Jesus, the honest teacher
Children's Activity
Object:
This week's lesson is a tough one. It's got a lot of very heavy stuff in it. "Nation will rise against nation ..." (v. 10). "There will be great earthquakes, and various places famines and plagues ..." (v. 11). "They will arrest you and persecute you ..." (v. 12). "You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers ... they will put some of you to death" (v. 16). "You will be hated by all because of my name" (v. 17).
All these words are hard to hear. They were probably hard for Jesus to say. He knew how difficult following him could be. It's still true today: there are some places in our world where people are disowned, abused, jailed and killed because of their belief in Jesus Christ. The same hatred that killed Jesus nearly 2,000 years ago is still around. Jesus knew that that hatred would be around for a long time, and he wanted people to understand that following him can have a price.
Jesus was an honest teacher. He had to let people know what was coming. Even though his message was a message of love, he knew that not everyone would accept it. Just as a loving doctor sometimes has to give bad news to a patient, Jesus absolutely had to tell the whole story. There's no easy way to share these painful realities with children. We cannot protect them, though. There is evil in our world. There are bad things that happen, even to very good people.
By being so painfully honest, Jesus sets before us an example of how to treat our children. His example is that of an honest but deeply compassionate teacher. He guides people into understanding difficult things, but he comforts them with the knowledge that God's love is still more powerful than any evil. No matter how horrible things are, God is still at the helm and he is still in control.
All these words are hard to hear. They were probably hard for Jesus to say. He knew how difficult following him could be. It's still true today: there are some places in our world where people are disowned, abused, jailed and killed because of their belief in Jesus Christ. The same hatred that killed Jesus nearly 2,000 years ago is still around. Jesus knew that that hatred would be around for a long time, and he wanted people to understand that following him can have a price.
Jesus was an honest teacher. He had to let people know what was coming. Even though his message was a message of love, he knew that not everyone would accept it. Just as a loving doctor sometimes has to give bad news to a patient, Jesus absolutely had to tell the whole story. There's no easy way to share these painful realities with children. We cannot protect them, though. There is evil in our world. There are bad things that happen, even to very good people.
By being so painfully honest, Jesus sets before us an example of how to treat our children. His example is that of an honest but deeply compassionate teacher. He guides people into understanding difficult things, but he comforts them with the knowledge that God's love is still more powerful than any evil. No matter how horrible things are, God is still at the helm and he is still in control.
