Week 987 · about 45 minutes
Matthew 26
Matthew 26 · Memory verse Matthew 26:31
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Matthew 26), the matching word search and answer key (Matthew 26 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a folded cloth
Hold a folded cloth. Read Matthew 26 in about four minutes, stopping at Matthew 26:31: “Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Matthew 26?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Matthew 26 is a real chapter from the New Testament. It starts, “When Jesus had finished all these words, he said to his disciples,” That is not a motto invented for a poster. It is the first sentence a family hears when this page is opened at night.
Keep going a little further. The chapter also says, “Then he said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here, and watch with me.”” Matthew 26 opens with these words: “When Jesus had finished all these words, he said to his disciples,” The line to keep is Matthew 26:31: “Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock…” Carry the word “jesus” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Matthew 26:31: “Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Matthew 26? Then try this: Read “Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I…” once more. What does it show you about God? You do not have to finish every verse. You can close the book after the memory verse and still have read the Bible together.
Group game
Walk the room as if you are moving through Matthew 26. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Matthew 26:31. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Matthew 26 and write Matthew 26:31 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Matthew 26:31
“Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Matthew 26. Help us remember Matthew 26:31 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.