Week 988 · about 45 minutes
Matthew 27
Matthew 27 · Memory verse Matthew 27:46
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Matthew 27), the matching word search and answer key (Matthew 27 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a seed
Hold a seed. Read Matthew 27 in about four minutes, stopping at Matthew 27:46: “About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Matthew 27?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Matthew 27 is a real chapter from the New Testament. It starts, “Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:” 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, “they gave him sour wine to drink mixed with gall. When he had tasted it, he would not drink.” Matthew 27 opens with these words: “Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:” The line to keep is Matthew 27:46: “About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” Carry the word “ninth” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Matthew 27:46: “About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Matthew 27? Then try this: Read “About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God,…” 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 27. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Matthew 27:46. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Matthew 27 and write Matthew 27:46 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Matthew 27:46
“About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?””
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Matthew 27. Help us remember Matthew 27:46 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.