The Man Let Down Through the Roof

Movie Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

The children will explore Matthew’s version of the story and look at some of Jesus’ other miracles as they watch the scripture come to life in The Visual Bible: Matthew. They will compare the way Matthew told the story to how Luke and Mark tell the story.

Scripture Reference:

Mark 2:1-12, also Matthew 9:2-8 and Luke 5:17-26

Memory Verse:

1 John 3:18 (NLV)

Video:  

"Matthew" from the Visual Bible

Lesson Objectives for the Movie Workshop
By the end of the session, the students will

• see that different writers tell a story differently.
• know that Jesus healed many people.
• know that Jesus had authority on earth.

Supply List:

• Video: The Visual Bible: Matthew. Nashville: Visual Bible International, Inc., 1997. You will be showing about 11 minutes of Volume 1 (Matthew 7:28 - 8:17) and 3 minutes of (Matthew 9:2-8).
• Popcorn, lemonade or water and cups, hand wipes.
• Dictionary. (Use a children’s dictionary only if it has all the words you need: see the list before the second viewing of the video under Application.)
• Memento: heart or some sort of friendship stickers.
• Shepherd Time journal page: designed to look like a “movie ticket” with memory verse

Teacher preparation in advance:

• Read the scripture passages and lesson plan and attend the Bible Study, ...
• Prepare a closing prayer.
• Learn the memory verse.
• Learn the American Sign Language for the memory verse.
• Consider what age-level adjustments might be necessary (consider those in the lesson plan and others you think of). Confer with the Shepherd on who will use the Activities and Stretchers.
• Preview the video. Be familiar with the places where the video should be stopped for discussion. (Neil MacQueen’s “Two Most Important SHOWING TIPS: 1.) Use the PAUSE button. It’s your most powerful ‘video’ teaching tool. 2.) Don’t be afraid to view an important scene a second time. Kids (and adults) watch movies over and over all the time.")
• Cue video to first clip
  Clip #1 - DVD 1: Matthew 9:2-8 You will be showing this clip 3x's.  (paralytic)
  Clip #2 - DVD 1: Matthew 7:28 - 8:17. You will be showing this clip once. (Other Healings)
  (Note: chapter and verse numbers show in lower right corner of movie.)
  
• Make sure you and the Shepherd know how to operate the DVD player and move through chapters.
• To our teachers at RCC: The design of this workshop is very intentional. The activities and discussion questions for this workshop were designed to meet the goals of the entire rotation and the educational objectives of the Rotation Model (tm) at River Community Church. While we feel it is important to follow the serendipitous leading of the Holy Spirit, please do not change the lesson plan without consulting a Curriculum Planning and Writing Team member.
• Check out the room before your first Sunday workshop so that you know where everything is located.

Room set-up:
Students will sit in seats or on the floor facing the television/projection screen.

Presentation

Opening-Welcome and Introductions:
Greet the children and introduce yourself. Wear your name-tag. (Remember, you are interacting with a different group of students each week who may not know you.) Make sure the children are wearing name-tags. If not, ask the shepherd to supply a temporary badge.

We had an opening prayer during the gathering time, but you may open with prayer if you feel led to do so.

Explain the purpose of this workshop: Today we will be looking at this rotation’s story of Four Faithful Friends in the Gospel of Matthew. We will also consider some of Jesus’ other miracles.

Scripture/Bible Story:
Read the scripture: Matthew 9:2-8. (Encourage the children to use their Bibles in looking up verses. Remind them that Matthew is the first of four Gospels and it is toward the end of the Bible, but is the first book in the New Testament.)

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:
Application:
Before beginning the video, talk about what is it like waiting in a doctor's office or hospital waiting room? Who cares for you when you are ill?

First viewing ~ Clip #1 (paralytic):

Tell the children: This is a short clip of just 7 verses directly from the Gospel of Matthew (the New International Version, which is a slightly different translation than the one we just read). We will watch it several times, as it is hard to see everything the first time. This first time you’re watching the video, notice

• the teachers of the law — where they stand, how they react to what Jesus says and does.
• the friends’ reaction to what Jesus says and to what happens.

Set the story up by telling the children that Jesus had been traveling all over the country teaching people about God and healing the sick. The strict teachers of the Law of Moses didn’t like what Jesus was preaching. Matthew, the author of this Gospel, is the narrator.

Pass out wipes, popcorn and drinks.

Start the video.

Watch Matthew 9:2-8 straight through

If you don’t stop the video quick enough, let the children know that the old man in the next scene is Matthew, telling a grandchild these stories.

