The Last Supper

Game Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Grades 1-2: Buzz in to answer questions. Grades 3-5: Buzz in if they know the story word/phrase from the one or two word clue given.

Scripture Reference:

Luke 22: 7-23 and Mark 14: 12-26

Key Verse:

"Do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19

Concepts:

• Communion is giving thanks to God, remembering Jesus, and letting God's spirit make us strong.
• The Last Supper was a Passover meal in Jerusalem before the crucifixion.
• The bread and wine are special symbols and we treat them with respect.

Lesson Objectives:

• Learn where to find the story of the Last Supper in the Bible.
• Learn the historical facts of the Last Supper as recorded in Luke.
• Relate the biblical account to how we celebrate Communion today.

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture ahead of time
• Gather the materials

Materials List:

• Buzzer Box
• Questions
• Whiteboard
• Extra Bibles
• Timer
• Dry-erase marker
• Stickers or other mementos for journals (optional)
• Skittles (optional

Presentation

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

• As the children come in the door, count them off by color -- Red, Orange, Green and Purple -- and have them go to the area of the room that is designated with their color.
• Introduce yourself and make sure that everyone is wearing a name tag. Open with a brief prayer.

Dig- Main content and reflection:

Scripture/Bible Story:
Review the story, using this summary as a guide. Tell them they’ll need to remember the details in order to play a game afterwards. Unless this is the first Sunday of the rotation, let the children help you tell the story. This will give you an idea of how much they already know.

Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem during the time that the Jews celebrated the Passover. The Passover was a special meal when the Jews gave thanks for the time hundreds of years earlier when their ancestors, the Israelites, escaped from slavery in Egypt.

Jesus sent Peter and John to make preparations for the group to eat the Passover.

Jesus told them, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters. Say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher wants to know, where is your guest room, where he can eat the Passover with his disciples?' “The owner of the house will show you a large upstairs room, all furnished. Make preparations there." (Have you heard of “the Upper Room”? That’s the room where the Last Supper happened.)

Peter and John left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they got the Passover meal ready.

On the evening of the Passover, Jesus and his disciples gathered at the table and Jesus said to them, "I have really been wanting to eat this Passover meal with you, because soon it will be time for me to suffer, and this is the last Passover I will eat until the Kingdom of God comes."

Then he took a cup of wine, gave a prayer of thanks for it, and told the disciples, “Share this among yourselves, because I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God comes."

Then Jesus took a loaf of bread, gave thanks, and broke it into pieces, gave it to the disciples and said, "This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

Then after the supper he took the cup of wine and said, "This wine is a symbol of my blood, which is poured out for you. It represents the new covenant.” (Remind them that they learned from the Noah story that a covenant is a promise. The new promise is that God will forgive our sins.)

Application:

1. The children are already divided into four teams, named for the four colors on the buzzer box – Red, Orange, Green, Purple. Have either four (one from each team) or eight players (two from each team) gather around a table with the buzzer box in the middle (One of the round tables from the main room is good for this). Each player holds a buzzer (the buzzer wires are color-coded; players on the same team hold the same color wire).

2. Grades 1-2: Explain that you will call out a question and players who think they know the answer should press their buzzer. The first to buzz gets to give the answer.

Grades 3-5: Explain that you will call out a clue to remind them of a word or phrase in the story (or related to the story). Most of the clues are one or two words – not definitions but just reminders of a word or phrase from the story. Players who think they know the word should press their buzzer. The first to buzz gets to give the answer.

After several questions, switch to the next group of players. Make sure everybody gets to play.

3. Scoring: Ask the shepherd to keep score on the white board. Award 5 points for a correct answer. No points for a wrong answer; let anyone who knows the correct answer tell it. (You can use a different scoring system if you prefer, but keep it simple.)

4. Tips: Try not to let one knowledgeable or fast-fingered child dominate the game. Rotating the players usually takes care of the problem, but you might run into a team that doesn’t want to rotate, wanting the sharpest member to play the whole time. In this case you might announce that anybody who answers three questions in a row will be retired as permanent champion to give everybody else a chance to compete. (You might as well make this announcement in the beginning when you have fifth-graders). Also, don’t let non-playing team members help the players; this in effect lets the fast kid answer by proxy.

Be sure they know the answer before buzzing. If they are buzzing and then taking too long to think of the answer, use the timer and give 5 seconds to answer after buzzing (this has not been a problem in the past).

You might have to adjust the game as you go along. If it turns out that eight players make the game chaotic, try letting just four play at a time. With the older kids, be ready to switch to the straight questions if the clue format isn’t working.

Note: When the buzzer system was used for the first time, first-graders had difficulty with the mechanics of operating it. If you’d rather not tackle using buzzers with first-graders, you can just divide them into two teams and alternate asking questions of each team. Let children take turns answering.

At the end of the lesson plan you’ll find a list of words and potential clues, and a list of questions. If you have the younger kids early in the rotation, you might ask the questions in the order given to reinforce the sequence of events. If it’s later in the rotation, they might know the story well enough to mix the questions up.

Wrap-up:
1. Recite the Bible memory verse. "Do this in remembrance of me.”

