Jesus Wept
Children's sermon
Object:
A box of tissue.
When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied. (vv.32-34)
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have another story for you today, okay? (Let them respond.) Great!
This is a very special story. It is a story about the day that Jesus cried. Did you know that Jesus cried? (Let them respond.) Well, let me tell you what happened.
Jesus was traveling with his disciples, teaching people and helping them learn about God. One day he got a message from two of his friends, Mary and Martha, telling him that their brother, Lazarus, was very sick. They asked him to please come and help Lazarus get better. Mary and Martha lived in the town of Bethany, which was a long way away, so it had taken a couple of days for the messenger to find Jesus and give him the message. Somehow, Jesus knew that when he got the message, Lazarus had already died.
So Jesus stayed where he was for two more days. He didn’t stay there because he didn’t care about Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but because he knew he had a very big decision to make. Bethany was right next to the city of Jerusalem, and that’s where the leaders were who wanted to get rid of Jesus. It would be dangerous to go to Bethany, and Jesus wanted to make sure his disciples were ready for what he was going to do. Does anyone know what Jesus was going to do when he got to Bethany? (Let them respond.) Well, let’s see what happened.
When Jesus and his disciples got to Bethany, Mary met him and told him that her brother was dead. She said, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died!” I think she was sad, and kind of angry, too. Don’t you? (Let them respond.) Jesus asked her where they had buried Lazarus, and Mary took him to the tomb. The tomb was a cave, with a big stone in front of it for a door.
When Jesus saw the tomb, he cried. (Show the tissue.)
Does anyone have an idea why Jesus cried when he got there? (Let them respond.) Yes, maybe he was sad to see how bad Mary and Martha felt. Or, maybe he was sad because his friend Lazarus was dead. Maybe he was sad that he didn’t get the message quickly enough to be able to come and save his friend. But I think there might be another reason Jesus cried.
Have you ever had to make a very big and difficult decision? Maybe someone wants you to do something you know you shouldn’t do, or maybe you know you should do something but are afraid that someone might not like it and might be mean to you for doing it. Sometimes decisions are very difficult to make, and it hurts so much that we cry.
Jesus had a very difficult decision to make. Even though Lazarus was dead, Jesus knew he could do something to make things better. But if he did, his enemies would find out about it and they would try even harder to catch him and kill him.
So, Jesus cried.
Then he stopped. He walked over to the tomb and yelled, “Lazarus, come out!” And what do you think happened? (Let them respond.) The big stone door slid open, and Lazarus walked out of the tomb.
Jesus watched as Mary and Martha ran over and hugged their brother, Lazarus. He watched as people came to see the miracle and many of them decided to follow Jesus. Jesus had come to Bethany and performed an amazing miracle, and everyone was excited.
But when the Pharisees and priests in Jerusalem heard about it, they had a meeting and decided that Jesus had to be stopped and they made the decision that they had to find a way to kill him. Jesus knew that was going to happen if he helped Lazarus, but he made the difficult decision to do it anyway.
Today is a special day called All Saints Day. A saint is a person who makes a very difficult decision and chooses to do what she or he believes God wants them to do, no matter what might happen to them.
It is not always easy to do what God wants us to do, is it? (Let them respond.) We know that God wants us to take care of each other, but we know that if we are nice to some people, other people will laugh at us and pick on us. God wants us to care for everyone, but sometimes it can be a very difficult decision, can’t it? (Let them respond.) Sometimes it is so difficult it makes us cry. (Show the tissue.)
It helps if we remember the time the man asked Jesus “What is the most important rule we should obey?” Jesus said the most important rule is to love God and love your neighbor. If we want to love God, we must love other people. And if we don’t love other people, we cannot love God.
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.
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied. (vv.32-34)
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have another story for you today, okay? (Let them respond.) Great!
This is a very special story. It is a story about the day that Jesus cried. Did you know that Jesus cried? (Let them respond.) Well, let me tell you what happened.
Jesus was traveling with his disciples, teaching people and helping them learn about God. One day he got a message from two of his friends, Mary and Martha, telling him that their brother, Lazarus, was very sick. They asked him to please come and help Lazarus get better. Mary and Martha lived in the town of Bethany, which was a long way away, so it had taken a couple of days for the messenger to find Jesus and give him the message. Somehow, Jesus knew that when he got the message, Lazarus had already died.
So Jesus stayed where he was for two more days. He didn’t stay there because he didn’t care about Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but because he knew he had a very big decision to make. Bethany was right next to the city of Jerusalem, and that’s where the leaders were who wanted to get rid of Jesus. It would be dangerous to go to Bethany, and Jesus wanted to make sure his disciples were ready for what he was going to do. Does anyone know what Jesus was going to do when he got to Bethany? (Let them respond.) Well, let’s see what happened.
When Jesus and his disciples got to Bethany, Mary met him and told him that her brother was dead. She said, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died!” I think she was sad, and kind of angry, too. Don’t you? (Let them respond.) Jesus asked her where they had buried Lazarus, and Mary took him to the tomb. The tomb was a cave, with a big stone in front of it for a door.
When Jesus saw the tomb, he cried. (Show the tissue.)
Does anyone have an idea why Jesus cried when he got there? (Let them respond.) Yes, maybe he was sad to see how bad Mary and Martha felt. Or, maybe he was sad because his friend Lazarus was dead. Maybe he was sad that he didn’t get the message quickly enough to be able to come and save his friend. But I think there might be another reason Jesus cried.
Have you ever had to make a very big and difficult decision? Maybe someone wants you to do something you know you shouldn’t do, or maybe you know you should do something but are afraid that someone might not like it and might be mean to you for doing it. Sometimes decisions are very difficult to make, and it hurts so much that we cry.
Jesus had a very difficult decision to make. Even though Lazarus was dead, Jesus knew he could do something to make things better. But if he did, his enemies would find out about it and they would try even harder to catch him and kill him.
So, Jesus cried.
Then he stopped. He walked over to the tomb and yelled, “Lazarus, come out!” And what do you think happened? (Let them respond.) The big stone door slid open, and Lazarus walked out of the tomb.
Jesus watched as Mary and Martha ran over and hugged their brother, Lazarus. He watched as people came to see the miracle and many of them decided to follow Jesus. Jesus had come to Bethany and performed an amazing miracle, and everyone was excited.
But when the Pharisees and priests in Jerusalem heard about it, they had a meeting and decided that Jesus had to be stopped and they made the decision that they had to find a way to kill him. Jesus knew that was going to happen if he helped Lazarus, but he made the difficult decision to do it anyway.
Today is a special day called All Saints Day. A saint is a person who makes a very difficult decision and chooses to do what she or he believes God wants them to do, no matter what might happen to them.
It is not always easy to do what God wants us to do, is it? (Let them respond.) We know that God wants us to take care of each other, but we know that if we are nice to some people, other people will laugh at us and pick on us. God wants us to care for everyone, but sometimes it can be a very difficult decision, can’t it? (Let them respond.) Sometimes it is so difficult it makes us cry. (Show the tissue.)
It helps if we remember the time the man asked Jesus “What is the most important rule we should obey?” Jesus said the most important rule is to love God and love your neighbor. If we want to love God, we must love other people. And if we don’t love other people, we cannot love God.
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.