Second viewing ~ re-watch Clip #1 (paralytic):

[While you are doing the dictionary activity, have the Shepherd set-up the video back to the start of Matthew 9:2.]

Dictionary Activity:

Before we watch the video clip again, there are some key words you should understand. Can anyone tell me what ______ means? [Take suggestions, then offer dictionary definition if they need help. Look up the word for younger children - with older, ask if a volunteer wants to look it up.]

• paralytic [person whose movement in one or more body parts/limbs is impaired or lost -- caused by injury or disease]
• blaspheming [speaking irreverently of God, lacking respect]
• sins [“closing our hearts to God and disobeying God’s law” -- Belonging to God: A First Catechism]
• authority [the power to determine, the right to control; an expert on a subject]
• awe [overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, or wonder produced by that which is extremely powerful, grand, etc.]

(Note that the video uses the New International Version rather than the NLT which we read, so some words are a bit different.)

Now that some difficult words have been defined, let’s watch Matthew 9:2-8 straight through again. Let me know if there are any other words you don’t understand.

Replay the video clip.

Were there any other words you would like to look up or have explained?

Third viewing ~ show Clip #2 (Other Healings):

[While you are introducing the other healings, have the Shepherd Cue video to second clip.
DVD 1: Matthew 7:28 - 8:17). Note: chapter and verse numbers show in lower right corner of movie.]

Now let’s take a look at some other healings that Jesus did right before today’s story where he healed the paralytic. Watch to see all the other people that had come to Jesus for help before the four friends came. Word about Jesus was spreading. The crowds were growing.

A few things you should know before we watch the video:

• The first man that approaches Jesus for help has leprosy. Leprosy is a skin disease. It is very obvious when someone has it. It was believed to be very VERY contagious and there was no known cure, so someone who had leprosy was not allowed to go near other people.
• Jesus tells the man to go to the priest after he is cured of leprosy. The Old Testament Law requires the priest to make sure the leprosy is gone before someone who is cured can return to live in a community.
• A Centurion is an officer in the Roman army over 100 men (‘cent’ means 100). Remember that the Romans had taken over in Judea and were disliked and mistrusted by the Jews. If a Jewish person enters the house of a Roman, he is unclean and not allowed to do certain things for a period of time, so Jesus’ friends try to stop him from going to help the Centurion.
• Notice how neither the man with leprosy nor the Centurion are welcomed by the crowd, but Jesus welcomes them.

Watch the second clip ~ DVD 1: Matthew 7:28 - 8:17

Discuss verse 17: Matthew reminds his readers/listeners that the prophet Isaiah said:

“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.” (Isaiah 53:4a, NIV)
“Yet it was our weakness he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.” (Isaiah 53:4a, NLT)

• I wonder what Matthew and Isaiah meant by this?
• I wonder why so many people turned to Jesus? What did they know about him or see in him?

Fourth viewing ~ re-watch Clip #1 (paralytic):

[While you are introducing this viewing, have the Shepherd Cue video back to first clip.
DVD 1: Matthew 9:2-8 straight through.

So after all these healings that we just saw, word is spreading about Jesus’ ability to do miracles, his authority. So you can see why the four friends were willing to work so hard to get to Jesus.

This time as you watch the story of Four Faithful Friends, watch how everyone reacts to the healing.

Watch Matthew 9:2-8 one more time.

Discuss:

• Why did Jesus stop the friends from helping the paralyzed man get up?
• Why were people laughing? Was something funny?
• The last verse says: “When the crowd saw this [the man getting up], they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.” (Matthew 9:7, NIV) Was everyone praising God? What do you think of the way the filmmaker chose to show this verse? [Show the video clip one more time if necessary.]

Reflect:
Pulling it all together (closing discussion):
[adapted from “Man Through the Roof - Kirk of Kildaire”]

• What did the friends believe about Jesus? [He had the power to heal the man.]
• What does it mean to know that Jesus had the power to forgive sins and to heal? What does this story tell us about Jesus? [Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus is God. Jesus has authority.]
• Why were the Pharisees upset with Jesus? [Only God can forgive sins. Jesus was implying that he was God.]
• How did the crowd of people react when they saw the miracle? [They were amazed.]
• Do you think they told other people about this amazing Jesus? [Yes and that was how more people learned about Jesus and believed in his teachings.]
• How would you react if you saw this miracle? [Go and tell others - that is how the word about Jesus spread in the world and that is how more friends are brought to Jesus.]
• Can we still bring friends to Jesus, even though he is not here in person at River Community Church teaching and healing? [Yes, by bringing them to church with us, by telling them the stories from the Bible, by telling them the things Jesus has done in our lives.]