2. Discuss: Jesus said “do this in remembrance of me.” How do we do that today? (Communion service). What things do we have in the Communion service that were also in the Last Supper? (bread, “wine,” cup, table). What do we do to the bread? (The minister breaks it and the people share it). What does the bread represent? (Jesus’ body. Remind them that at the Kirk as we pass the bread, we say, “The body of Christ, broken for you.What does the wine represent? (Jesus’ blood. As we pass the grape juice, we say, “The blood of Christ, shed for you.Why do we have symbols for Jesus’ body and blood? (To remember that Jesus died for us.) The bread and wine are special symbols and we treat them with respect. (That means not treating them just like any old snack, and not running into the kitchen after the service and gobbling the leftovers.)

What was the first thing Jesus did when he picked up the bread? (Gave thanks to God.) In our Communion service, we also thank God, not just for the bread but for all God’s love and care. We also ask for God's spirit to be with us and make us strong. Communion is giving thanks to God, remembering Jesus, and letting God's spirit make us strong.

Different churches have different rules for who can take the bread and wine in Communion. Who can take the bread and wine in our Communion service? (In the Presbyterian Church, anyone who has been baptized is welcome to take communion.) What if you were baptized in another church? (You can still take Communion in the Presbyterian Church.) What if you visit another church? (Find out from your parents or members of that church what their rules are.) What if your parents say you’re too young to take communion? (That’s OK too. In some families, the children wait until they’ve finished confirmation class when they’re in eighth grade.

We have a special word for Communion and Baptism. Do you know what it is? (sacraments). The word sacrament is related to the word “sacred,” which means holy and set-apart. A sacrament is a special ceremony. It reminds us that God is with us, and we celebrate it because Jesus told us to. Communion is a sacrament because Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” (The other sacrament is baptism; Jesus said to go and make disciples of people all over the world and baptize them.)

Reflection Time:
Have the shepherds pass out the journals. Optional: Give the children a sticker appropriate to the story, or some other memento to put in their journals. Grades 3-5: Ask the children to think about remembering Jesus and to write down five or more things they remember about Jesus. Grades 1-2: Ask the children to write or draw a picture of something they remember about Jesus.

Closing:
Prayer – Suggestion: Use a litany. (Explain what a litany is. Where have they heard a litany before? worship). Tell the children that you will say something that we want to thank God for, and when you pause, they are to say, “Thank you, God.” The shepherds can help them come in at the appropriate time.

For all of your love and care for us...
Thank you, God.

For the Communion service, which gives us a special way to remember Jesus...
Thank you, God.

For the new covenant, the promise that you will forgive our sins...
Thank you, God.

For your spirit, which guides us and helps us.
Thank you, God.
Amen.

Words for game (possible clues in parentheses)

TABLE (furniture )
DISCIPLES (followers, apostles)
PASSOVER (thanksgiving meal)
ISRAELITES (ancestors)
JERUSALEM (city)
KINGDOM of GOD (time of Jesus’ next Passover meal)
CUP (what held the wine)
WINE (what was in cup)
SHARE (divide)
BREAD (food)
BROKE (What Jesus did to bread)
BODY (what bread symbolizes)
REMEMBRANCE (memory)
COVENANT (promise)
BLOOD (Wine is a symbol of...)
DRINK (done to wine)
SUFFER (what Jesus expected to do soon)
EVENING (time of day)
SLAVERY (what Israelites escaped )
EGYPT (place Israelites escaped )
JESUS (whom we remember)
EAT (done to bread)
CELEBRATION (happy ceremony)
THANKS (prayer)
COMMUNION (Lord’s Supper today)
PETER AND JOHN (meal preparers)
UPSTAIRS (where room was)
SUFFER (what Jesus expected to do)


Questions (younger children)

• The Last Supper was a special meal What was it called?
  Passover
• Which disciples prepared the Passover meal?
  Peter and John
• Where in the house was the room
  Upstairs
• What did the Jews give thanks for at Passover?
  Their ancestors’ escape from slavery in Egypt
• In what city did the Last Supper take place?
  Jerusalem
• What time of day was the Last Supper?
  Evening
• What kind of furniture did Jesus and the disciples use at the Last Supper?
  a table (and we use a table today in our communion service)
• Who was at the Last Supper?
  Jesus and the 12 disciples
• When did Jesus say he would eat his next Passover meal?
  When the Kingdom of God comes
• What did Jesus say he would do soon?
  Suffer
• What kind of prayers did Jesus say during the meal?
  Thanks
• What was in the cup?
  Wine
• What did Jesus tell the disciples to do with the wine?
  Share it, divide it among themselves
• What kind of food is mentioned in the story?
  Bread
• What did Jesus do to the bread?
  Broke it into pieces and gave it to the disciples
• What did Jesus say the bread was a symbol of?
  His body
• What did Jesus say the wine was symbol of?
  His blood, or the new covenant
• What is a covenant?
  A promise
• What is the new covenant?
  God’s promise that our sins will be forgiven
• Finish this verse: Do this in...
  Remembrance of me (or memory of me)
• What do we remember when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper in church?
  Jesus, Jesus’s death
• What is another name for the Lord’s Supper today?
  Communion

Optional Activity for Grades 3-5: Play a few rounds of "who can find the passage first" to practice looking up passages and also to show them where in the other gospels the story is told. Call out verses for the students to search and read when they find them -- do this in pairs if you wish. Have them close their Bibles between turns. Suggested verses: Luke 22:19; Luke 22: 20; Mark 14: 22; Mark 14:23; Matthew 26: 26; Matthew 26: 27-28.

A lesson written by Kirk from: Kildaire Presbyterian Church
Cary, NC

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