Last Words of Jesus Lesson Plan

Game Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Wheel of Faith Game focusing on things Jesus said.

Memory Verse: “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’”  (Luke 23:34)

Supply List:

• Wheel of Faith Wheel (see this post on ideas for making/buying Wheel of Fortune style spinners).
  • or use a laptop and this online Spinning Wheel the students can spin, it also has the advantage of allowing you to edit it to read the points you want, as I did with the photo shown below.
• Dry erase board
• Dry erase markers
• Dry erase wipes
• Bibles

Lesson Plan

Opening:

Greet the children and introduce yourself.

Open with a prayer.

Dig:

The day that Jesus was crucified, nailed to the cross and died for our sins was one of the most important days in all of human history.  It has been remembered for generations and is called Good Friday, a Christian holiday, during Holy Week, in which Christians reflect on what happened the day Jesus died.

For Jesus’ family and disciples, to have experienced this first Good Friday first hand, wouldn’t have been considered a good day at all.  It had to have been a horrible day to see Jesus betrayed, in the middle of the night, to watch him in the early morning stand on trial before Pontius Pilate as the crowds cried out that he should be crucified. Then he was beaten by Roman soldiers.  He was whipped.  Stripped of his clothes.  Spit upon.  A crown of thorns was placed upon his head.  Then the soldiers forced him to carry the heavy wooden crossbar through the streets of Jerusalem, up to the hill outside of the city, called Golgotha, which means “the place of the skull.”  There, they nailed him to the cross and left him there to die, between two thieves, as Roman soldiers stood guard.

As Jesus hung on the cross, he spoke seven different times.  Sometimes he addressed the soldiers and the crowd who mocked him. He spoke to one of the dying thieves.  Once he addressed his mother and one of his disciples.  The rest of the time, Jesus directed his final words to God, his Heavenly Father.  These last words were recorded and written down by the writers of the four Gospels.  They were considered very important words, and have been shared by Jesus’ followers in the Church for generations.  Today, we will explore these last sayings of Jesus as we think about his suffering on the cross.  But more importantly, as we think about the day Jesus suffered and died, we thank God that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and that three days later he rose again from the grave.  It is this gift of love and victory over death that makes Good Friday so good for all of us today.

Then say, Today we are going to discover the last words that Jesus spoke from the cross by playing “Wheel of Faith” which kind of resembles the “Wheel of Fortune” game on TV.

Wheel of Faith Game:

1. Divide the kids into two teams.
2. Have kids from each team take turns spinning the wheel to solve the puzzles (see list of Wheel of Faith Puzzles below).
   • for each puzzle draw a line, for each letter, leaving a space between words, on a dry erase board.
     Example:
     

     __   __ __    __ __ __ __ __ __ __.

     I     a m     t  h  i  r  s  t  y.

   • on the spinning wheel can be points, such as: 5, 10, 25, 100, lose a turn, etc.
   • first they spin, then guess a letter, if they guess correctly, they receive that many points, if there for example are 3 E-letters, then they would get 3 x points they spun.
   • they can play until they get one wrong or lose a turn, then the play goes to the other team.
   • at anytime they can guess what the full puzzle is, but will lose a turn if they get it wrong.
3. Take a moment, after each puzzle is solved, to put the saying of Jesus in context. What was happening that caused Jesus to say this?
4. Recruit a volunteer to keep score and announce the scores between puzzles to drive up enthusiasm.
5. If kids struggle in solving the puzzles, give them freebie letters from time to time as helpful hints.  Try to have kids solve as many puzzles as time allows, but allow time at the end of the session for review questions.

Wheel of Faith Puzzles:

1. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.  (Luke 23:34)
2. Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.  (Luke 23:43)
3. Woman, here is your son.  Here is your mother.  (John 19:26)
4. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34)
5. I am thirsty.  (John 19:28)
6. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.  (Luke 23:46)
7. It is finished.  (John 19:30)
8. The following puzzles are taken from the Apostles Creed:
   1. He suffered under Pontius Pilate
   2. He was crucified, dead and buried
   3. The third day he rose again from the dead

Ask

• What do you think it was like to stand at the foot of Jesus’ cross, as he suffered, and to hear him say these things?  Would you have been sad?  Why? How do you think the other criminals crucified with him reacted? (see Luke 23:39-43) How about the Roman soldiers who nailed him to the cross and stood guard? (see Matthew 27:54)
• Why do you think the writers of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John recorded these last words of Jesus from the cross?
• If you had last words that you could speak to your family, friends and God, what would they be?
• Who stayed by Jesus’ side when Jesus suffered and died on the cross? (Mary, his mother; John, his disciple and best friend; Mary Magdalene)  Who do you want to be by your side when you’re hurting?
• Why do you think Jesus forgave the soldiers who nailed him to the cross?  Why do you think he forgives us today?

Reflection:

Have the class recite this month’s memory verse together and close with prayer, thanking God for Jesus’ great love for us that led him to die on the cross for our sins.

A lesson written by Rev. Ron Shifley from Scotland United Church of Christ
Scotland, SD

More detailed game instructions added by Rotation.org Tech Team along with a sample wheel photo.

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.