Temptation of Jesus

Cooking Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Children will play three games with Oreo cookies to remind them of the three temptations.

Outcome Objectives

1. Children can name each of the three temptations offered to Jesus by Satan.
2. Children can describe the meaning of each temptation

Supplies Needed:

• Multiple bags of Oreo cookies
• Milk
• Paper plate or napkin, cups
• Baggies for taking the cookies home
• Permanent marker (for labeling bag)
• Paper Easel and markers (for leader)
• Paper and markers (for childrein)
• Bibles

Leader Preparation:

• Gather the materials.
• Read the scripture ahead of time.

NOTE: The second activity will be really messy. Leave ample time for everyone to pitch in and clean up. Since there is no actual cooking going on, you may find it easier to hold this in a location where there are no stoves and refrigerators for cookies to roll under.

Presentation

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Greet the children and introduce yourself.

Open with a prayer.

Read the Bible Story
List the three temptations in black

Fill out the three temptations paper
Column 1 – Lists the Bible verse where it occurs and the title
“Bread from Stone” (Luke 4:1-4)
“All this will be yours.” (Luke 4:5-8)
“The angels will catch you.” (Luke 4:9-12)

Read each section together from the Bible and have children write a few words or draw a picture that explains that part of the story. As you are reading together, remind them that there will be a quiz at the end, so listen carefully. You may want to have the quiz near you to make sure you are covering the questions that will be asked.

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:

Activity #1 – Tempt them with cookies
First temptation – loaves from rocks

Ask the children if they like Oreo cookies. Pass out napkins and tell them you are going to give them each a cookie, but they must do exactly as you say. Go through a guided imagery such as this:

First look at the dark cookie against the white plate. How does it make you feel to see a cookie there? Pick the cookie up and hold it in your hand. Do you feel like eating it? Turn the cookie over and look at the decorations on each side. Imagine how that dark chocolate cookie tastes. Now look at the creamy middle. Do you like to eat the middle first by twisting off the top? Imagine twisting apart those two sides and licking the middle. Or do you like to eat it all together? Maybe you like your cookies dipped in milk. Close your eyes and smell the cookie. Imagine how it will crunch in your mouth. Imagine how the how good it will taste. Will you eat it fast, or enjoy it nice and slow.

Now open your eyes. Put your cookie next to you on the plate.

Here are the rules. You cannot eat that cookie. You cannot eat that cookie or any other cookie during the whole class time unless I give you permission. I want you to keep your minds off of cookies and focus on the things we are teaching. Do you think you can do that?

Why am I doing this to you? Review Jesus’ first temptation. Do you think after 40 days of not eating anything Jesus was hungry? Do you think he wanted some bread? But he wouldn’t turn those stones to bread. What did he say to Satan? (We cannot live by bread alone) Do you remember what that means?

We should focus on Godly things, not earthly things. We have to think about what is good for our souls, not just what is good for our bodies. To remind us of this temptation to think of our bodies more than our souls, I am tempting you to eat an Oreo cookie instead of focusing on our Faith Odyssey lesson this morning. That means, you may be tempted, but you are not to eat any Oreo cookies during this lesson. No cookies, broken cookies, crumbs, nothing.

Fill in Column 2, row 1 the Oreo Cookie Experiement page – “Don’t eat the cookie” or draw a cookie and put a circle around and a slash across it

Activity #2 – A Greedy Cookie Grab
Second temptation: All the kingdoms of the world

Count out a pile of cookies in the middle of each group. Explain the rules:
1) You have one minute to grab all the cookies you can.
2) You can only use one hand, the other hand must stay behind your back.
3) You MAY take cookies from another player – in fact that’s what’s fun about this game. Messy is allowed.
4) You MAY NOT trap cookies with your arm or against your body – hands only.

At the end of one minute, count how many whole, unbroken cookies each child has. Throw out any that are broken or dropped on the floor.

Who got the most cookies? The least?
I gave you ___ cookies. How many would each of you have gotten if you had divided them up and shared, rather than playing the grabbing game?
If I had given ___ all the cookies and nothing to anyone else, how would all of you have felt? Ask ___: Would you have felt good if you got everything and saw that everyone else had nothing?

Fill in Column 2, row 2 of the Oreo Cookie Experiment page – “Grab all you can” or draw a gazillion cookies and you trying to grab them.

Activity #3 – A contest to build the tallest cookie tower
Third Temptation: The angels will catch you.

Divide the children into teams of about three, and give them each a bag of cookies. Explain that the team that builds the highest tower will get to divide up the cookies in their bag and take them home. Have them turn over their papers and flip over the paper easel so they can’t see it.

