A New Command
Children's sermon
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (vv. 34-35)
Object: Some or all of the following: a bunch of grapes, a piece of bread or a box of Pop Tarts, car keys, an empty balloon, a roll of toilet paper.
* * *
Hello, everyone! Are you ready for today’s story? (Let them respond.) This is a story about the night Jesus and his disciples got together and had their last supper together before Jesus was arrested. Do you remember that story? (Let them respond.) That was the night Jesus reminded them that he was going to go away and not be with them much longer. How do you think that made them feel? (Let them respond.) Sad? Yes, I’ll bet they were really sad. But it also scared them a lot, too. They had been with Jesus for three years, and they were worried about what was going to happen after he left.
They said, “What are we going to do if you aren’t here to help us? There are so many rules and laws to follow, and the Pharisees and others are just waiting for us to make a mistake so they can come and get us. If you aren’t here to help us, we’re just going to get in trouble, and they are going to come and get us.”
Jesus saw they were really afraid. The Pharisees, and priests, and teachers had a lot of laws and commands they said were from God. They had big libraries filled with big scrolls filled with lists of laws and commands they said God wanted them to follow.
And if you did break one of the commands, you were called unclean. And if you were unclean, that meant God was angry with you and was going to punish you, and everyone should stay away from you. And if you were unclean, the only way to be clean again was to pay a sacrifice at the temple. So, if you didn’t have the money to pay, you could not be clean again.
Here are just a few of the rules and laws they had about people who were unclean:
• You should never touch anyone who was unclean.
• You should never touch anything that has been touched by anyone unclean.
• You should never speak with anyone who was unclean.
• You should never ride in a wagon with anyone who was unclean.
• You should never walk behind anyone who was unclean.
• You should never eat with anyone who was unclean.
But those were just a few of the rules they were worried about. There were 39 different categories of rules, like what food you could eat, what you could wear, and each category had thousands of rules in it.
One of those categories was about the laws everyone had to follow on the Sabbath day, the day of the week when everyone was supposed to rest and not do any kind of work. Since today is our Sabbath day, let me tell you some of the rules those people said we were supposed to follow today.
If we got a bowl of grapes to eat (show the grapes) and we saw a worm or a bug in one of the grapes, it was against the law to pick that grape out of the bowl and throw it away. We don’t have to eat that grape, but we would have to leave it and the worm in the bowl and could not pick it out because that was like working.
If we wanted breakfast, we could not make toast or a pop tart (show the bread or pop tarts) because that was cooking. The law said we could not cook anything on the Sabbath. If we wanted to eat on the Sabbath, we had to prepare all of our food yesterday. So, we would just have to eat cold bread and cold pop tarts, unless they were still in the box, because opening a box was work, too.
We wouldn’t need car keys (show the keys) because we couldn’t ride in any type of car or wagon or anything, since the laws said we could not use any kind of machines or tools on the Sabbath day because we had to do work to use them. So, no television and no phones.
But that would be okay because we couldn’t carry our keys with us anyway. The laws said we couldn’t carry things outside of our house on the Sabbath day.
So maybe we could just stay home and play. But if we have a balloon (show the balloon) we can’t blow it up because putting air in a balloon is like working and is against the laws. We couldn’t do things like write, draw, or color because those were work things, too.
And here is a good one. Since some people had jobs where they had to tear things, like clothes and paper, the laws said we are not allowed to tear anything on the Sabbath day. That means it is against the law to tear a piece of toilet paper (show toilet paper) on the Sabbath day. If you want to use toilet paper today, you should have torn the little sheets apart yesterday and have them ready to use today.
There were so many rules like these. And it was even harder because every rabbi in every town could make new commands. For example, one rabbi might change the command about grapes with worms (show the grapes again) and say that you can’t pick that grape out of the bowl, but it is okay to kind of tip the bowl around and make the grape fall out.
There were so many different laws and rules the disciples knew that no matter what they did, they would end up getting in trouble. Without Jesus being there they were afraid of what was going to happen to them.
Jesus understood how scared they were. He looked at them and he said, “Let me make things simpler for you. Today I will give you a new command to follow. My new command is that if you want to be my disciple, all you need to do is love each other the way I have loved you. That’s all you need to worry about. Just love each other the same way I have loved you. That is what you need to do.”
If we want to follow Jesus, we don’t need to worry about grapes, tearing toilet paper, or any of those other lists of laws and commands. All we need to do is love each other the way Jesus loved his disciples. And how did Jesus show he loved his disciples? (Let them respond.)
He spent time with them and ate with them. He took care of them and helped them when they needed help. He accepted them and he forgave them when they made mistakes, and he treated every one of them the same way.
Sometimes it does get confusing when different people tell us so many different rules we are supposed to obey to follow Jesus, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) Jesus made it easier to know what we are supposed to do.
He said, “Just love each other the same way I have loved you.”
Let’s all pray together and ask God to help us remember how much God loves every one of us no matter who we are, what we have, or where we are from, 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.
