What is taught must be in accordance with the locally agreed syllabus; (If your school is outside of Cambridgeshire: the S.C.A.A Model 2 syllabus has been included to help in matching this lesson plan with your local Agreed Syllabus).
Cambs Agreed Syllabus:
WO (Worship)
Enable pupils to:
know about the central act of worship in many Christian traditions which is based on the last supper Jesus had with his disciples and is known by various names e.g. Eucharist, holy communion, Lord's supper, mass.
Pupils should consider this:
Do you like to have time to be quiet & thoughtful?
What kind of things would you do at such a time?
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S.C.A.A. Model syllabuses:
KEY TEACHINGS / FOCUS:
CHURCH
Commitment, shared identity & belief in the power of the Holy Spirit seen through ... the Eucharist.
AT1 Find out how two different denominations celebrate the Eucharist.
AT2 Consider the value of setting aside a time for self discipline & reflection.
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RESOURCES: To perform the 'Courtroom sketch', these characters need to be found:
A Judge, the guilty person, a policeman, a narrator & an 'unnamed person'.
Print off the 'Courtroom sketch'!
STARTER:
Imagine receiving a letter from someone very close to you, someone whom you love & admire.
In this letter there is some very bad news. They say that they are dying, & that this letter may be the last time that they will be able to tell you things.
Q. How important will the rest of the letter be to you? Discuss.
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The last words of someone very close to you are very important. They haven't got time for silly things, they want to share what's on their heart.
MAIN TEACHING:
For a long time Jesus knew that he was going to die, because the religious leaders were jealous of Him.
But more than that, on this particular day, Jesus knew that He was going to be betrayed later that evening, & that the Romans would kill Him the next day.
He had spent about 3 years with this group, training & teaching these people about the Kingdom of God, & proving to them that He was the Son of God by healing people & other miraculous things.
This was the last few hours together before Jesus would leave this earth.
Q. How important was this time together?
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So He arranged to have one last meal together with His closest friends, & what He said to them that night was very important. This is known as the last supper.
(Teachers note: A lot of this teaching is recorded in John 13:1- 17:26. Smaller accounts of that evening are in: Matthew 26:17-35 Mark 14:12-26 & Luke22:7-38)
But there was something else happening on this very evening, which made this time extremely important.
It was just at the time when all the Israelites would be sharing a yearly event known as the 'Passover Meal'.
This was in preparation to celebrate the 'Feast of Passover' on the next day, & the background of the feast is this:
The Bible tells us that everyone does wrong, they sin, & they rebel against God.
Therefore everyone needs to pay the penalty for this rebellion & pride, & all the wrong things that are done.
And there was no way of stopping the penalty going ahead.
Imagine a Judge announcing the verdict of "guilty" to someone, & then saying; "Don't worry about it, perhaps the sentence won't happen after all!"
That wouldn't be right. The Law has to do what is right, & justice has to be carried out.
So the Israelites killed a lamb, to illustrate that all these wrong things do have a consequence.
When bad is done this causes a penalty, which has to be paid for.
In football, if an attacking player is brought down by a defending player in the penalty area, then a penalty has to be taken.
In other words the penalty for the 'bad' tackle is likely to be a goal given away.
But the penalty for rebellion & pride, etc is a lot worse than giving a goal away.
The killing of a lamb couldn't take away the penalty.
So we are going to act out a sketch now, to show how big this problem is:
The Courtroom sketch.
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This sketch illustrates that the guilty person cannot pay the penalty.
It required someone very special to come in & pay it.
But God, who can be represented by the Judge in the sketch, cannot be paid with money.
No amount of money will redeem a guilty person.
So if money won't do, nor will sacrificing an animal, what will?
The only way was for someone to take their place.
And the Bible tells us that someone is Jesus Christ.
He is a substitute & so He took on the penalty.
Christians believe that because the penalty for sin is spiritual death, (James 1:15) Jesus Christ died on a Roman cross to pay the penalty for that sin, for everyone who trusts in Him.
So we now turn full circle & return to the evening before Jesus was going to die.
He knew who was going to betray Him & when, but because it was all according to God's plan, He didn't prevent it from happening.
They began to eat, & Jesus said; "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me."
Can you imagine how they would have felt?
Here was a gathering of very close friends, & it made them sad.
They began to think; 'Does He trust me?'
So they began to say to Him, one after the other, "Surely not I, Lord?"
Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me."
Judas the one who would betray him, was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
He had been feeling more & more disappointed in Jesus.
Perhaps Judas wanted Jesus to rise up & fight against the Roman authorities.
So recently, he had gone to the religious leaders to offer to betray Him.
Their plan was for Judas to lead a group of soldiers to arrest Jesus at night, so that the crowds couldn't stop the arrest.
With all these things racing in Judas' head, he said, "Surely not I, Teacher?"
Jesus looked straight at him, & answered, "Yes, it is you."
Judas turned his eyes away. He was still determined to betray Jesus.
The other people in the room were unaware of the conversation, because they were all talking with each other in disbelief that someone would betray Jesus.
They carried on eating, then Jesus held up a loaf of bread, & the room became very quiet.
He prayed, & gave thanks for it.
Then He took hold of it with both hands & He started to brake pieces off of it, and He gave each person a piece. Everyone's eyes were on Him.
Then He said; "Take and eat; this is my body."
No-one dared to ask Him what He meant!
They sat in silence & ate it, still watching His every move.
Then he picked up a mug containing wine, & He again prayed, & gave thanks for it.
Then He offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
He then went on to explain many things.
Q. Why was Jesus talking about His body being broken, & about His blood being poured out? Discuss.
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It is talking about His death upon a Roman cross.
The bread & wine are symbols of His death.
Jesus, as a substitute, was paying the penalty for sin.
And Christians by celebrating this meal are declaring that they believe that Jesus has paid their penalty.
This meal is celebrated in different ways in different churches, but it means the same thing.
It is known by various names; e.g. Eucharist, Holy Communion, Lord's Supper, Mass.
When it is celebrated, the time is quiet & thoughtful.
Q. Why do you think that time is quiet & thoughtful?
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PLENARY:
Q. Do you like to have time to be quiet & thoughtful?
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Q. Would it be valuable for you to spend some quiet time alone, to be thoughtful & to think about your direction in life?
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Either take a short time to discuss these things, or leave it with them.
(Teachers note: There is a worksheet to accompany this lesson plan).