Why Easter? Lesson plan for secondary age students Aim: To lead the students through the events and significance of Jesus death and resurrection which Christians celebrate at Easter. Resources: Prizes, water, plastic bottles, food colouring, bottle of clear bleach, A3 paper / big pens. Media resources (available to download on request.org.uk/teachers): - John: The Crucifixion - John: The Resurrection 1: Easter anagrams (5 minutes) Aim: to introduce the learning objectives for the lesson Make anagrams of the following words. All have Easter associations. Can the students work out what they are? Words: Bunny, Chick, Egg, Springtime, Chocolate, New Life, Holidays, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, pain, torture, death Go through the answers and reflect: Are any words surprising? Use as an introduction to the lesson aims: to look at what Christians remember at Easter and why they are so important in the Christian faith. 2: Two minute challenge (10 minutes optional if time allows) Aim: to establish and recall knowledge about Jesus life and ministry as a basis for learning about the importance of Easter Group activity. In two minutes, students write as many key words to do with Jesus life / ministry as they can. Take feedback and award prizes to the team with the most information / ideas. Link: Jesus life was significant and his teaching arguably changed the world. But Christians think of the events surrounding his death as equally significant that he came to die for a reason. But what makes his death so important?
3: The Big Easter Quiz (15 minutes) Aim: to provide an overview of the Easter story How much do students know about the Easter story? Use the ten questions to help unpack what happened during Holy Week. (See additional resources.) 4: What s so good about Good Friday? (15 minutes) Aim: To understand the theological significance of Good Friday and Jesus crucifixion to Christians. Watch John: The Crucifixion, available to download from request.org.uk/teachers. To help explain the problem of sin, you may like to run the food colouring illustration (see additional). Use Bible verses from Isaiah 53. 5: The Resurrection on Easter Sunday (15 minutes) Aim: To understand the theological significance of Easter Sunday and Jesus resurrection to Christians Watch John: the Resurrection, available to download from request.org.uk/teachers. Explain what makes the resurrection so important to Christians: It validates the claims that Jesus made about who he was and what he claims to do It gives a historical basis for faith It means Christians follow a leader who is alive 6: Final Easter Challenge (5-10 minutes / homework) Design a poster / slogan for Easter to go outside a church, to encourage people to come to church at Easter. Make sure it addresses the heart of why Easter is worth celebrating.
Additional resources Easter quiz 1. What is the first day of the week known as Holy Week? - Pancake Day - Ash Wednesday - Palm Sunday - Maundy Thursday 2. At the beginning of Holy Week, Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. According to the Bible, what did people do? - Throw confetti at him - Lay down their coats and branches in front of him - Throw rocks at him - Nothing nobody noticed Explain: This was a symbolic act. This was how the great kings of Israel were welcomed when they came to visit. There was a lot of expectation that Jesus was somebody special. The crowds knew the stories of what he d been doing miracles and teachings and were convinced he was sent by God, the one to save them from all their problems. 3. On the week that Jesus died, the Jews in the city were celebrating an important festival. What? - The Passover - Christmas - Valentine s Day - Yom Kippur Explain: Remember the story of Moses The Passover began with the Israelites miraculous rescue from Egypt. Every year, Jews would remember the God who rescued them from slavery and brought them into freedom. Bear this in mind it is important for the Easter story. 4. At the meal they ate bread. When Jesus gave it out he said it symbolised what? - God s provision - His body - Happy times together
Explain: Refer to Jesus odd words this is my body, broken for you. What would that mean? 5. They also drank wine. What did Jesus say this symbolised? - His blood - Good times - Sunny days Explain: Refer again to Jesus words this is my blood, shed for you. What might that mean? All this talk about death, at a time that was meant to be a party Was Jesus dropping hints that he knew what would shortly happen to him? 6. Late in the evening, after the meal, Jesus went off to a garden (Gethsemane). What happened there? - He prayed - He was betrayed by one of his best friends - He was arrested - All of the above 7. That night, some religious leaders took Jesus to see the Roman authorities. What did they charge him with? - Stirring up trouble and endangering the peace - Violent conduct - Stealing things from the Roman Empire - Being the Son of God Explain: The Jewish authorities pointed to the fact that Jesus taught about living by the rules of another kingdom, and honouring God more than Caeser. They said this was tantamount to revolution 8. During the trial, Jesus acquired a nickname. What was it? - Jesus Freak - King of the Jews - Messiah - Bible Basher 9. Pilate, the Roman Governor in charge, found Jesus to be:
- Innocent - Guilty Explain: Pilate actually admitted that he had heard nothing that deserved punishment, but he gave into pressure from a mob that had gathered outside. They seemed passionate about putting him to death, despite all the good things they had seen and heard. In the end, he told them it was their decision, washing his hands of the affair. 10. What happened to Jesus following the trial? - He was set free - He was put in prison for a few days - He was beaten with sticks - He was whipped and handed over to be crucified Explain: This was a popular sentence for the lowest of the low criminals the people who had done really bad things. It entailed whipping virtually to the point of death, then being nailed to a rough cross, raised up and left to die.
Food colouring illustration EQUIPMENT / RESOURCES NEEDED One glass jug filled with water. Red food colouring. One bottle of bleach (not lemon or colour-fast). Explain: Some people see Jesus death as a tragic end to a good man. But for Christians, it is more than that. Did you ever wonder why the day Jesus died is called Good Friday? After all, if it was just a matter of a tragic death, shouldn t we be sad on that day? What s so good about Good Friday? The answer of all places is found in a prophecy written about 600 years before Jesus was born [Read from Isaiah 53:4-6 in the Bible and then use this illustration to explain what it means.] Christians believe that Jesus died for a purpose, all linked to these themes of freedom and being saved. To understand what this purpose was, we need to take time to think about the world around us. [Take a bottle of clean water and pour it into a little bottle] The Bible says that God made people in his own image, and when he made them, they were good just like him. But all of us have got a big problem, called sin. What is sin? QUESTION: What are some of the things that people do that hurt other people? [Take some ideas from the students. Draw out some ideas such as lying, getting angry with people, saying hurtful things, being greedy, etc, if they are not mentioned.] This is sin, and sin basically ruins the perfect image of God in all of us. The Bible says that because of sin, we are all trapped in patterns of behaviour which hurt God and other people. Christians believe that the world is in a mess ultimately because as people, we are all somehow broken less than what God intended for us. [Add one or two drops of (preferably) red food colouring. You only need to add a small amount of colouring and the water should change quickly.] The Bible teaches that there are consequences to our sin: - We re cut off from God, whose standard is sinless perfection - We live in a world that is broken
But Christians believe that God wasn t happy with the situation. So he sent Jesus. [Show clear bleach in a bottle it should look like water] In the Christmas story, Jesus is named Immanuel. It points to Jesus as God, come to earth as a human being. He was like us, but perfect, never having sinned. Christians believe that he deliberately went to his death on the cross, and by doing that he took all of the bad stuff in the world all of its sin on himself. And the Bible says that by going through this awful death, he took what we ve done wrong away from us, making us like new. [Pour in the bleach and wait a bit it takes about a minute or two to turn clear again.] So for Christians, Good Friday is the day when good wins out. Jesus came to rescue people, not from the Romans as some people expected, but the ultimate enemy, sin, which cut people off from God and everything he wants for them. Because of Jesus death, all the bad stuff people have done has been forgiven. Christians believe that we can know God and start to live life his way again and see the world changed as a result. This is why, for Christians, Good Friday is a time to celebrate and say thank you.