ZACCHAEUS - DAY 5 ELEMENTARY BIBLE LESSON LESSON TITLE ...
ZACCHAEUS - DAY 5 ELEMENTARY BIBLE LESSON LESSON TITLE: reviveKIDS leader will name lesson LESSON OVERVIEW: To teach children about Zacchaeus and the effort that he gave to see Jesus, and his response once he met Jesus. BIBLE STORY: Zacchaeus ‐ Luke 19:1‐10 MEMORY VERSE: Luke 19:6 “So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.” TEACHING OBJECTIVE: T o inspire the children to push past obstacles to see Jesus and to obey at once and gladly. SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THE LESSON ● Part 1: The Gathering: Colored masking tape ● Part 2: Bible Lesson Leader: Pictures of a sycamore tree, pictures of the clothing that Zacchaeus would have worn and optional: costume for Zacchaeus ● Part 3: Memory Verse Activity: large dry erase white board and dry erase markers ● Part 4: Game Leader: If possible bring a sycamore seed ball, or bring pictures of sycamore seed balls and sycamore trees. Have wristbands and Bibles for the entire class and a phone with camera. ● Part 5: Small Group Time: A copy of small group questions for each small group of 7 ‐ 10 kids.
ZACCHAEUS
ELEMENTARY LESSON
PART 1: THE GATHERING (10 minutes) INTRODUCTION TO THE LESSON: Game – “Can You See Me?” SUPPLIES: Six helpers or volunteers, colored masking tape. PREPARE: Use tape to create either a half or full circle with a four foot radius. Be prepared to lead kids in this game. Have a helper, “Jesus” stand or sit in the center of the room with the full circle, or at the head of the room with the half circle. Have five to six helpers or tall children stand in a circle around “Jesus” so that you cannot see the person in the center. Have them stand in the center or front of the room with an area of at least four feet taped off around them. Have the children stand around outside the taped area. Tell the children to try and make eye contact with the person in the center. (This could get loud with children jumping around, but it will help the illustration.) Once the children have tried to get the attention of “Jesus” for a few minutes, sit everyone down and ask them: 1. Was it difficult or easy to see the person in the center? 2. Why was it difficult to get their attention? 3. If there had been a prize offered for the person who got the attention of the center person, would you have tried harder? 4. Is there anything in this room that you could have used to win? 2
ZACCHAEUS
ELEMENTARY LESSON
PART 2: BIBLE LESSON (25 minutes) BIBLE LESSON TEXT: Luke 19:1‐10 SUPPLIES: Pictures of a sycamore tree, pictures of the clothing that Zacchaeus would have worn. PREPARE: If you have access to a Bible costume, you can have a guy wear the costume with shorts underneath. INTRODUCTION TO LESSON: Show the children the pictures of the sycamore tree and the clothes that Zacchaeus would have worn. If you have a person in the costume, demonstrate how difficult it would be to climb up something with this on. BIBLE LESSON: Zacchaeus was a short man who lived in the town of Jericho in Israel. We are not sure how short he was, but he was short enough that the Bible points it out. He was also a tax collector. In the days of Jesus a tax collector was not usually a very good person. The Jewish people did not like tax collectors because they were Jews who worked for Rome collecting taxes from the Jewish people, and the Jewish people did not like Rome or paying extra taxes. A tax collector was like a traitor. Quite often, a tax collector would charge the people extra tax money than was required by Rome, and they would keep the money. Tax collectors were not honest. Zacchaeus was no ordinary tax collector, he was a chief collector which meant he may have been in charge of other tax collectors or in charge of a region and not just a city. Not only was he the chief collector, he was a wealthy man. His wealth was from being dishonest and stealing money from the Jews through taxation. On this one day, Jesus entered Jericho and Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was. He wanted to see him so much that he climbed a tree to see Jesus. In the days of Jesus, men wore tunics which were somewhat like a dress. Think about how difficult it may have been to climb up a tree in this tunic. He was also a wealthy business man. It may have been very embarrassing for a man of his position to climb up a tree, but he didn’t care how hard it was or how silly it looked to climb that tree. He HAD to see Jesus. Jesus knew who Zacchaeus was before He ever met Him. Jesus knew his name and he knew all about him. Jesus knows your name too and He knows everything about you. When Jesus reached the tree that Zacchaeus was in, Jesus looked right at Zacchaeus and said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “Zacchaeus, I’m mad at you because I know what you’ve been doing.” Instead Jesus went to his house, something the other people in the crowd would not have done. They didn’t want to associate with Zacchaeus because he was a sinner. Jesus didn’t see Zacchaeus as a sinner, but instead saw him as someone who was desperate to see him. 3
ZACCHAEUS
ELEMENTARY LESSON
