Skip to main content

Reply to "VIDEO, A-V Workshop Lessons and Ideas for Jesus in Gethsemane"

Jesus in Gethsemane

Video Workshop


Summary of Lesson Activities:

Uses the movie "Jesus Christ Superstar".

Scripture Reference:

Matthew 26: 36-54

Lesson Objective(s):

  • In this workshop the learners learn about the emotions and the struggle that Jesus experienced while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.
  • They will experience this struggle through the rock opera, “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

Teacher preparation:

  • Read the Bible passage.
  • Read over the background material included in your teacher packet as you review the lesson plan so that you will be able to give background material about the story if necessary.
  • Review the video segment to be shown in class; you may also wish to view the scenes before and after this segment (including the Last Supper and Jesus before the Sanhedrin).
  • Also, make sure that you familiarize yourself with the TV and DVD player in the Video Room and the popcorn maker. The lesson will involve watching the DVD and intermittently stopping for discussion, so make sure you can easily pause and restart the DVD player
  • Have the DVD ready to go before the children arrive.
    Moderator notes:  To prep DVD.  On the DVD, I have, at menu go to Scenes, go to Chapter 13 (Garden of Gethsemane), select, STOP, then do a fast-reverse for a couple of seconds until you see the moon, then hit STOP.  Now your all set when the lesson #8 says hit PLAY.
  • Have your own bible bookmarked at Matthew 26: 36-54
  • Pop the popcorn.

Materials List:

  • NRSV Bibles
  • DVD of "Jesus Christ Superstar"
  • Popcorn
  • Drinks
  • Large Sheet of Paper or Whiteboard (markers)


Lesson Plan


Opening:

Greet the children and introduce yourself. Remember that you are interacting with a different group of students each week—some may not know you. Wear your nametag and make sure that the children are wearing theirs if there are new students or visitors.

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:


Lesson Plan:

  1. Start off by offering the children popcorn.
  2. ASK the children to tell you, if they know, what events occur in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Jesus prays and he is betrayed and arrested.)
    ASK them if they know what famous event occurred right before Jesus went to pray (The last supper.) All of these events occurred on Thursday, the night before Jesus was crucified on Friday.
  3. EXPLAIN to the children that today you are going to watch part of the movie Jesus Christ Superstar. Tell them that often the Bible tells us what Jesus did or said, but not what he was thinking and feeling. This movie does not attempt to follow the Bible exactly; instead, the movie is trying to show us in song the emotions and the struggle of Jesus and his disciples. In other words, the movie wants to show us what Jesus and the disciples were thinking and feeling. We are going to compare parts of the movie with parts of the Bible to see how they relate.

    SAY “Jesus Christ Superstar” is a rock opera which attempts to tell the story of Jesus’ ministry. An opera is a play put entirely to music. There is almost no talking, just singing. This movie is a rock opera which means that all the music is rock and roll from the 1970’s. I know that it sounds weird to have Jesus and the disciples singing rock music, but it is not the music that is important. Instead, the important part is the emotions and feelings that the music shows us.
  4. ASK the children if they have ever thought about what kinds of emotions Jesus must have had in the last few days of his life? (Accept all answers.)
  5. REREAD Matthew 26: 36-46 to the students. (You can have the older students read parts themselves.) EXPLAIN that Jesus has gone to pray for guidance and assurance from God since he believes that his death may occur soon.
  6. ASK the students what they imagine Jesus must have been feeling. (The students might say confusion, fear, sorrow, loneliness, etc.)
  7. REREAD verses 38 and 39. ASK the students to describe Jesus’ prayer in verse 39. Make sure that they understand that although Jesus asked God to take away the difficult road ahead if possible, he was definitely willing to give his life if it was God’s will.

    Moderator Notes:  you may wish here to write on whiteboard (paper) what took place in this story in short form so the children can then add what was same what was different later.  May want two headings:  bible / movie.

    Tell the students that you are now going to watch the movie version of these verses. ASK them to pay attention to Jesus’ words and emotions.
  8. PRESS PLAY. (This section of the DVD is chapter 12, 60.14 starting with the lines “Will no one stay awake?” and running through chapter 13, 66.25.)
  9. PAUSE the DVD as soon as song ends and camera pans to sunset.
  10. ASK the students to identify any differences they noticed between the Bible reading and the video (there should be many: Jesus sings; he doesn’t keep returning to see if the disciples are awake and praying; Jesus doesn’t ever use the words from the Bible; the “garden” seems very desert-like; Jesus struggles more in the video, etc.)
    To recap, discuss the following:
    • What does Jesus want God to do in response to his prayer? (Take the bad things away if possible.)
    • When Jesus prays to God “your will be done,” what is he saying? (That he will put God’s will above his own desires.) It is important to point out that Jesus is also asking for the strength to make sure that he carries out God’s will. Jesus is not only putting God first; Jesus is also acknowledging that he needs God to help him carry out his mission.
    • Often when people pray, they want God to take all the bad things away from them. ASK the children if they have ever prayed that a problem will just go away. (Allow them to give examples if they wish.) Jesus is showing us that we CAN pray for problems to go away, but we also must acknowledge that sometimes we will have problems, and in those instances, we pray to God for the strength to get through the problem.

