Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Passion Week Day 4 - Olivet Discourse/ Simon the Leper


     The Olivet Discourse - you may be thinking, how do I even begin to teach my children from these verses? This is the most extended passage (other than Revelation) dealing with the "last things." Jesus is answering the disciples' questions and wants His followers to know what to expect when He is gone. You may want to read all of them yourself, but just pick one section to teach your children. I have chosen to talk to my children about how Jesus has given us a Helper, the Holy Spirit. I have also been studying Revelation with them this year, so the "last things" is on the forefront of their minds. We will remember that Jesus is triumphant and evil loses. That is difficult to remember in today's world, as we read of terrorist attack after terrorist attack. BUT I stake my life on the promises of God. He has promised to come for us, to preserve us in the mean time, and to be triumphant. God always keeps His promises.


      Another story you can focus on is the meal at Simon the leper's house. The Jesus Storybook Bible records this event for us and would be perfect to read to your children. I have divided the readings for you below to make it easier for you.

     We are continuing to work on our Resurrection Garden. We are also making preparations for our family Seder. You can look up and read about Seders. The reason my family has chosen to make this part of our Holy Week is that it is simply a time when we can sit down and read and sing Scripture while touching and tasting tangible elements that point us to Jesus as our Rescuer. Ours varies a bit from year to year with some traditional Jewish elements, but we always point and end up at Jesus. We have really made this our own, especially over the years as we have begun to involve our children in the questions and readings and singing. Here is a link to my google drive so you can access it there if you like. I will also share this link with the readings ready to go. We often try to invite neighbors or friends. It can be a wonderful way to share the Gospel.


     It doesn't have to be complicated. Chose what things you can do or... just make a point to sit down and declare the faithfulness of God as a family by reading a Psalm or two. I have put in bold some ways you can simplify. We include the traditional food and try to have a Scripture reading or story from the Bible to illustrate each element.

     The activity for the felt banner is below.




  • Reading Olivet Discourse: Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 20:45-21:38; John 14-17
  • Reading Simon the Leper: Matthew 26:1-16; Mark 14:1-11
  • The Jesus StoryBook Bible: Washed with Tears (280-285)
  • The Biggest Story: Chapter 5 (65-79)
  • 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: Behold our God
  • Activity: Make a felt banner like this one. Today, we are going to make an olive tree and a coin (Judas' betrayal). You could also make a jar to symbolize the washing of Jesus' feet. 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! 
  • Meditation: Hebrews 13:5-6
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