I will ask each team a question about the story. If you get it right, you can add 1, 3, or 5 cookies to your tower, or you can tell another team to add 1, 3 or 5 cookies to their tower.
1) You must take turns adding cookies – no fair having one “master builder” with a steady hand doing all the building.
2) You cannot touch the stack that is already built; only the new cookies you are adding.
3) As towers fall, children restart the building process on the ORIGINAL FOUNDATION – whatever is left after the fall.
4) If you are supposed to add 3 cookies, and the tower falls after the first cookie, your turn ends. You start rebuilding on your next turn.

Game Questions:

1. What word means “something you want, but know you shouldn’t have.” (temptation)
2. What chapter of Luke tells the story of Jesus’ temptation? (Chapter 4)
3. Name another book of the Bible, besides Luke, that also mentions Jesus’ temptation. (Matthew, Mark).
4. Where does this story take place? (wilderness, desert)
5. How long was Jesus in the wilderness? (40 days)
6. What everyday activity did Jesus NOT do during that 40 days? (eat)
7. Who tempted Jesus? (the devil)
8. What was the first temptation of the devil? (turn stones to bread)
9. Why did Jesus say he would not turn stones to bread? (You cannot live by bread alone/ OR/ He wanted to trust God /OR/ This was not the way God wanted him to use his power)
10. What was the second temptation of the devil? (all the kingdoms of the world)
11. What would Jesus need to do to get all the kingdoms of the world? (worship the devil)
12. What does Jesus say to the devil about the second temptation? (“Worship the Lord your God and serve only him)
13. Where did the devil take Jesus for the third temptation? (the pinnacle of the temple)
14. What does the devil tell Jesus to do in the third temptation? (throw himself off the top)
15. Why does the devil say Jesus can throw himself off the pinnacle? (scripture says, the angels will catch him.)
16. What does Jesus say about the third temptation? (“Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
17. What happened to the devil after the last temptation? (He left).
18. What story comes in the Bible directly before the story of the temptation? (Jesus baptism)
19. What story comes in the Bible directly after the temptation? (Beginning of Jesus’ ministry)
20. What was Jesus “full of” while he was in the wilderness? (he was full of the Holy Spirit) 

[NOTE: The questions should be read approximately in order, but you can read only the EVENS, and then go back and read only the ODDS or BOTH ODDS AND EVENS, depending upon how well the game is going. You can also periodically backtrack and ask a question again, particularly if it was missed the first time through. Repetition builds understanding.]

Check to see whose tower is tallest and divide the cookies between the children on that team.

What strategy worked best – to build slow and steady or to add as many cookies as you could?

What strategy worked best – to build your own tower, or try and get the other team to overbuild their tower?

It was kind of funny when the cookies fell down, wasn’t it? But did it help you win the game?

Do you think it would have been fun for Jesus to fling himself off the pinnacle of the temple and have an angel catch him while he was falling? Would doing that have helped the people of the world know about God’s love?

Fill in column 2, row 3 of the Oreo Cookie Experiment page – “Cookie Tower” or draw a tower of cookies.

Life Application:
Review each of the three Cookie Experiments with the children. Ask the children if they can remember which temptation goes with each experiment.

Say: Jesus was good at resisting temptations, wasn’t he? You know, that’s an important thing to remember, because when we are tempted to do something we aren’t supposed to do, we can call on Jesus to help us stay away from temptation.

For a final object lesson, ask the children to help you pick up cookies and sweep up crumbs. Explain that we could just leave them and expect to clean up the kitchen as part of his job. But that’s not right, is it? Or you could just leave it for me and let me clean it up. What do you think God would want you to do? Clean up together.

Thank the children for their help. All can share a couple of cookies and milk. Decide on a fair way to divide up any remaining cookies.

Closing:

Allow 5 minutes of time at the end of class for sharing and prayer with the kids. If you want, you may end with the Lord’s Prayer. You may ask the children to emphasize “Lead us not into temptation” when it comes to that part of the prayer.

Adjustments for age levels and abilities
In the cookie grab, assign an adult or youth helper to grab for or with any younger child who seems timid. Be sure to explain to little ones that this is a game and other children are going to grab from you and to have fun rather than getting mad.

If you have extra time…
Look up the passage in Matthew or Mark and note the differences in the passage.

If time runs short…
Ask only even numbered questions in the tower game and change the rules to adding 3 or 6 cookies.

Be creative
Can you think of another way that you can use Oreo cookies to make the points of the lesson?

A lesson posted by Lisa Martin from: Trinity UCC

Pottstown, PA

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