If you had climbed a tree to see your favorite singer and they walked right up to you and knew your name and said, I’m coming to your house today, how would you feel? Would you be shocked that this great star knew who YOU were? How do you think Zacchaeus felt? Zacchaeus came right down from the tree and gladly welcomed Jesus to his house. Now remember that the Jewish people did not like tax collectors and they thought it was wrong of Jesus to go hang out at a bad guy’s house, but Jesus picked Zacchaeus out of the crowd, the bad guy, to go to his house. Jesus wanted to go to Zacchaeus’s house because He came to seek and save that which was lost. We are doing the same thing when we go out and pray for people, give wristbands and share the gospel. The thing that was special about Zacchaeus was that he did whatever he had to do to see Jesus. I want you to bow your head, close your eyes and thing about this question ‐ what would you do so that you can see/know Jesus more? Give kids time to wait and hear from God and then allow them to answer. Talk about how the kids can actually do these things so that they can know God more. Zacchaeus knew that he did things that were wrong. We call that sin. Sin is anything that we think, say or do that displeases God. What do you think some of the things that kids your age may do that is sin? (lying, disobeying, being unkind, etc.) Let’s bow our head and close our eyes and ask God to show us the sin in our life. Give kids time to pray and ask God to show them what they are doing in their life that displeases Him. Allow kids to answer out loud if they are willing. Zacchaeus then declared that he would give half of all he had to the poor; remember he was wealthy. He also said that if he had cheated anyone, that he would pay them back four times the amount. The other thing that Zacchaeus did was to totally change his ways once he met Jesus. He used to cheat people to become rich. Being rich was no longer important to him. Now he wanted to make right the bad things he had done. I am going to ask you to bow your head and close your eyes one more time and this time, ask God what He wants you to do to make right the things that you did that were wrong. Allow kids time to hear from the Lord and ask them to raise their hand when they hear from the Lord. Boys and girls, we don’t need to climb a tree now to see Jesus, but He does want us to want Him as much as Zacchaeus did. There were obstacles in Zacchaeus’s way. What were those obstacles? (let the children name some. People, crowds, his job made him unacceptable and unwelcome) Sometimes there are obstacles in our way to Jesus. (Ask them what some might be. Examples: friends who don’t like Jesus, too busy with all our school, sports and activities, too many distractions such as TV, movies, electronic devices and friends.) We need to remember how Zacchaeus did whatever he could to get to see Jesus. We should do whatever we can so we can spend time with Jesus, praying to Him, singing and praising Him and learning about Him. 4
ZACCHAEUS
ELEMENTARY LESSON
Once we know Jesus we should no longer want to do the bad things we did before we knew Jesus. Once he met Jesus, Zacchaeus’s actions showed that he had changed. (Ask the children how did he show that he had changed?) We too should now act differently. Zacchaeus was a bad man, a sinner, but he was desperate to see Jesus, so Jesus saved him and changed his heart. Jesus wants to save all those who don’t know him and change their hearts too. (As the Holy Spirit leads you ‐ at this time, you can ask if any of the children want to know Jesus like Zacchaeus and have their hearts changed too.) EXTRA ACTIVITY: Zacchaeus Obstacle Course This is an obstacle course race. Break the class into teams of four to six children. Create an obstacle course using items in the room. Examples: 1. Chairs they have to crawl under. 2. Chairs they have to circle around. 3. Blocks or similar items that they have to zig zag through. 4. Low items that they have to hop over. 5. Something heavy they have to carry for a short distance. Have someone stand at the finish line representing Jesus. The first person on each team runs the obstacle course and runs to “Jesus.” Once they touch Jesus’s outstretched hands the second person on the team goes, and so on. Explain that sometimes to get to Jesus we have to get around obstacles, but our reward at the end is Jesus. 5
ZACCHAEUS
ELEMENTARY LESSON
PART 3: MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY/GAME (25 minutes) ‐ Word for Word Relay “So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.” Luke 19:6 SUPPLIES: large dry erase white board and dry erase markers PREPARATION: Place dry erase board at the front of the class. Divide the children into teams of twelve. You can also divide them into groups of six, four or three, depending on the size of the class. READ THE VERSE: read Luke 19:6 “So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.” EXPLAIN THE VERSE: Jesus had just looked up at Zacchaeus in the tree and told him to come down immediately and that he was going to come to Zacchaeus’s house. Our memory verse shows HOW Zacchaeus responded to what Jesus told him to do. This verse is important because it is our demonstration of how we are to respond to Jesus. We are to respond at once and gladly. Talk to the children about how they obey their parents. Give them examples and ask how they respond. Examples: 1. What do you do when your parents tell you to turn off the TV or computer or game system? Do you ever say, “Just a minute!” 2. When your parents tell you to come here, do they ever have to count 1, 2, 3, before you come? 3. Do you obey and come when your parents call, but stomp your feet on the way there? 4. Do you ever say the words, “NO,” “but Mooomm!” “Why?” or throw fits when your parents tell you to do something? Teachers feel free to use other examples from their own experiences as a parent or even as a child themselves. The instructor can also give personal examples of slow or disgruntled obedience and the consequences, or the bad feelings they had later. Zacchaeus responded to Jesus at once and gladly. That is how we are supposed to respond to our parents, because if we cannot respond to our parents at once and gladly, how will we respond to Jesus when He tells us to do something. If the children realize they have been responding incorrectly, give the opportunity for repentance and prayer. Discuss different scenarios and the correct response they should have based on this verse. 6
