Trial and Crucifixion

Bible Skills and Games Workshop Lesson

Summary:

Children will play a ping-pong ball "Egg Carton Toss" game to review details of the story and reinforce them. They will conclude by creating a ping-pong ball message they can take home.

Scripture Reference:
John 19:1-30, the Trial and Death of Jesus

Leader Preparation:

• Review the scripture and game rules
• Gather the Materials
• Print the abbreviated retelling of the story or find the story in a Bible storybook.
  Note: You will need to adjust the story questions found below in this lesson if you are using the abbreviated retelling or a storybook Bible. Otherwise the story questions found below are drawn from the story in John 14: 1-2, and 14-30.
• Prepare the egg carton:
  · Take a clean, empty egg carton (Or two), leaving the 12 compartments and lid intact
  · With a marker, number the bottom of each of the 12 compartments (Doesn’t matter what order they are in or if you choose 2,4,6,8 or 5,10,15,20 – more than one compartment can have the same number) Number the lid with the lowest value.
  · Place the egg carton (Or 2) in the middle of the room – on the floor or a bench
  · Mark the floor with masking tape – 3 foot away from the carton on all sides. (If this is way too easy for them, increase the distance.)  Optionally, you can create two sets of lines, one 3 feet and another 5 feet away and award more points to those throwing from the 5 foot line.

For non-readers and very young students: Pick a storybook version of the story of Jesus' death and adjust your quiz questions to match how the storybook told/phrased the story.  You may also want to use small bean-bags instead of ping-pong balls (like a "hacky-sack" that won't bounce).

Materials List:

• An egg carton with the holes numbered from 1 to 12.
• 1 ping-pong ball per student
• Paper/pen (optional)
• Permanent marker with fine point (for marking their ping-pong ball)
• Bibles or Storybook or Copy of the abbreviated retelling of Jesus' arrest, trial, and crucifixion (attached)
• Masking tape
• Scoreboard/flipcart/chalkboard

Lesson Plan

Opening:

Welcome the children and explain what they'll be doing today and what you hope they will learn.

Open with a prayer.

Read and Study:

Tell the students that they are to listen carefully and take notes if they like, because after the story is read they're going to play a memory game with the carton and ping-pong balls to see how much of the story they remember!

Read John 19:1-30, the story of the Death of Jesus. Use a storybook or shortened version if needed. This link goes to a shortened version of the Arrest, Trial, and Crucifixion story prepared for another lesson here at Rotation.org.

Play the Review Game:

• Divide into 2 teams (More if you want).
• Each team appoints a captain who is the only one who can "officially" answer the question.
• Give the team 10 seconds to decide how their captain should answer the question.
• Answer the Bible story question correctly to win 10 points. Then the team members get to toss their ping-pong balls into the carton to earn BONUS points for each question!
• Award 10 points for a correct answer PLUS whatever the numbers add up to that their ping pong balls land in.
  Wrong answer – no points – no tosses – and play goes to the next team
• Tossing the ping-pong balls: Have all children on the team stand behind the tape line. Each child has 1 ball. On the "count of three" all the team members toss their balls into the egg carton. If they toss all at the same time, they might knock the other balls out. They need to learn teamwork. When all the balls are tossed, add up the score and have the students retrieve their ping pong ball.
  
  
• Go to the next team, and have them answer a Bible trivia question. And repeat the tossing process.
• Winner goes to the team with the highest score.
• Adjust the answering and tossing process to suit the needs of your students.

Here are the Bible Trivia Questions from the Bible Study on John 19:1-2 and 14-30. (The original writer of this lesson didn't include questions about verses 3 through 13 in order to speed up the game and focus the story. If you are using the abbreviated version or a storybook Bible you will need to come up with your own questions that match the source you are using).

As usual, every question and answer is an opportunity to add insight and ask a question! Pick your spots.

1. What book of the Bible is our text located in? (John)
2. Is the book of John in the Old or New Testament? (New – Jesus is in the New)
3. What book of the Bible is before John? (Luke)
4. What book of the Bible is after John? (Acts)
5. There are 4 special Books at the beginning of the New Testament. John is one of them. What are they called altogether? (The Gospels)
6. Pilate whipped Jesus. Then a crown was placed on his head. What was the crown made of? (Thorns) John 19:1
7. Who placed the Crown of thorns on Jesus’ head? (Soldiers) John 19:2
8. The soldiers placed a cloak around Jesus. What was the robe’s color? (Purple) John 19:2
9. What did the crowd of Jews yell to Pilate when he said, ‘Here is your King!” (Away with him – Crucify him) John 19:14
10. What time of the day was Jesus turned over to be crucified? (The 6th hour – about 12 noon on the day before the Passover) John 19:14
11. Jesus was taken out of the city, carrying his cross to the place where he would be killed. What was this place called? (The Skull– Golgotha – Calvary) John 19:17
12. We know Jesus was not the only one that they crucified. How many more people were killed at the same time as Jesus? (Two) John 19:18
13. When Jesus and the other two criminals were hanging on the cross, where was Jesus positioned? Right, Left, or Center of the two criminals? (could draw 3 crosses on the chalkboard and ask where was Jesus positioned?) (Center – in the middle) John 19:18
14. Pilate hung a sign over Jesus. What did the sign say? (Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews) John 19:19
15. Pilate wanted to make sure lots of people read the sign. How many languages was it written in? (3 – Hebrew, Latin, and Greek) John 19:20
16. When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they put his garments in 4 piles. Who were the clothes for? (The 4 soldiers – divided among the soldiers) John 19:23
17. Jesus also had a robe. The soldiers didn’t want to tear it and divide it between them. How did they decide who was going to get the robe? (They gambled for it – they threw dice to see who would get it – they cast lots) John 19:24
18. Who stood at the foot of the cross beside Jesus? (John and 3 Marys – Mother Mary – Jesus’ aunt, Mary, the wife of Cleopas – Mary Magdalene) John 19:25
19. What instruction did Jesus give to John about Jesus’ mother? (Jesus’ mother was to be treated like John’s mother – John was to take Jesus’ mother to his home and care for her like she was John’s own mother) John 19:27
20. When Jesus said he was thirsty, what happened? (Sour wine/vinegar was offered to him) John 19:29
21. Since Jesus was hanging on the cross and higher off the ground than everyone, how did they get the wine/vinegar up to his mouth? (On a branch/stick – on a hyssop branch and held up to his lips) John 19:29
22. After Jesus had tasted the wine/vinegar he bowed his head and said something. What did Jesus say? (It is finished) John 19:30
23. After Jesus bowed his head, he said these important words: (“It is finished” John 19:30)
    
    FOLLOW UP DISCUSSION:  "What" is finished?  What did Jesus accomplish by offering his life for the sins of the world?
24. Are we glad or sad that Jesus died for us? (???????? – maybe both – sad that he had to die to save us, sad that people are so sinful that they would kill goodness and their savior – but glad that he died to wash away all of our sins, instead of condemning us!)
25. Why did God send Jesus to us if he was just going to let the people of earth kill him? (God so loved the world that he gave his only son)

Ping Pong Ball Reflection:

Using the fine-tip permanent markers to write on their ping-pong ball, have students write a thank you to Jesus for the forgiveness he gave us on the cross. Discuss possible words, keywords they can FIT on the ping-pong ball that others would understand if you showed it to them. Add a cross. Close with prayer.

Important Tip: Show students how to hold the ball with two fingers while they write and NOT smudge the permanent ink while it is drying (takes about 20 to 30 seconds to dry).

A lesson originally written by Rachel Haugland at Bethel Lutheran
Story City, IA, and improved by members of the Rotation.org Content Team