Object: A cloak, or something to use as a cloak, an old bowl, and a handful of pennies.
Note: If you believe your children can do it, this is a great message to have them role-play. Have one child play Bartimaeus, one play Jesus, and the other play the ‘crowd’. Depending on your group, you can ask for volunteers or select specific children for the roles of Jesus and Bartimaeus. If you don’t think role-play will work, just share the story without the role-play pieces.
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Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (vv. 48-52)
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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have another story for you today, but as I tell it to you, I think we will try to act it out, okay? (Let them respond.) Great!
This is a story about the day Jesus met the blind man called Bartimaeus. To begin, we need someone to pretend to be Bartimaeus. (Select Bartimaeus.) You will be our Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus was blind, and he spent the entire day sitting by the gate of the city (have Bartimaeus sit, and hand him his bowl) holding his bowl out and hoping someone walking past might put a few coins in it so he could buy food to eat. (Have Bartimaeus hold his bowl in front of him.) Bartimaeus was a beggar. All he owned was this cloak and this bowl. He did not have a home. He had nothing except his cloak and his bowl.
There were always a lot of people going through the gate, coming in and out of the city. (Give the other children a few coins and have them stand and get ready to walk past Bartimaeus.) There were usually a lot of beggars sitting by the gate, and as the people walked past them, some of them dropped a coin into a beggar’s bowl. (Have one or two children walk past Bartimaeus and drop a coin in the bowl.) Bartimaeus always said “Bless you!” when he heard a coin fall into his bowl. (Have Bartimaeus say it.)
But a lot of the people who walked past did not drop a coin into the bowl. A lot of the people did not like seeing Bartimaeus sitting there. These people all had nice homes, nice clothes, plenty of food, and they believed that if Bartimaeus was poor and blind, it was his own fault. They believed that he had probably done something wrong to deserve being blind, and it was just God punishing him for something. When those people saw Bartimaeus, they would step away from him to make sure they never touched him. (Have the children move back from Bartimaeus a bit.) Some of those people yelled at him as they walked past, calling him a “sinner.” (Have a couple of children walk past and call Bartimaeus a sinner.) And some of them laughed at Bartimaeus as they walked past him. (Have a couple of children walk past and laugh at Bartimaeus.) And some people just completely ignored Bartimaeus and walked right past him like he wasn’t even there. (Have a couple of children walk past and look away from Bartimaeus.) None of these people put any coins in the bowls.
(Have Jesus and the rest of the children move to stand on one side of Bartimaeus like they are coming to the gate.)
One day, Bartimaeus heard a big crowd walking toward the gate. He held up his bowl, hoping someone in the group might give him a coin. He couldn’t see anything, but he could hear them. Bartimaeus heard someone say the name “Jesus” and he got excited. (Select a child to be Jesus and have them stand in the middle of the crowd.) Bartimaeus had heard stories about how Jesus had helped other people, and he had prayed that someday Jesus might help him. When the people walked past him, Bartimaeus shouted, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Have Bartimaeus yell that as everyone walks past him.) Some people in the crowd told Bartimaeus to be quiet and not bother Jesus, and kept walking through the gate. (Have some children tell Bartimaeus to be quiet.)
But then, Jesus stopped. He looked at Bartimaeus and said, “Call him!” (Have Jesus say that.)
Everyone was surprised, but they called Bartimaeus to come closer to Jesus. Bartimaeus threw his cloak down and walked over to Jesus (Have Bartimaeus do that.) Jesus looked at him, and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Have Jesus say that.) Bartimaeus said, “Teacher, I want to see.” (Have Bartimaeus say that.)
Then Jesus said something, and all of a sudden Bartimaeus could see again. Bartimaeus was excited! (Have Bartimaeus show excitement.) And the people were amazed! (Have the crowd be amazed.) Then Bartimaeus picked up his cloak and went with Jesus so he could help other people, too. (Have Bartimaeus follow Jesus away.)
It was a miracle! And can anyone tell me what Jesus said when he healed Bartimaeus? (Let them respond.)
He didn’t say, “You are healed because you are rich!” He didn’t say, “You are healed because you are a big shot.” He said, “Your faith has made you well!” (Have Jesus say that to Bartimaeus.) Jesus said, “You are healed because you believe in me!”
God doesn’t care how much money or stuff we have. And God doesn’t care what we look like, or how popular we are. God loves us just because we are all God’s children, and all God wants is that we believe enough that we follow God and do what we can to take care of each other.
I hope you will remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to show everyone around us how much we love them, too. Everyone…
Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember to do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
