The End?
Children's sermon
Object: A box of Kleenex?
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!
Today is the day we call Good Friday, and it is the day that Jesus died. What happened on Good Friday is the story I want to tell you about. It is a short story, but it is also a very sad story. (Show the Kleenex.) It is so sad that I brought a box of Kleenex with me in case we need it. Let’s hear our story together.
It all started on Thursday night when Jesus and his friends were in the garden and the people came to take Jesus away. There were too many of them and they had weapons with them, so Jesus’ friends were not able to stop them. I’ll bet that was scary for Jesus and his friends, don’t you? (Let them respond.)
Jesus’ friends couldn’t stop them from taking him, but some of them did try to follow them to see where they were going. They still wanted to help Jesus but were still really afraid, so when someone recognized them, they said they didn’t even know Jesus. Two more people recognized them, but each time they lied and said they had never even met Jesus. They just really have been afraid, don’t you think? (Let them respond.)
The people took Jesus to see the High Priest, who was one of the religious leaders from the temple who did not like Jesus at all. But the High Priest knew that the Governor was the only person who could put Jesus in jail, or do something else to make him go away, so he told them to take him to see Governor Pilate and tell him a bunch of lies to make him think that Jesus was really a bad guy and really dangerous. They took Jesus to see Pilate and told him their lies about Jesus. But Pilate told them he didn’t think Jesus was all that bad, and that he wanted to set him free. When they heard what Pilate wanted to do, the people started shouting and arguing with him. Pilate wasn’t sure what to do, but then someone said Jesus was from the land of Galilee, and Herod was the Roman leader in charge of Galilee, so he told them to take Jesus to see Herod and let him decide what to do with Jesus. It was the middle of the night when they got to Herod’s house, but Herod had heard about Jesus before and was even kind of excited to get to meet him. When the people told Herod the lies they had told Pilate about Jesus, he started making fun of Jesus but just told them to take him back to Pilate and let him decide what to do with him. So now a bunch of Herod’s Roman soldiers grabbed Jesus and helped them take Jesus back to see Pilate. The Roman soldiers did not like Jesus at all, so they treated him badly, pushing and kicking him, and laughing at him, and calling him a king. When they got back to Pilate, he still wanted to set Jesus free, but the people shouted that they wanted Jesus taken away and killed. They argued for a while, but Pilate finally agreed and told the soldiers to take him to the big Roman fortress and then take him to be killed on a cross. This really is a sad story, isn’t it? (Let them respond.)
While the soldiers had Jesus at the fortress, they tied him up, they beat him, and they even played a game hitting him with whips. Finally, they made a crown out of a bunch of thorns, pushed it down on top of Jesus’ head, and made him walk through town so everyone could make fun of him and throw things at him before he was killed.
When they got to the place called Golgotha, it was early in the morning. The soldiers laid a big cross on the ground and nailed Jesus’ hands and feet to it. Then they lifted the cross up and dropped it into a hole in the ground to hold it up and left him to hang there. They still laughed at him and made fun of him. They left Jesus hanging on the cross all day, and when the sun got hot and Jesus said he was thirsty they gave him a sponge with some nasty-tasting vinegar on it. They knew how bad it tasted, so they all laughed at him when he drank it.
It is really a sad story, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) But Jesus never complained and never became angry or mean to the soldiers who were treating him so badly. So as the soldiers watched Jesus dying on the cross, some of them began to beat their breasts, like this. (Beat your breasts with both hands.) That was something people did when they felt sorry about something they had done. So even some of the soldiers realized what they were doing was wrong, but there wasn’t anything they could do about it now. It was too late. So, they just watched.
And Jesus’ friends had followed them to Golgotha, too, and were standing way back in the crowd watching Jesus die. And Jesus’ mother was with them, so she was watching him, too. They were all there watching when Jesus opened his eyes and said, “It is finished.” And they all watched as Jesus died.
It was starting to get dark when Jesus died, and the law said you could not bury a man after sundown on Friday. So, Jesus’ friends found an empty tomb, and the soldiers let them take Jesus’ body and put it inside, and then the soldiers made them leave. Jesus’ friends would have to come back on Sunday to finish burying him.
Now, I have a question for you. Since Jesus’ friends had to wait until Sunday to bury him, how do you think they felt all day Saturday after everything that had happened? (Let them respond.) I’ll bet they felt really sad, don’t you? (Let them respond.) And I’ll bet they were kind of afraid, too, wondering if the soldiers would come and get them next. If I was there, I would probably want to run away and hide somewhere in case that happened.
Sometimes we feel kind of like that don’t we? (Let them respond.) Sometimes things happen that make us really said, or really scare us, and we just want to go away and hide somewhere to be safe, just like Jesus’ friends did. I think we all feel like that sometimes, don’t we? (Let them respond.)
But if we ever do feel like that, I hope we will remember our sad story about Good Friday and then remember the amazing thing that happened on Sunday morning. I hope we will remember that just when Jesus’ friends believed they had failed and everything was over, God changed everything and told them to keep doing what Jesus wanted them to do.
I hope our story will help remind us that, no matter what happens, Jesus wants us to keep taking care of each other and not just take care of ourselves.
Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!
Today is the day we call Good Friday, and it is the day that Jesus died. What happened on Good Friday is the story I want to tell you about. It is a short story, but it is also a very sad story. (Show the Kleenex.) It is so sad that I brought a box of Kleenex with me in case we need it. Let’s hear our story together.
It all started on Thursday night when Jesus and his friends were in the garden and the people came to take Jesus away. There were too many of them and they had weapons with them, so Jesus’ friends were not able to stop them. I’ll bet that was scary for Jesus and his friends, don’t you? (Let them respond.)
Jesus’ friends couldn’t stop them from taking him, but some of them did try to follow them to see where they were going. They still wanted to help Jesus but were still really afraid, so when someone recognized them, they said they didn’t even know Jesus. Two more people recognized them, but each time they lied and said they had never even met Jesus. They just really have been afraid, don’t you think? (Let them respond.)
The people took Jesus to see the High Priest, who was one of the religious leaders from the temple who did not like Jesus at all. But the High Priest knew that the Governor was the only person who could put Jesus in jail, or do something else to make him go away, so he told them to take him to see Governor Pilate and tell him a bunch of lies to make him think that Jesus was really a bad guy and really dangerous. They took Jesus to see Pilate and told him their lies about Jesus. But Pilate told them he didn’t think Jesus was all that bad, and that he wanted to set him free. When they heard what Pilate wanted to do, the people started shouting and arguing with him. Pilate wasn’t sure what to do, but then someone said Jesus was from the land of Galilee, and Herod was the Roman leader in charge of Galilee, so he told them to take Jesus to see Herod and let him decide what to do with Jesus. It was the middle of the night when they got to Herod’s house, but Herod had heard about Jesus before and was even kind of excited to get to meet him. When the people told Herod the lies they had told Pilate about Jesus, he started making fun of Jesus but just told them to take him back to Pilate and let him decide what to do with him. So now a bunch of Herod’s Roman soldiers grabbed Jesus and helped them take Jesus back to see Pilate. The Roman soldiers did not like Jesus at all, so they treated him badly, pushing and kicking him, and laughing at him, and calling him a king. When they got back to Pilate, he still wanted to set Jesus free, but the people shouted that they wanted Jesus taken away and killed. They argued for a while, but Pilate finally agreed and told the soldiers to take him to the big Roman fortress and then take him to be killed on a cross. This really is a sad story, isn’t it? (Let them respond.)
While the soldiers had Jesus at the fortress, they tied him up, they beat him, and they even played a game hitting him with whips. Finally, they made a crown out of a bunch of thorns, pushed it down on top of Jesus’ head, and made him walk through town so everyone could make fun of him and throw things at him before he was killed.
When they got to the place called Golgotha, it was early in the morning. The soldiers laid a big cross on the ground and nailed Jesus’ hands and feet to it. Then they lifted the cross up and dropped it into a hole in the ground to hold it up and left him to hang there. They still laughed at him and made fun of him. They left Jesus hanging on the cross all day, and when the sun got hot and Jesus said he was thirsty they gave him a sponge with some nasty-tasting vinegar on it. They knew how bad it tasted, so they all laughed at him when he drank it.
It is really a sad story, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) But Jesus never complained and never became angry or mean to the soldiers who were treating him so badly. So as the soldiers watched Jesus dying on the cross, some of them began to beat their breasts, like this. (Beat your breasts with both hands.) That was something people did when they felt sorry about something they had done. So even some of the soldiers realized what they were doing was wrong, but there wasn’t anything they could do about it now. It was too late. So, they just watched.
And Jesus’ friends had followed them to Golgotha, too, and were standing way back in the crowd watching Jesus die. And Jesus’ mother was with them, so she was watching him, too. They were all there watching when Jesus opened his eyes and said, “It is finished.” And they all watched as Jesus died.
It was starting to get dark when Jesus died, and the law said you could not bury a man after sundown on Friday. So, Jesus’ friends found an empty tomb, and the soldiers let them take Jesus’ body and put it inside, and then the soldiers made them leave. Jesus’ friends would have to come back on Sunday to finish burying him.
Now, I have a question for you. Since Jesus’ friends had to wait until Sunday to bury him, how do you think they felt all day Saturday after everything that had happened? (Let them respond.) I’ll bet they felt really sad, don’t you? (Let them respond.) And I’ll bet they were kind of afraid, too, wondering if the soldiers would come and get them next. If I was there, I would probably want to run away and hide somewhere in case that happened.
Sometimes we feel kind of like that don’t we? (Let them respond.) Sometimes things happen that make us really said, or really scare us, and we just want to go away and hide somewhere to be safe, just like Jesus’ friends did. I think we all feel like that sometimes, don’t we? (Let them respond.)
But if we ever do feel like that, I hope we will remember our sad story about Good Friday and then remember the amazing thing that happened on Sunday morning. I hope we will remember that just when Jesus’ friends believed they had failed and everything was over, God changed everything and told them to keep doing what Jesus wanted them to do.
I hope our story will help remind us that, no matter what happens, Jesus wants us to keep taking care of each other and not just take care of ourselves.
Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