ZACCHAEUS
ELEMENTARY LESSON
Examples: 1. When you are told to turn off the TV or other electronic device, say your memory verse to yourself. Say, “Yes, Mom.” Then obey. It might be hard to turn something off when you are right in the middle, but you will feel so much better, when you obey quickly. SOMETIMES you can ask permission to finish what you were doing, if you were in the middle of something, but if your parent says, “No.” turn it off at once and don’t pout. 2. Go home and tell your Mom that she doesn’t have to count to three anymore. Tell her you want to learn to come at once. If your Mom ever has to count to three, tell her you are sorry and try to do better next time. 3. Jesus does not want to see us stomp our feet when we are mad and He does not want to see us throw fits when we are told to do something, or told that we CAN”T do something. He is looking for the Zacchaeus in each of us. He is wanting us to obey at once and gladly. LEARN THE VERSE: Word for Word Relay (this activity is great for older children who can write. If you are using it for younger children you can write the words at the top of the white board in the incorrect order, but just for spelling reference.) Form teams for a relay race where each team member has to run up to the whiteboard and write one word of the memory verse (in the correct order) until the entire verse is written. The word, Luke, and the scripture reference 19:6 each count as one word. Including the scripture reference you will need twelve students per team. If you use six per team, they will go twice. If you use four per team, they will go three times. If you use three per team, they will go four times. The smaller the teams, the better they might memorize the verse since they will go to the board multiple times. If time permits, you can do multiple rounds with different instructions such as, “hop to the white board,” or “go to the whiteboard holding both ankles.” This game can be played multiple times. Make sure you change the order of the children each time so they have to write a different word each time. Different instructions: 1. Hopping on one foot 2. Jump like a bunny 3. Go forward with giant steps 4. Dance to the board 5. Use your arms like you are swimming to the board 6. Skip to the board 7. Crawl to the board EXTRA ACTIVITY: Not needed 7
ZACCHAEUS
ELEMENTARY LESSON
PART 4: GAMES (25 minutes) ‐ “From Small Seeds, Grow Great Trees” Supplies: If possible bring a sycamore seed ball, or bring pictures of sycamore seed balls and sycamore trees. Have wristbands and Bibles for the entire class and a phone with camera. Preparation: The Sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbed started from a seed. If you look at a sycamore seed ball, it is a ball the size of an egg yolk, (smaller than a golf ball). That one seed ball contains hundreds of seeds. Each tree grows many balls. The seeds are very small, but when planted they grow to be giant trees; some sycamore trees can be up to 150 feet tall. That is as tall as a fifteen story building. This activity illustrates to the children how sharing the gospel starts with one little seed, them, and grows into a great tree, the entire class. Instructions: Have the teacher stand at the front of the class and have two children come up to the front. Make sure that all of the children have received a wristband during The Gathering. Then have four children come up to the front. Have the first two students each give two students a wristband and go through the first tab. Once they have gone through the tab, then have them sit down right where they are. Call up eight more children. Then have the four standing children turn and give a wristband to two children and share the black tab. Once they are done sharing, have them sit down right where they are. Now call up sixteen children. Have the eight children each share with two children. Have them give a wristband and go through the yellow tab. Once they have shared, have them sit down right where they are. Call up thirty two children. Continue the pattern until you are out of children. Once every student has a wrist band and is sitting down, take a picture with your phone and show the class. Point out how all of them look like a giant tree and how it all started with one person, one little seed. See how it grew. This is how the gospel spreads and how small seeds, grow great trees. This can be done multiple times so that each person gets to share each different color on the wrist band. It gives the children practice going through the colors and sharing the scriptures. 8
ZACCHAEUS
ELEMENTARY LESSON
PART 5: SMALL GROUP TIME 1. Describe Zacchaeus’s appearance and job. (He was short and a chief tax collector.) 2. What did Zacchaeus do when Jesus entered Jericho? (He climbed a tree so that he could see Jesus.) 3. What would you do if you heard Jesus was coming to your town? 4. You don’t have to wait for Jesus to come to town and you don’t have to climb a tree. How should you try to see and talk to Jesus? 5. What did Jesus do when He came to the tree that Zacchaeus was in? (Stopped, looked up and said “Zacchaeus come down here immediately, I must stay at your house today.”) 6. What did Zacchaeus do when Jesus said, come down immediately? (He came down at once.) 7. Do you obey Jesus immediately and at once? 8. After meeting Jesus what did Zacchaeus do? (Gave half of his possessions to the poor, and paid back those he had cheated four times the amount.) 9. Is there anyone or anything that you feel that you need to make right? 10. How can we pray for you to be a seeker of Jesus like Zacchaeus? 11. Is there anyone you know that needs to seek Jesus? Spend time asking for prayer needs in your small group and allow the kids opportunity to pray for one another.
9
