Luke 23:26-49
Last Week: RECAP
We looked at the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
So, let’s talk about it.
MEMORY VERSE
“He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,
ATTENTION GRABBER!
The Willingness Game
Have your children sit in an arrangement that has a beginning and an end (a row or series of rows will work as opposed to a circle).
Pass out small prizes to all but the last child in the arrangement.
Instruct your class to pass down their prize to the next person. This should leave the first person with nothing.
This first child will be either willing or unwilling to follow your instructions.
If he passes on his prize, reward him by giving him another.
If he does not, give the child that has ended up with nothing a prize.
Ask your children to explain how they felt to give their Prize away. Was it easy to do it willingly?
Ask the child who was left without how he felt?
Explain to your class that today’s lesson teaches how Jesus willingly did something that no one else could do.
Jesus died for you and me.
LESSON TIME!
In today's lesson, we are going to learn about the most important story in the entire Bible.
It is the story of Jesus’ crucifixion.
It is the greatest story the world has ever heard.
The entire Bible is centered on this story.
If we were to erase the crucifixion of Jesus from the pages of the Bible, it would cease to have any meaning at all.
Why do you think this is such an important part of the Bible?
What would the world be like if Jesus had never died on the cross?
What would your life be like?
Not only is this the most important story in the Bible, but it is the most important thing for us to know about.
Without Jesus’ death on the cross, we could not be saved and spend eternity with Him.
We would still be in a hopeless, sinful condition.
But thankfully, Jesus did go to the cross for you and for me.
Thankfully we get to enjoy the benefits of wonderful salvation because He gave His life for us.
Today we are going to learn about what happened to Jesus the day He gave His life for you and me.
We can learn about the events of the crucifixion, but we can never fully understand the suffering of the cross of Jesus Christ.
The lesson today is about God’s love for you and me.
John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world...”
Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him, they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.
Our lesson begins with the mention of a man named Simon the Cyrene. Simon had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.
He had traveled over 800 miles from Africa. We see here that Simon was asked to carry the cross of Jesus.
When a prisoner would be crucified (hung on a cross until dead) a part of the humility he would suffer would be to carry the cross he would be killed on.
Jesus could not carry it any farther, so they asked Simon to carry it for Him.
Remember what happened to Jesus?
They beat Him 39 stripes with a whip on the back till it was raw
Pulled out His beard
Spit on Him
Punched Him in the face
For Simon to carry the cross was to make himself look like a criminal.
It may have been embarrassing for him to carry this cross.
Maybe everyone in the crowd thought that he was a criminal.
Jesus was identified with criminals even though He never sinned.
Simon was carrying the cross of an innocent man.
It is through the cross that we can receive salvation.
To be identified with the cross is to be identified with the Savior of the world.
Jesus said, “If any man is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory...” (Luke 9:28). I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
(Gal 2:20)
This was a great moment for Simon to be seen with Jesus.
As Christians, we should never be ashamed for people to know we are believers in Jesus.
Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the Power of God into salvation...” (Romans 1:16).
Why do you think that someone would be embarrassed to tell others they are Christians?
Luke 23:27-31
27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ 31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
There were a lot of people who followed Jesus to the place where He was crucified;
many of them were women.
Jesus always had women who supported him in His ministry.
The Gospels tells us about ten of Jesus’ interactions with women.
Some of the women in Jesus Day were,
Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Mary Magdalene was delivered from seven demons (Luke 8:2).
Martha and Mary, are sisters of Lazarus (John 11).
The woman with the issue of blood (Luke 8).
The woman at the well (John 4).
Woman caught in adultery (John 8).
Joanna and Susanna, are supporters of the disciples (Luke 8:13).
Here we see that it is women that followed Jesus to the cross.
Women are present when Jesus is taken down from the cross, and when Jesus is resurrected, He appeared to a woman first (Mary Magdalene, the former demonic).
Jesus addressed these women as He walked toward the cross.
Jesus told the women not to weep over His death, but to prepare themselves (Luke 19:41-44),
because women and children would suffer the most during this time in the end
.
Luke 23:32-35
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
Jesus was hung on a cross between two criminals.
It is very important to remember what Jesus had gone through up to this point.
What did we say happened to Jesus?
Jesus had been whipped until the skin on His back looked like raw meat;
soldiers punched His face until He could not be recognized,
His head poked at the skull with a crown of thorns.
He was spit on,
laughed at
and cursed at.
Now He was being nailed to a cross beside two thieves.
They took His clothes off of Him and pounded huge spikes in His wrists and feet.
What was His response to those who had done this to Him?
"Father forgive them..." (verse 34).
Jesus taught us another valuable lesson. In Luke 6:27-28 Jesus taught "love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them that spitefully use you."
Jesus was practicing what He taught.
Have you heard the saying practice what you preach?
It is easy to love those who love you, but hard to love those who are mean to you.
When we love those who are mean to us or treat us badly, we are showing Jesus’ love.
We can have the love of God by accepting the love of Jesus.
Jesus died for you and me.
Have you forgiven those that have done you wrong?
Ask Jesus to forgive them as He has forgiven you.
God has forgiven us of all our sins; in return, we are expected to forgive those who have sinned against us (Matthew 6:12 and Mark 11:25-26).
Luke 23:35-38
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” 38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the Jews.
The question was asked of Jesus on the cross. If you are the king of the Jews, why can't you save yourself?
Jesus could have come down from the cross and saved Himself, but He went up on the cross to save the world.
Without Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we would be forever lost in our sin.
He saved the world by giving His life as a substitute for ours.
Jesus was not only the king of the Jews; He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15).
They simply did not know who He was.
So, if teacher Phillip said who is Jesus to you, what would you say?
Luke 23:39-43
39 One of the criminals who hung their hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. 43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
The two criminals are good examples of the world.
One said He was just another man, helpless Himself, unable to stop His death like all other men.
The other thief said Jesus was God, giving His life for ours.
To the criminal who called Him Lord, Jesus said "This day you will be with Me in Paradise."
The other perished.
Luke 23:44-49
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. 47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Jesus hung on the cross for six hours, from nine a.m. until three p.m.
For the last three hours, there was darkness over the entire earth.
Sin hovers in our lives until we freely ask Jesus to be our savior.
When we accept Jesus as our savior, He takes the sin out of our lives and puts in the light of His grace and forgiveness.
Now we can come to God through Jesus.
Jesus' death on the cross was the only way we could overcome sin.
By asking for forgiveness of our sins and accepting Jesus' death on the cross for our sins we are given forgiveness and salvation.
Jesus was not murdered on the cross. He gave His life for you and me.
Jesus said in His final words on the cross, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit."
This is the greatest love story the world has ever known. It is a story about God loving us so much that He would come and die for us.
He would pay the price for our sin.
Whenever we look at the symbol of the cross, we remember God's great love for us.
John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
PRAYER
Snack Time~
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