Trial and Crucifixion

Cooking Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

At your workshop students will learn that Jesus really is the Son of God as they listen to the eye witness account of Mary Magdalene as she witnessed the resurrection. While listening, students will create pomanders, wonderfully smelling spice decorations that are reminders of the herbs brought to Jesus’ tomb.

Lesson Objectives:

This lesson is part of a themed rotation studying Jesus’ trial. Children have been recruited as investigators and will be collecting evidence that Jesus is innocent of his charge of Blaspheme. Each workshop will help students gather their evidence and learn more about the story of Jesus’ trial. Help the students stay in theme by calling them investigators, asking to see their briefcases and notes and using legal terms.

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture and background materials.
• Gather the materials.

Materials List:

• Costume for Mary Magdalene
• Oranges or lemons (1 per student)
• Whole cloves (1 handful per student)
• Wooden skewers (1 per student)
• Paper towels
• Plastic zipper bags (1 per student)
• Mixture of spices (ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg, allspice – enough for 1 tsp per student)
• Small sachets (1 per student – to be filled with a small amount of the spice mixture as evidence)
• Case notes (1 per student – a place to write a brief “statement” from Mary Magdalene and to staple the sachet of spices)

Lesson Plan

SCRIPT (with activity notes)

As the teacher of this workshop you will be playing the part of Mary Magdalene. Wearing a costume and being familiar with your script will help you to stay in character!

Opening:

Hello! Welcome!

My name is Mary. I come from a town called Magdala. Have you heard of it? Where are you from? What are your names? Mary is a VERY common name where I come from. In fact, about 1 out of every 5 girls is named Mary! I have lots of friends named Mary – there’s Mary, the mother of Jesus; Mary from Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha; Mary, the wife of Clopas; Mary, the mother of James… All of us Mary’s were traveling together and following Jesus. Can you imagine the confusion? Whenever someone said, “Mary!” all of us would turn and look! That’s why people often call me Mary Magdalene, which is like saying Mary from the town of Magdala - so that they

don’t get me confused with all the other Mary’s!

Dig:

Anyway, I hear you have come to interview me, but I don’t remember why? Could you tell me? Something about a Judge, and Jesus on trial? (Allow kids to tell you about their mission to investigate the claims of Jesus and to prove to the Judge that Jesus is the Son of God).

Well, if you are looking for evidence that Jesus really is the Son of God - I can help you with that! I saw the biggest proof with my own eye - Jesus rose from the dead and only the Son of God can do that! I am an eye witness – I saw Jesus killed, and then I saw Him alive again, with my own two eyes! Why don’t you all get comfy at these tables around me, and I’ll tell you all about it? It’s a bit of a long story, so maybe you can help me make some wonderful smelling pomanders while I tell you what I witnessed? I was preparing spices just like this on the day I went to Jesus’ tomb.

Pomander Activity:
What is a pomander? A pomander is a natural air-freshener made from oranges, studded with cloves and covered in mixed spice. They’ll create a wonderful aroma throughout your home.

Hand out a piece of fruit, a piece of paper towel, a handful of whole cloves, and a wooden skewer to each student. Show the students how to poke a hole in the peel of the fruit with the skewer and insert a clove. Explain that they can make any design they would like on the fruit, and that the cloves will help preserve the fruit and keep it smelling nice for several weeks. Some students may wish to cover the entire fruit while others may create a design or even write their initials.

Story Continued:
So like I said, I was a follower of Jesus. Jesus had done great things in my life – he’d healed me of seven demons! I was so thankful to Jesus, so I and some other thankful women travelled around with Jesus, and helped take care of the needs that Jesus and his 12 disciples had.

We were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, and Jesus was taking time each day to teach in the Temple. But there were some people who weren’t at all happy about some of the things Jesus was saying and doing – the Jewish religious leaders. They were jealous of the power Jesus had and how much the crowds loved Him, and they thought Jesus was a troublemaker – even though Jesus didn’t do anything wrong! These Jewish religious leaders made a plan to kill Jesus.

The Jewish leaders sent guards to arrest Jesus late at night. They brought him before the Sanhedrin – that’s the name of the Council of all the Jewish religious leaders – and they had people come in and say lies about Jesus. These liars accused Jesus of wanting to overthrow the Roman government, and telling people not to pay taxes, and of wanting to destroy the temple!

Jesus didn’t say anything – He didn’t defend Himself at all. 

Finally, the High Priest had had enough! He pointed straight at Jesus and said, “Are you the Son

of God?” And Jesus said, “You are right in saying I am.” 

“This is Blaspheme!” the High Priest said. (Can anyone tell me what ‘Blaspheme’ is? It is absolute disrespect towards God). “Jesus is worthy of death!”

But the Sanhedrin didn’t have the authority to kill Jesus – only the Roman governor did. So they took Jesus to Pilate, and they convinced the crowds in Jerusalem that Jesus was a troublemaker and that Jesus deserved to die. When Pilate questioned Jesus, he knew that Jesus was an innocent man. But the Jewish religious leaders were putting pressure on him, so Pilate decided to ask the crowd who they would rather see crucified – Jesus, or a murderer named Barabbas?

