he chooses another book off his shelf. (best) 3. John only goes to church if there's nothing else going on he'd rather do. (Leftovers) 4. Whenever Sandy is given any money she always sets some aside to put in an offering envelope at church. (best) 5. Charlene never wants to miss her favorite TV program even if it means having to skip going to Sunday school or worship. (Leftovers) 6. Peter got up in time for church even though he stayed up late for a sleepover. 7. Charles stayed up late watching TV and doesn t wake up in time for church. 8. Carol meant to tell a friend she was sorry that her grandmother is sick, but she keeps forgetting. 9. Ginny helps her dad with chores instead of playing video games. 10. Bobby writes his grandfather a letter. 11. Millie skips choir practice so she get home and watch her favorite TV show. 12. Polly remembers to say her prayers seven nights in a row. 13. Randy falls asleep during the sermon in church. 14. Kathy gives up recess to help a classmate with his math. 15. Oscar decides to pray about a hard decision he has to make. 16. In worship Kyle really talks to God during prayer time. 17. For one week Paul remembers to thank God for each new morning. 18. Cindy whispers to her friend about the basketball game all through the Sunday School lesson. 19. Mark tells his mother he will take out the trash, but puts it off until later and then forgets. 20. Sandy offers to lead prayer at dinnertime for her family. 21. Mandy is careless with her Bible and loses it. 22. Emily goes to worship with her family every Sunday. 23. Bobby decides to read his Bible a little bit every day.

6 6 Craft Learning Activity: Reed Scented Jars (Grades 3-6) Preparation: You will need bamboo skewers or actual reeds; small mouthed jars; liquid potpourri (or make your own from essential oils). (Liquid potpourri can be purchased from discount store very reasonably); scrapbook paper, ribbon, and cross stickers. Procedure: Cut the bamboo skewers to be a more manageable size to fit jars. Have children decorate the jars with scrapbook paper, ribbon, and cross stickers. When finished decorating, fill the jars with about an inch or two of liquid potpourri. Stick in the skewers or reeds. Group Learning Activity: Happy Hopping Purpose: To play a game similar to hopscotch using it as a way to think of ways to be thankful Say: In this week s lesson, you are learning about ways to show appreciation and honor to Jesus. You learned that a special dinner was held in Jesus honor by his friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus. They wanted to thank Jesus for the ways that he had helped their family. Mary also served and honored Jesus in a special way. She washed his feet with her hair and then poured expensive perfume on them. Mary is a good example to us of ways to serve and honor Jesus. Procedure: Tell the children that today s game is played like hopscotch. They will take turns throwing the bean bag marker on the hopscotch squares and then hopping and telling something from the lesson. For example: the first child tosses the marker onto the first square. Then he hops over that square to the next one, and continues hopping to the end and back. (The child puts both feet down on the two adjacent squares, #3 and #4.) The child hops back and stops at the second square, picks up the marker, and jumps over the first square and off the game space. To finish a turn, the children will pick up the marker and do one of the following: Square 1: Tell one way Mary showed her appreciation for Jesus. Square 2: Tell one way you can show your appreciation for Jesus. Square 3: Say the Scripture Memory Verse. (But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57) Square 4: Tell one thing from the Bible Story that you remember. Square 5: FREE! Square 6: Tell one way you can show appreciation for Jesus. Play continues until all the children have had a chance to toss the marker on all six squares. After all the children have completed Square 1, then they begin Square 2. Continue this way until all the children have completed all six squares. Encourage the children to help each other think of ideas. Craft Learning Activity: Scented Play Dough (Grades K-6) Preparation: You will need play dough (recipe below); measuring utensils, bowl, waxed paper, air tight plastic container. Say: "What did Mary do in this lesson to show her love for Jesus? (She poured expensive perfume on Jesus' feet.) "Why did Mary give such a special gift to Jesus?" (She gave the gift because she loved Him.) Read memory verse aloud. "When we think about Jesus' great love for us, we want to show love to Him. Today we are going to make some play dough. It will be special because it will give off an aroma that is sweet smelling like the perfume Mary used." Procedure: Play Dough Recipe: One cup water, two cups salt, and two cups flour will make enough dough for six children. Children take turns measuring, mixing, and kneading the dough. Add more water or flour as needed for a desired consistency. Make a small hole in the ball of dough. Put a drop

7 7 of scented oil or flavor extract in the hole. Children take turns kneading the scented oil or extract into the dough. Have students form the dough into a small bowl or vase to represent Mary's bottle of anointing oil. Craft Learning Activity: Gift Boxes (Grades 3-6) Preparation: You will need a sheet of drawing paper for each student, colored marking pens, crayons, wrapping paper and ribbon and a small box. Say: "Today we are going to make a gift that we can give to our friends to help us tell them about the Gift of Eternal Life that Jesus has given to us." Procedure: Give children a sheet of drawing paper and ask them to draw a cross and a heart. Write "Gift of Everlasting Life that is free but cost Jesus His Life" above the drawing. Have children fold up the drawing and place it in a small gift box. Provide colorful wrapping paper and ribbon to wrap the gift. Encourage the children to use the gift as a way to share Jesus with others. Craft: Heart Buttons Preparation: You will need red craft foam, black markers, scissors, clear adhesive tape, and a safety pin for each student. Procedure: Give each child a piece of red foam approximately 5" square. Provide a heart template that children can draw around before cutting out their heart shape. Using a black marker have children write Give Jesus My Best on the heart. Tape a safety pin to the back of the heart so students can wear the heart as a button. Give Jesus My Best Life Application Challenge: Prayer Stickers Preparation: Print the slogan sticker page below on self-adhesive paper. Provide several copies for your class. Cut the slogans apart. Say: "In our lesson we have learned that Jesus wants us to give Him our best. Choose one of the stickers and write a prayer request for yourself and/or others asking Jesus to help you give a good gift of service to Him." Procedure: Let student choose one or more of the stickers to put on a sheet of writing paper. Have students write a prayer to Jesus about one of their needs or concerns. Close the lesson with students sharing their prayer aloud.

8 8 Mary Anoints Jesus 1 John 4:9,10 "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

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