      NOTE: This step will need to be adjusted for age groups. You will want to simplify the ideas and only ask basic questions for the Primaries.
  11. REREAD verses 45b and 46. Explain that because of previous events in his ministry, Jesus knew what was going to happen. He believed Judas would betray him; he believed he would be arrested. Read aloud verses 47-54. Tell the students that you are now going to watch the movie version of these verses. Ask them to pay special attention to Jesus’ attitude. Tell them the first person they see will be Judas and the first disciple to wake up is Peter, Jesus’ closest disciple.
  12. PRESS PLAY continuing you'll see Judas kiss Jesus (chapter 13, 66.26 through 14, 68.08).
  13. STOP after Jesus says, "Why are you obsessed with fighting.  Stick to fishing from now on."
  14. ASK them to point out differences between the movie and the Bible. (Peter doesn’t cut the soldier’s ear; video doesn’t use words from the Bible; Jesus’ acceptance of his fate; etc.)

    Ask them if they notice any similarities. (Judas’ kiss; armed soldiers; etc.)

    • Ask them how Jesus acts in this scene. Is he still questioning the way he did in the last scene? (No, he is confident and forceful.) He is no longer questioning. When he says that “it’s all over,” he is not giving up. He is simply recognizing that he is nearing the end of his earthly ministry. He has fully accepted his fate.
    • Thinking back to Jesus’ prayer in the garden, did God answer Jesus’ prayer? (Yes!!! Although God could not take away the struggle, he did provide Jesus with the strength and confidence to handle the struggle.) Make sure students get this last point.
    • Why does Jesus not want the disciples to fight for him? (He believes it is God’s will that he should die; he does not need them.) Point out that Jesus is in control of this entire situation. He knew Judas would betray him and he let it happen. He knew that he would be arrested and he didn’t fight back. In both the Bible and the movie, he is forceful and sure that he must follow God’s plan through to death. Everything that happens from this point forward, Jesus allows to happen so that he can fulfill the prophesies. (Students may ask why Judas betrayed Jesus. If they do, you can say that the Bible doesn’t really tell us, but many people think it is because Judas didn’t like the idea that Jesus kept saying he was going to die. Judas and many others wanted a warrior leader to fight for them. Judas could not understand how Jesus could change things by dying.)
  15. ASK the children if the video has helped them to understand the struggle that Jesus went through on his trip to the cross. He did not want to die, but he was willing to die to fulfill God’s will and bring God’s forgiving grace to the world. Remind the students that the next time they have a problem, they should follow Jesus’ example: pray to God for relief from the problem, but be willing to face the problem if necessary and ask for strength to deal with the problem.


Reflection:
Ask if there are any questions or comments about the story for today. Let the children talk about what they liked about watching the movie and listening to the songs.

Closing prayer:
Close the class with a prayer of your own, or use the following:
Loving God, we know you know each of us and you love each of us. That is why you sent Jesus to die for our sins. Help us always to pray to you when times get hard. Amen.

Journal Time:
Help the shepherd pass out the journals. Have the children complete the following:
What did you learn today about praying to God when you have a struggle or problem like Jesus did?


References: Neil MacQueen donated his complete outline and discussion guide to Jesus Christ Superstar to rotation.org supporting members, you can find it here.



A lesson written by Jan Marshall from: Brenthaven Cumberland Presbyterian Church,
Brentwood, TN

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

Last edited by Luanne Payne
Rotation.org Inc. is a volunteer-run, 100% member supported, 501(c)3 non-profit Sunday School lesson ministry. You are welcome to borrow and adapt content for non-commercial teaching purposes --as long as both the site and author are referenced. Rotation.org Inc reserves the right to manage, move, condense, delete, and otherwise improve all content posted to the site. Read our Terms of Service. Get a free Registered Membership or become a Supporting Member for full access to all site resources.
Rotation.org is rated 5 stars on Google based on 51 reviews. Serving a global community including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, S. Africa, and more!
×
×
×
×
×