Do you know what the crowd said? They wanted Jesus to be crucified! I can still hear the thunder of their shouts in my ears – “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” 

And so Jesus was crucified. 

Oh, my heart just broke! I couldn’t believe that it was happening! They whipped Jesus, and put nails through His wrists and through His feet to fix Him on a cross. And they hung Him, for everyone to mock and spit at. People sneered at him, “If you really are the Son of God, get yourself down off that cross!” It was awful. 

I stood near the cross with some of the other women, and I cried and cried. For three hours in the middle of the day, the sky went dark. I just knew that this was the worst day there ever had been – that everything had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Jesus struggled to breathe, but He got a few words out. “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit” Jesus said. And with that, Jesus’ head fell down on His chest, and He didn’t breathe anymore.

That was the saddest day of my life. 

The guards poked Jesus in the side with their swords, and when blood and water came out, they knew for sure He was dead. 

A man named Joseph asked Pilate for Jesus’ body, and he wrapped Jesus’ body in linen cloth and put it in his own tomb. I watched, crying, as they rolled a giant stone over the entrance. Jesus was dead and buried.

Ask the kids how their pomanders are coming along. Tell them that the smell of the pomanders reminds you of the smell of the spices that Jewish people use to anoint the bodies of people who have died. Help anyone who is having difficulty, then settle back into your story.

Us women wanted to take special spices and perfume and anoint Jesus’ body – we loved him, and we wanted to treat His body with the utmost respect and honour even though He was gone. But it was the Sabbath – we had to rest at home for a day first. My heart had never been sadder.

Early on Sunday morning, as soon as the sun was up, I took the spices and perfumes I had prepared, and went to the tomb with some of the other women. On the way there, we were wondering who we could get to move that big stone from the front of the tomb – but when we arrived at the tomb, the stone was rolled away! We were surprised, but we stepped inside – and I saw that there was no body! Jesus’ body wasn’t there! I couldn’t understand it; we were all so confused! We had watched the men lay His body there two days ago… 

I ran with the other women to tell the disciples, and our story sounded like nonsense to them. Peter got up and ran to the tomb to see for himself, and I followed again. I stood outside of the tomb alone, crying. I looked into the tomb again, and saw men wearing bright white clothes, sitting where Jesus’ body had been. They asked me, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” I said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” I turned around, and saw another Man standing there. Through my tears, I didn’t recognize Him; I thought He was the gardener. He also spoke to me. “Woman,” He said, “Why are you crying? Who is that you are looking for?” 

“Sir,” I said, “If you have taken Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.”

Then He said one word: “Mary.”

Instantly, I turned towards Him. I recognized His voice, and the way He said my name! “Rabbi!” I cried. (That means Teacher). It was Jesus – alive! I could hardly believe what I was seeing – but I knew that it was Him!

“Don’t hold on to Me,” Jesus said, “Go, tell my friends that I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and to your God.”

So I ran, faster than I’d ever ran, my heart pounding and my smile leaping off of my face. Jesus really was alive! I told the disciples “I’ve seen Him! I’ve seen the Lord! He’s not dead, He’s ALIVE!” 

Oh, I can’t even describe the joy that filled my heart! I know, 100% for sure and certain, that Jesus did not stay dead. He is alive – today, with His Father in heaven. They put Him to death, but death couldn’t keep Him – no, my Lord is stronger than death! 

Just so that you know that I’m not just crazy and making this up – other people saw Jesus alive after His death, too! There were two men who were traveling on the road, and Jesus appeared to them and talked to them; and there were all the disciples gathered around in a locked room, when Jesus just appeared in the middle of them! He wasn’t a ghost – they could touch the scars on His hands and His feet and His side, and He ate with them and drank with them. And then there were 500 of us gathered all on a hillside when He suddenly started floating off the ground and went up to heaven! Hmm hmm, Jesus is alive – there is no doubt about that! Look, I even have this bowl of spices that I didn’t get to use on Jesus’ body – because He rose from the dead! Show the students the bowl of spices.

And speaking of which – you investigators had better write down what you’ve heard, and take some of these spices as evidence. I want this judge – and EVERYONE – to know that Jesus really is the Son of God, and that He is ALIVE!

Legal Documents

(we simply had a pretend legal form with Mary's personal information and a blank space for children to write on)

Show the students the legal documents they need to fill out for the judge. They need to summarize Mary’s story in a short paragraph (a couple of sentences is fine for the younger kids – ex: Mary Magdalene witnessed Jesus’ death on the cross. Three days later, she met Jesus alive. Jesus really did rise from the dead!). One at a time, kids can scoop spices into sachets and staple them to their document as evidence that the tomb was empty. You will sign the bottom of each statement with Mary’s name, and have each child also sign their form and date it.

After their evidence is collected, kids can finish decorating their pomanders. Send the pomanders home (with extra supplies, if they didn’t finish) in plastic zipper bags labeled with the child’s name.

Reflection:

End with a prayer before dismissing the children.

A lesson written by Andrea Anderst from: Zion Baptist Community Church
Alberta, Canada

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