Easter All Week

Easter All Week Preparation:

Print off a chart and set of pictures for each person in the family. Make sure there are scriptures available for everyone to share. Make sugar cookie dough ahead of time. Gather together green sprinkles and green frosting.

Objective:

To learn what happened every day of the last week of Jesus Christ’s life leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection.

Opening Song:

Jesus Has Risen, Children’s Songbook pg. 70

Lesson:

You can either introduce the charts and do Sunday and Monday today then fill in the rest of the days at dinner each night counting down to Easter or you can do the whole chart at once discussing what occurred each day. It really is meant to do one each day though because of all the scriptures that need to be read. Many sacred events occurred during the last week of Jesus Christ’s mortal ministry here on earth. We are going to learn about those special events. This will help us keep a Christ-centered Easter celebration all week long!

Sunday Palm Sunday Sunday

- Read Matthew 21:4 – 9 4 This is Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The multitude waved palm leaves, laid their clothes on the ground for the donkey to walk on, and shouted, “Hosanna!” to welcome Christ into the city. For older children you may want to point out that at temple dedications we wave handkerchiefs and say “Hosanna” as a way to welcome Christ to the newly dedicated temple. “4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy aKing cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. 6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 aAnd brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, aHosanna to the Son of David: bBlessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”

Monday

– Matthew 21:12-17 – The Savior cleared the temple of the money changers. They were defiling the temple.

“12 ¶ And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It is written, My ahouse shall be called the house of bprayer; but ye have made it a cden of thieves. 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.

15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the achildren crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, 16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? 17 ¶ And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.”

Tuesday

– Matthew 21 and 22 – (Either use the Scripture Reader or just summarize what happened if you feel it will take to long to read the chapters and keep your children’s attention) The scribes questioned the authority of Jesus and asked about paying tribute money. Jesus gives many parables. The first and great commandment is also given. (Matthew 22: 34 – 40)

“34 ¶ But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, atempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt alove the Lord thy God with all thy bheart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy cmind. 38 This is the first and great acommandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt alove thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the alaw and the prophets.”

Wednesday

– The scriptures are silent as to what happened on this day. We discuss one of the parables Christ gave on Tuesday such as the parable of the ten virgins. Matthew 25:1 -13: “1 aThen shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten bvirgins, which took their clamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all aslumbered and bslept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the abridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their alamps. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps aare gone out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were aready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was bshut. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I aknow you not. 13 aWatch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”

Thursday

– The Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane. Read Matthew 26 or read the stories from the Scripture Readers.

Friday

– The Trial, Crucifixion, and Burial of Jesus Christ. Read Matthew 27 or the stories from the Scripture Readers.

Saturday

– Discuss the missionary work in the Spirit World – 1 Peter 3: 18-20:

“18 For Christ also hath once asuffered for sins, the just for the bunjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to cdeath in the flesh, but quickened by the dSpirit: 19 By which also he went and apreached unto the bspirits in cprison; 20 aWhich sometime were bdisobedient, when once the clongsuffering of God waited in the days of d Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were esaved by fwater.” 1 Peter 4:6 “ 6 aFor for this cause was the bgospel cpreached also to them that are ddead, that they might be ejudged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.”

Sunday EASTER

– Read Matthew 28 or read the story of the Empty Tomb and Resurrection in the Scripture Readers.

Closing Song:

Did Jesus Really Live Again? Children’s Songbook, pg 64

Refreshments: Palm Leaves Sugar Cookies Roll out the sugar cookie dough. Cut out in the shape of palm leaves. Bake. Let children decorate with green frosting and green sprinkles.