Jesus Heals 10 Lepers

Music/Puppets Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Performing a puppet musical.

Workshop-specific Goals:

• Be able to retell the story
• Realize that the “thankful” leper received physical AND spiritual healing
• Be aware of the different responses to Jesus’ gift of healing
• Think of how they can respond to the generosity of God

Scripture Reference:

Luke 17: 11-19.

Preparation:

• Review Background notes.
• Gather the materials.

Materials List:

• Bibles (supplied in teaching box)
• Bible storybook (for PreK class): Jesus Loves Me Bible Storybook (p 331)
• Copy of memory verse written large (take from Bible Background)
• Puppet stage (rope and sheet) from the puppet box
• One of our regular puppets (to represent Jesus)
• Paint sticks or wooden dowel rods about a foot long (10)
• Paper plates (20 per class)
• Markers, crayons
• 10 slips of paper (to write the excuses on)—new set for each class
• Another set of 10 slips of paper which are labeled with various singing styles: high-pitched voice, low-pitched voice, loud voice, soft voice, squeaky voice, scary voice, voice like an opera singer, monotone voice, quivery voice, voice in your favorite music style
• Camcorder (optional)
• TV to play back the camcorder (optional)

Advance Preparation:

• Refer to schedule and decide how you will make adjustments for the different ages.
• Print out the memory verse
• Prepare the 2 sets of paper slips
• Create the beginning of the 10 puppets you will need for each class: staple 2 paper plates together and place over the stick to create a puppet. Number the puppets from 1-10; write the number on the puppet’s “forehead”—write the number on both sides.
• Set up the puppets stage before class

Presentation

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Introduce yourself to the students.

Open with a prayer .

We would like to have a consistent opening and closing to each class, especially since the teacher and station changes each week. Please start the class by having everyone make the sign of the cross and say: “We make our beginning in the name of God the Father—and God the Son—and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:
Please make sure that the students hear and “get” the Bible story as well as the application of that story to their lives. The Bible story is the MOST important part of the lesson—it is much more important than the activity associated with this station!
(For the first part of the month, go ahead and read the story from the Bible. For the latter part of the month—when the children should be familiar with the story—have them tell you the story)

Say: What are some things that you are thankful for? Do you always say “thank you” for those things? In our story today, we are going to hear about 10 men who were healed by Jesus—but only 1 came back to say thanks. These 10 men had leprosy. When the Bible talks about leprosy, it means a skin disease—some sort of sores or rash on the skin. People with leprosy had to be isolated so that the disease would not spread. They were not allowed in the town and they couldn’t be with their family. They had to stay outside of the town and find whatever food and shelter that they could. It was a pretty miserable way to live. The only way that they could become a part of society again was to be healed. The priests had to examine them and say that they were healed, and then they could go back to their families.

Have the class open their Bible to Luke 17: 11-19. Read the story. Ask the following questions:

• What did Jesus say to the 10 men after they asked Him to take pity on them? (Go, show yourselves to the priests)
• Why did Jesus tell them to go to the priests? ( so the priests could check them out and make sure that the leprosy was gone)
• How many men were healed of their leprosy? (10). How many came back to say thanks to Jesus? (just one)

At the end of the story, Jesus says to the man “your faith has made you well”. But he was already healed of his leprosy. Actually, there are 2 kinds of healing going on here. The first healing—the physical healing—happened for all 10 men. The second healing—the spiritual healing—happened for just the one man who returned to Jesus. This man received salvation—eternal life with Jesus!

For our activity today, we are going to put on a puppet musical. Part of the musical deals with the reasons why the men did not come back to give thanks. So we need to come up with 9 excuses. Have the class quickly brainstorm 9 reasons and write these reasons down on the 9 slips of paper. For the 10th slip of paper, have the class come up with a reason for why the 10th man came back to give thanks. Each slip of paper should start with the phrase “I was …..”. Each statement should be short, as they will be singing this as their line later.

Activities:

Finishing the Puppets
Give each student 1 puppet (if there are less than 10 students you can give a second puppet to some students, or the guide/teacher can finish the puppets). Explain to the students that 1 side of the puppet is the man WITH leprosy; the other side of the puppet is the man after he is healed. Give them crayons or markers so that they can draw a face on one side with various blotches and spots. They can draw a face without any marks on the other side. The decorations should be very simple—only give them a few minutes to do this.

Practicing the Music
Now, I said this was going to be a musical. So we are going to spend a few minutes working on the music. Each of the 10 puppets will be singing his excuse with a different kind of voice. We are all going to practice those voices so that you will be ready for your part. Use a simple line to have the children practice, such as “Jesus loves me this I know” or “Mary had a little lamb”. Pull out the slips of paper with the 10 different singing styles. Call out each singing style and have the entire class recite the line using that style (you may need to lead them at first until they get the hang of it). Go through all 10 styles. Have them really ham it up, so that they are comfortable doing this.

We will all be singing one other song together during our musical—it is to the tune of “10 little Indians”. Teach them the 2 verses of this song:

“One little, two little, three little lepers. Four little, five little, six little lepers. Seven little, eight little, nine little lepers. Ten lepers healed by Jesus.”

Ten little, nine little, eight little lepers. Seven little, six little, five little lepers. Four little, three little, two little lepers. One leper came back and gave thanks.”

The Musical
Now it is time to assign parts. If there are fewer than 10 students, then some may need to take on 2 roles. If there are more than 2, then some students could pair up, or take the role of narrator. Each student should draw one slip of paper from the “excuses” they you created earlier—this is their “line”. They should also draw a slip of paper from the “singing styles” set of papers, so that they know how to sing their lines. Let them spend a minute or two figuring out how they will do their lines. Each student should also have the puppets that they decorated earlier. Have them line up in order (the “thankful” leper should be puppet number 10). Briefly explain the script (see end of lesson--next post). Make sure they know that the “leprosy” face shows at the start of the story and then switches to the “healthy” face when they are healed by Jesus. Now it is time for the musical (you can camcord if you would like).

Reflect/Closure:

What are some of the things that God has given you? In reality, Jesus gives us everything that we need. What were some of the excuses that the puppets gave for not saying thanks? It is pretty easy to take His gifts for granted. What are some things we can do to remember to thank Jesus every day for all these wonderful gifts?

Read the memory verse. Ask the students to tell what the verse means to them.

If time allows (and if you videotaped the performance), you could show the video to them.

The students may take their puppet faces home, but keep the sticks to use for the next class.

Closing:
We would like to have a consistent opening and closing to each class, especially since the teacher and station changes each week. Please end the class with this benediction from Numbers 6: 24-26 (CEV). Make the sign of the cross and say:
I pray that the LORD will bless and protect you, and that He will show you mercy and kindness. May the LORD be good to you and give you peace. Amen.

A lesson from: St. John Lutheran Church

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