Passion Week Day 2 - Parables and the Gospel

     Jesus spends most of the last week of His earthly ministry at the temple, teaching and preaching the Gospel (Luke 20:1). There is a rising in conflict between Jesus and the Jewish leaders - going to the point of no return. They want to destroy Him, but are trying to figure out how to do so. When asked if He has authority, Jesus responds with an unanswerable question that exposes the unbelief of His the Jewish authorities.

     Today and tomorrow, we will be reading some parables and some of His words to His followers and to the Jewish leaders of the day. You may want to pick one or two of the parables to read to your children and maybe one of the teaching paragraphs. When reading these parables, here are some good interpretive frameworks - 1. what they teach about entering God's kingdom, 2. what they say about Jesus' identity, 3. how they constitute a conflict story leading toward Jesus' death at hands of Jewish authorities. Here is a list of some of the parables and stories you will find in the readings:

• curse and lesson of the fig tree
• cleansing of the temple
• authority of Jesus
• parable of two sons
• parable of tenants
• parable of the wedding feast

   
     The activity for today is to make a scroll. You could make it out of felt to go on a felt board or banner, or you could make it like a little ornament and hang it somewhere. This symbolizes all of Jesus' teaching. We are going to write a verse on it and roll it up. This is a Jewish blog, and our scroll will look similar to this one.

     There is a reading from The Big Picture Story Bible today and is one of my favorites. This would be great for even the littlest of babies!

Reading: Matthew 21:18-22:14; Mark 11:12-12:12; Luke 19:45-20:18: John 12:20-26

The Biggest Story: Chapter 2 (29-42)

The Big Picture Story Bible: Jesus Restores God's Place (287-304)

Memory passage: Matthew 28:1-10 - I am going to begin reviewing the Resurrection passage with my children. We learned the story from Matthew, but you could also work any of the other Gospels. 

Songs for meditation: This is a short song that is perfect for children to learn.

Activity: Make a felt banner like this one, or just make a palm branch and donkey and put it up on the wall. This is a Catholic site (fyi) but for you who might want to do hand prints for each day, these are good. Coloring pages that might be good for your little ones. These are just a few things. There are many wonderful ideas out there!