Object: Some or all of the following: a bunch of grapes, a piece of bread or a box of Pop Tarts, car keys, an empty balloon, a roll of toilet paper.
* * *
Hello, everyone! Are you ready for today’s story? (Let them respond.) This is a story about the night Jesus and his disciples got together and had their last supper together before Jesus was arrested. Do you remember that story? (Let them respond.) That was the night Jesus reminded them that he was going to go away and not be with them much longer. How do you think that made them feel? (Let them respond.) Sad? Yes, I’ll bet they were really sad. But it also scared them a lot, too. They had been with Jesus for three years, and they were worried about what was going to happen after he left.
They said, “What are we going to do if you aren’t here to help us? There are so many rules and laws to follow, and the Pharisees and others are just waiting for us to make a mistake so they can come and get us. If you aren’t here to help us, we’re just going to get in trouble, and they are going to come and get us.”
Jesus saw they were really afraid. The Pharisees, and priests, and teachers had a lot of laws and commands they said were from God. They had big libraries filled with big scrolls filled with lists of laws and commands they said God wanted them to follow.
And if you did break one of the commands, you were called unclean. And if you were unclean, that meant God was angry with you and was going to punish you, and everyone should stay away from you. And if you were unclean, the only way to be clean again was to pay a sacrifice at the temple. So, if you didn’t have the money to pay, you could not be clean again.
Here are just a few of the rules and laws they had about people who were unclean:
• You should never touch anyone who was unclean.
• You should never touch anything that has been touched by anyone unclean.
• You should never speak with anyone who was unclean.
• You should never ride in a wagon with anyone who was unclean.
• You should never walk behind anyone who was unclean.
• You should never eat with anyone who was unclean.
But those were just a few of the rules they were worried about. There were 39 different categories of rules, like what food you could eat, what you could wear, and each category had thousands of rules in it.
One of those categories was about the laws everyone had to follow on the Sabbath day, the day of the week when everyone was supposed to rest and not do any kind of work. Since today is our Sabbath day, let me tell you some of the rules those people said we were supposed to follow today.
If we got a bowl of grapes to eat (show the grapes) and we saw a worm or a bug in one of the grapes, it was against the law to pick that grape out of the bowl and throw it away. We don’t have to eat that grape, but we would have to leave it and the worm in the bowl and could not pick it out because that was like working.
If we wanted breakfast, we could not make toast or a pop tart (show the bread or pop tarts) because that was cooking. The law said we could not cook anything on the Sabbath. If we wanted to eat on the Sabbath, we had to prepare all of our food yesterday. So, we would just have to eat cold bread and cold pop tarts, unless they were still in the box, because opening a box was work, too.
We wouldn’t need car keys (show the keys) because we couldn’t ride in any type of car or wagon or anything, since the laws said we could not use any kind of machines or tools on the Sabbath day because we had to do work to use them. So, no television and no phones.
But that would be okay because we couldn’t carry our keys with us anyway. The laws said we couldn’t carry things outside of our house on the Sabbath day.
So maybe we could just stay home and play. But if we have a balloon (show the balloon) we can’t blow it up because putting air in a balloon is like working and is against the laws. We couldn’t do things like write, draw, or color because those were work things, too.
And here is a good one. Since some people had jobs where they had to tear things, like clothes and paper, the laws said we are not allowed to tear anything on the Sabbath day. That means it is against the law to tear a piece of toilet paper (show toilet paper) on the Sabbath day. If you want to use toilet paper today, you should have torn the little sheets apart yesterday and have them ready to use today.
There were so many rules like these. And it was even harder because every rabbi in every town could make new commands. For example, one rabbi might change the command about grapes with worms (show the grapes again) and say that you can’t pick that grape out of the bowl, but it is okay to kind of tip the bowl around and make the grape fall out.
There were so many different laws and rules the disciples knew that no matter what they did, they would end up getting in trouble. Without Jesus being there they were afraid of what was going to happen to them.
Jesus understood how scared they were. He looked at them and he said, “Let me make things simpler for you. Today I will give you a new command to follow. My new command is that if you want to be my disciple, all you need to do is love each other the way I have loved you. That’s all you need to worry about. Just love each other the same way I have loved you. That is what you need to do.”
If we want to follow Jesus, we don’t need to worry about grapes, tearing toilet paper, or any of those other lists of laws and commands. All we need to do is love each other the way Jesus loved his disciples. And how did Jesus show he loved his disciples? (Let them respond.)
He spent time with them and ate with them. He took care of them and helped them when they needed help. He accepted them and he forgave them when they made mistakes, and he treated every one of them the same way.
Sometimes it does get confusing when different people tell us so many different rules we are supposed to obey to follow Jesus, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) Jesus made it easier to know what we are supposed to do.
He said, “Just love each other the same way I have loved you.”
Let’s all pray together and ask God to help us remember how much God loves every one of us no matter who we are, what we have, or where we are from, 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.
