Lesson 6 – The Passion of Christ

The Father, the perfect, righteous judge of the universe, gave His Son, Jesus, as the perfect, righteous sacrifice on the cross and punished Him for the sin of the whole world.

Opening

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

This lesson will use the Bible, the Bible Discovery Guide, and the Lesson 6 Leaflet from the Student Pack. The front cover shows how the artist sees Christ on trial before Pilate. Also paper and pencil or crayons will be needed.

Read the Faith Words on page 4 of the leaflet

We can bring any requests before God. He is eager to bless us with His love and mercy. We ask God to help us in difficult times, to help us learn to trust in Him, and to bless others.

Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, thank You for showering Your blessings on us. Thank You that the clear inscription on our hearts is that Jesus is crucified for each of us. Please help us this morning as we read the story of all that Jesus went through on our behalf to bring us back to a right relationship with You. In His name we ask these things. Amen.

God Speaks

God broke into human history at just the right time to save us all from sin. The events of Jesus' suffering, death, and rising to life again took place in history at a particular time. This is not just a story; it all really happened. Jesus did it all for you and me

Pages 8 and 9 of the Bible Discovery Guide provides a summary of Jesus’ final journey on the last three days of Holy Week. Refer to the pictures and text of the Passion of Christ during this lesson. We use the phrase Holy Week to refer to the time of the suffering and death of Christ.

Using Jesus’ Final Journey at the end of the lesson, read each event of the last three days:

• Bethany to Jerusalem - Locate the road that leads from Bethany to Jerusalem on the map inset on page 3 of the Bible Discovery Guide. Read Matthew 12:1-11.
• In the temple - Locate the temple in Jerusalem on the map. Read Matthew 21:12-16.
• In the Upper Room - Locate the possible site of the Upper Room on the map. All the disciples and Jesus gather in the Upper Room. Judas leaves the house before the others. Read Matthew 26:17-30
• In the Garden - Jesus and the disciples journey from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane, to the east of the temple. Locate the Garden on the map. Jesus, Peter, James, and John go deeper into the garden to pray. Judas arrives with the temple guard. Then, all the disciples run away from Jesus. Read Matthew 26:36-46.
• Jesus before Caiaphas - Caiaphas palace is not marked on the map, but it might be near Herod's palace. Jesus is taken there to be questioned by the high priest. John and Peter apparently follow. Read Matthew 27:1. Read The Trial – Sanhedrin on page 8 of the Bible Discovery Guide.
• Judas returns to the temple - Judas seeks out the priests and returns his payment. Read Matthew 27:3-10.
• Before Pontius Pilate - Jesus is taken to the Praetorium, located in the Palace of Herod (find it on the map), where He is questioned before Pilate. Read Matthew: 27:2,11-31. Read The Trial –Pontius Pilate on page 8 and The Scouring on page 9 of the Bible Discovery Guide.
• Jesus carries His cross - Trace a path between the Praetorium and Golgotha, a route often called the Way of the Cross. Read Matthew 27:31-32. Read Carrying the Cross on page 9 of the Bible Discovery Guide.
• Golgotha - At Golgotha, Jesus is crucified as John and the other disciples watch. Read Matthew 27:33-56.
• Jesus in the tomb - Jesus' final earthly journey concludes at the tomb. Locate the tomb north of the city. Read Matthew 27:57-66.

Jesus did all of this for us. He was falsely accused of crimes He did not commit, He suffered much torture, and He finally died on the cross. Jesus did it all willingly for us. We should be sorry for our sins and trust in Christ's sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.

We Live

When God created the world, it was perfect. What happened to spoil it? Sin came into the world.  Adam and Eve sinned when they disobeyed God, and ever since then, we have all inherited the sinful nature of Adam and Eve. Our sin separates us from God, who is righteous and holy. God our Father expects us to be righteous and perfect.

Are we perfect like our Father wants us to be? No, God had a special plan to bring us all back to Him. But in order for us to be brought back into a right relationship with God, someone had to get rid of the sin that keeps us from that right relationship with God. Someone had to pay the price for our sin.

What is the price of sin?

Complete the missing vowel activity at the end of the lesson by guessing the letters.

The answer is in Romans 6:23.

What are the wages or price of sin? Death

Who paid the price for our sin? Jesus.

How did Jesus pay the price? Fill in the blanks in the explanation of the Second Article on page 3 of the leaflet.

The correct answers are (1) believe; (2) God; (3) Father; (4) man; (5) Mary; (6) Lord; (7) lost; (8) sins; (9) devil; (10) blood; (11) death; and (12) true.

Read Matthew 27:46

Who was Jesus crying out to? His Father.

Why? God the Father had completely and totally rejected His beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased. Jesus was separated from His Father because of sin-not His, but our sins.

Why did the Father, the perfect, righteous judge of the universe, forsake Jesus on the cross? This was an act of God's love, so that the sin of the whole world could be punished through the perfect, righteous sacrifice-Jesus Christ. God lovingly forsook His Son on the cross so that the work Jesus came to earth to do would be completed.

Why did Jesus come to earth?  To die for the sins of all people for all time, including us, so we would be reconciled or made right with God.

Jesus was baptized to "fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15). In His Passion, Jesus completed what He began at His Baptism. He fulfilled all righteousness that we couldn't.

How are the blessings of Jesus' Passion given to us? In His Word and the Sacraments.

God applies to each baptized child of God the blessings of Christ's death and resurrection. In His death and resurrection, our sins are taken away. Our debt is paid. We owe nothing, and we even get a free gift.

What is that free gift? Eternal life.  In our lives, therefore, we thank Him for those blessings; without them, we would be lost in our sin.

Complete the activity Jesus Died and Rose for You! on page 3 of the leaflet.  Read the statements and fill in the words for me to finish the second statement of each set.

Jesus' sacrifice on the cross is for each of you! He endured punishment, suffering, and death to pay for our sins so that we could be brought back into a loving relationship with God.

Closing

All that Jesus did for us by suffering, dying, and rising again is given to us in Baptism. Let's thank God for that precious gift.

On page 4 of the leaflet:

• Review the Key Point of this lesson.
• Read the Bible Words.
• Read the Prayer.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord Jesus, for paying the price for our sins and the sin of the world. You were unjustly accused. You suffered torture. You died a shameful death on the cross. Your resurrection on the third day means that forgiveness is ours. You did all this for each one of us, even though we don't deserve it. Your kindness and love is applied to each of us in Baptism.  Please help us to live our lives in thankfulness for all of Your blessings. We pray in Your name, Jesus. Amen.