Review the memory verse. Teach the children the memory verse using American Sign language (see Resources for ASL website).

By 11:45 a.m. ask the Shepherd to pass out the journal pages and pencils/markers. Suggestion: You may wish to give the children a heart sticker or some other sort of sticker that shows love and friendship to paste in their journals as a reminder of the story.

Shepherd Time:
The Four Faithful Friends were faithful to their friend who was paralyzed and they also were faithful to God. They loved their friend and so they brought him to God.

Here is a “ticket” [pass out the journal page tickets with the memory verse]. Decorate this ticket however you want. Maybe you want to draw a scene from the movie. Maybe you want to list some friends you want to pray for and bring to Sunday School. Maybe you want to draw a picture of yourself taking action that shows someone you love him or her.

This is meant to be a time of reflection and introspection. Writing about faith helps clarify lessons. In addition to the suggested activity, children may draw pictures relating to today’s scripture or memory verse, list highlights of the day’s activities, or rephrase the memory verse. The journal pages will be saved and given to the children at the end of the school year.

You may want to provide an extra activity or worksheet for children who finish their journals quickly, such as coloring sheets, crossword puzzles, word searches, games. See the Workshop Leader’s Background Notes and rotation.org for ideas. The Stretchers and Activities handout has some additional ideas.

Before noon, ask the students stop journaling for a moment and sit quietly for prayer so that they can leave when their parents arrive. Allow them to finish journailing after the prayer.

Closing:
Do you have someone you love that you want to bring to God? Think about that person (a friend, a family member, a classmate) you want to know Jesus better, someone you can show love to through your actions. Think about that person or those people in your hearts as we pray. Remember, God hears all your prayers, spoken and unspoken.

Pray for the children and their friends. [Sample prayer: Jesus, thank you for these children and their friends and families. Hear their prayers that they and those dear to them will grow closer to you and know you as a personal friend and Lord and Savior. Help these children to be faithful friends to all they meet. Amen.]

Tidy and Dismissal:

• Ask children to help tidy the room. Give any specific instructions for clearing the workshop room.
• Collect the journal pages before they leave.
• Give everyone the parent take-home flyer the first week of the rotation; give it only to children who were absent and have not yet received it the other weeks of the rotation.

Additional Suggestions:
You will need to decide how best to adjust the lesson for older and younger students. Keep the children active and involved in activity. Do what works for you and the children. Some ideas:

Older children:

• compare the Matthew version to Mark and Luke (either by reading all three versions or if this is not the first week of the rotation, by recalling what they read in other workshops). This can be done between the second and third video viewings or save it until later to see if time permits.
• ask a volunteer to look up the words in the dictionary.

Younger Children:

• For classes composed primarily of pre-readers, show the children how to find the passage in the Bible (for example, “To find the Gospels, open the Bible in the middle and then open the second half in the middle - you should end up in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. Our passage is in Matthew.") and then have them find it. After everyone has found the passage, have them close their Bibles and set them aside to listen while you read.
• for the dictionary/definition portion of the second viewing, find a simple definition for each word or think of a number of synonyms to help explain the concepts. Remember, children this age have small vocabularies.

Resources:

• American Sign Language Browser: http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm
• Atkinson, Rev. Dr. Lonnie. “Jesus Heals the Paralytic-A Lesson Set from St. Paul's Presbyterian, Ingersoll, Ontario.” A lesson set from the Lesson and Idea Exchange at rotation.org
• Belonging to God: A First Catechism. PCUSA, 1998.
• Catherine. “Man Through the Roof - Kirk of Kildaire.” A lesson set from the Lesson and Idea Exchange at rotation.org
• MacQueen, Neil. “A MANUAL for the "VIDEO ~ A-V" WORKSHOP. https://www.rotation.org/topic...-video--a-v-workshop
• “Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man, Wellshire Presbyterian, Denver, CO.” Drama Workshop and other workshops (source for many of the discussion questions). A lesson set from the Lesson and Idea Exchange at rotation.org
• Payne, Luanne. Matthew (Visual Bible) Chapter Breakdown found under Video Workshops, Video Series Reviews.
• Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. New York: Random House, 1991.
• Some Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
• Other Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
• NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of International Bible Society.

This lesson was written by Amy Crane for River Community Church
Prairieville, Louisiana.

Copyright 2003 Amy Crane. Permission granted to freely distribute and use, provided the copyright message is included.
Updated 2020 by Moderator to include DVD clip information (originally written for VHS - that info removed).

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