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Reply to "COMPLETE LESSON SET: Investigating the Trial of Jesus - Theme, Zion Baptist Community, AB, Canada"

Trial and Crucifixion

Drama/Photography Workshop

This less was written by someone who has access to a polaroid camera. You may want to use a digital camera and a color inkjet printer.

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Kids will document evidences that Jesus is the Son of God by photographing shadow scenes depicting events from Jesus’ life that confirm that He is the Son of God. 

Scripture References:

Luke 2:8-11, Luke 3:21-22, Luke 8:22-25, Luke 9:10-17, Luke 9:38-36, Luke 18:35-43, and

Luke 24:36-43

Lesson Objective:

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 background materials.
  • Read the procedure.
  • Gather the materials.


Materials List:

  • White Sheet/shower curtain to hang from the ceiling or a frame
  • Old Fashion Overhead projector
  • Bibles
  • Variety of costumes/props (angel wings, poster-board strip with wavy edge, baskets, blankets that can be thrown over people to make landscapes)
  • Polaroid camera and film
  • Sharpie pen
  • Printer paper (3-4 pages)
  • Tape 
  • Black-out plastic on windows


Lesson Plan 


Opening:

Begin by welcoming the students to their class. Greet them as investigators. Tell them that you have heard that they have come to you for some evidence to prove to the judge that Jesus really is who He said He was – the Son of God! They’ve come to the right place – in this workshop, they will get to gather photo evidence that Jesus is the Son of God.

Dig:

Explain

Say: There was a man named Luke who was an investigator – like you guys! – from the time just after Jesus went back to heaven. He investigated the stories of Jesus – he talked to eye-witnesses (the people who had actually seen Jesus do amazing things in person!) and gathered an orderly record of the things that Jesus did. He wrote it all down in a book for us – and that book one of the books in the Bible! (Can you guess what book of the Bible Luke wrote? Answer: The Gospel of Luke (Luke); The Acts of the Apostles (Acts))  

Say: In this workshop, you will get to read a story that is evidence that Jesus is the Son of God, and then as a class you will create that scene behind the curtain. There are props to help you, and you’ll have to use your bodies to form the scene as well! Each of you investigators will get a turn to take a picture of the shadow scene the class creates, and we will try to document 7 scenes from the book of Luke. Remember, good documentation is absolutely critical in order to convince the judge! 

We will need to label each polaroid picture with a short description of the scene and also write down the reference from the original source (the Bible). As a class, we will compile our photo evidence onto white paper, and then we will make photocopies for each of you. You will need to put this evidence in your files, so that you will have proof for the judge. 

Do: 

Shadow Scenes to Create:

  • The angels announce that Jesus is the Christ (Luke 2:8-11)
  • God says “This is my Son” (baptism – Luke 3:21-22)
  • Jesus calms the sea by speaking (Luke 8:22-25)
  • Jesus feeds 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish (Luke 9:10-17)
  • God says again, “This is my Son” (transfiguration – Luke 9:38-36)
  • Jesus heals a blind man (Luke 18:35-43)
  • Disciples see Jesus alive again! (Luke 24:36-43)

Have a student look up the first scene in their Bible (Luke 2:8-11). Once they have found it, have a student read the short passage for the rest of the class (for younger kids, read it yourself). 

Briefly discuss together how you could create that scene behind the curtain (younger classes will require more direction). One student can stand out in front of the screen and help direct people into position – once everyone is in place, the student snaps the picture. Label the photo, and leave it off to the side to develop while you repeat the process with the next scene. 

Assign new kids to find the Bible passage, read, and snap the photo each time. You will need to keep things moving quickly to get through all the scenes - plan for about 5 minutes per scene. (If it is necessary to do fewer scenes, omit one-two of the miracles and either the baptism or transfiguration). 

Once the evidence is all collected, gather the students around the photos and review the evidence as you tape the photos to the blank pages. This is a good time to ask them what these scenes show us about who Jesus is. (Why is this good evidence?) Ex: He has power that no other person has; He did things that only God can do… If you want, you could even organize and label the scenes by theme on the pages (Jesus could do what no other person can do – the miracle photos; God said Jesus is His Son – baptism and transfiguration; angels said Jesus is the Christ; Jesus is more powerful than death).  

Take the students up to the office (quietly!) and make copies of the evidence for each of them. 

Have them write their names on the evidence and put it in their folders.  

Reflection:

Close in prayer, thanking Jesus that He is who He says He is and for the evidence that He has left for us in His word so that we can know Him.  

Ideas for extra time:

  • Have kids depict other scenes that they like from Jesus’ life
  • Play a guessing game – the kids choose a scene to create, and the teacher has to guess what it is
  • Time the kids to see how fast they can recreate each of the scenes they photographed
  • Ask the kids about what piece of evidence they think is the strongest

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

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability

Last edited by Rotation.org Lesson Forma-teer
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