First Thoughts: Today we work with Jesus' temptation story. If we spend time really examining the story, we realize that Jesus is being offered a series of shortcuts which, on the surface, will make his ministry more effective. If he can turn stone to bread, he's sure to attract the hungry hordes. If he's a great king, he can make all sorts of righteous laws the people will be required to follow. If he can jump off a cliff and "levitate" to safety, the sheer spectacle will draw the curious and thrill-seekers, making them a captive audience for his message. Shortcuts are tempting because they are effective, at least at first. But Jesus keeps his eyes on his true mission -- to change people's hearts and to heal them of their wounds. This process takes prayer, patience, and painstaking work. When Jesus refuses to give into these temptations, he is establishing the kind of ministry he will have -- not manipulative, not forceful, not "astounding" but reaching out to and strengthening those who want to do the hard work of growing in God's compassion. Consider a time in your life when a shortcut was offered to you. Did you take it? Resist it? What were the consequences of your decision? Carry your experience and reflection with you in your time with the children.
Teaching On Your Own: (holds book and DVD case) Guess what I have here -- a movie! How many of you like to watch movies? Me, too. And I'm even more excited to watch this movie. You know why? Because my teacher at school gave us an assignment to read this really long book. It is over 200 pages! I was not looking forward to that. But then a friend of mine told me I didn't have to read the book at all -- I could just watch the movie. It will turn a million hours of reading into just two hours of TV! Isn't that a great idea? Do you think my teacher will think it's a great idea? No? Why not? It's true, the assignment was to read. But what's the real difference between a book and a movie? You still get the same story, right? It's true, though, that when I read I do learn new words, my imagination is working as I create the scenes for myself, and also I just kinda feel smarter after I read, like my brain is getting stronger. I don't really get any of that from watching a movie. It seemed like a great shortcut but now I'm not so sure.
This reminds me of our lesson today. Right after Jesus was baptized, God sent him into the wilderness for a time of prayer and quiet. He was alone for a whole month, and then the tempter came. Do you know what a tempter is? It's someone who makes you choose what's most important to you. The tempter offered Jesus three special things: Jesus could turn stone into bread, he could be a great world leader, and he could perform a mighty miracle of throwing himself off a cliff and allowing God to carry him to safety. Now all of those sound like pretty good ideas, right? They do -- at first. But Jesus knew his ministry wouldn't be about forcing people to be good, like a leader might do, nor getting them to follow him based on performing miracles. His job was to teach people, to pray with them, and to give them the choice to follow God of their own free will. Sounds a lot harder, doesn't it? Kinda like reading the book. It requires more effort, but the benefits are so much greater when we follow God's way -- and they last forever. So I guess I'd better set aside some time to read this book, right?
Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 has DVD case and book)
Leader 1: Hey (name), what's that? Are you going to watch a movie?
Leader 2: Yeah. My teacher assigned this book to us in school and it's over 200 pages! I really wasn't looking forward to doing all that reading, but then a friend of mine told me I didn't have to. I could just watch the movie.
Leader 1: Hmm, that doesn't sound like such a great idea.
Leader 2: What to you mean? It's a WONDERFUL idea. I'll still know everything that happens in the book, but it will be so much easier. Imagine turning a million hours of boring reading into two hours of watching a movie!
Leader 1: But the assignment isn't to watch a movie. It's to read the book and reading a book isn't just about figuring out the story. It's about learning new words, strengthening your mind, and using your imagination to make the scenes play out in your head. You don't get any of that from watching a movie.
Leader 2: Huh. I never thought of that. It just seemed like a great shortcut.
Leader 1: That reminds me of our lesson today. Right after Jesus was baptized, God sent him into the wilderness for a time of prayer and quiet. He was alone for a whole month, and then the tempter came.
Leader 2: What's a tempter?
Leader 1: It's someone who makes you choose what's most important to you. The tempter offered Jesus three special things: Jesus could turn stone into bread, he could be a great world leader, and he could perform a mighty miracle of throwing himself off a cliff and allowing God to carry him to safety.
Leader 2: All those things sound like good ideas.
Leader 1: They do -- at first. But Jesus knew his ministry wouldn't be about forcing people to be good, like a leader might do, nor getting them to follow him based on performing miracles. His job was to teach people, to pray with them, and to give them the choice to follow God of their own free will.
Leader 2: That sounds a lot harder.
Leader 1: It is, kinda like reading the book. It requires more effort, but the benefits are so much greater when we follow God's way -- and they last forever.
Leader 2: All right, you convinced me. Guess I'd better set aside some time to read this book!
Leader 1: Good idea!
Closing Prayer: God, help us to always make the best choices in our lives, even if those choices seem harder for us at the time. Help us to trust your guidance in our lives so that the fruit of our lives may be eternal and life-giving to those around us. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this lesson in a home or classroom environment, spend more time looking at the temptation story itself. Go one temptation at a time, examining why Jesus might have wanted to agree to the tempter's offer. What would be beneficial by turning stone to bread? You could feed the world! But Jesus responds, "One does not live by bread alone." What would happen if Jesus was running around turning stone to bread? People would just come for lunch. Jesus' ministry wasn't supposed to be all about taking care of physical needs but helping people look to their spiritual lives. What would be good about Jesus being a great ruler? He could make laws and force people to be kind to each other. But God doesn't just want us to act kind but to really be kind in our hearts. We have to be free to choose. Finally, what would be the benefit of Jesus throwing himself from a cliff so God could catch him and rescue him? It would show everyone just how special Jesus was and a lot of folks would want to watch it. But the belief inspired by such a spectacle doesn't have any real strength in everyday life. Real faith grows in our day to day walk, when nothing very exciting is happening, but we're still putting our trust in God. Jesus' ministry would then focus on people's spiritual growth, could be built on their freewill acceptance of God's love, and would help their faith be healthy and strong in their everyday lives.
As a craft project, give each child a piece of legal-sized paper. Make one vertical fold down the middle of the page and then do a horizontal four-fold, creating a "table" with two columns, four rows. (You can do this in advance and even draw the lines of the table as well.) Write in the top left column "Shortcut" and in the top right column "God's Way." Provide a coloring page with the following pictures on it: a loaf of bread, a Bible, a crown, a person kneeling in prayer, a person flying, and a person walking on a path. Ask the children to color these pictures and cut them out. Invite them to paste the temptation pictures in the order of their placement in scripture, down the first column (bread on top, then crown, then person flying) and to paste the pictures of Jesus' response in the second column (Bible, then person praying, then person walking). You could also simply invite the children to draw the pictures themselves in the appropriate spaces. Close with a time of prayer.
