Scripture: Matthew 26:57-27:10, Mark 14:53-72, Luke 22:54-71, John 18:12-27
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn people told lies to try and convict Jesus, but the Jewish leaders finally wanted him killed because he told them he was the Son of God.
- Students will learn God wants us to admit we are Christians even when it scares us to do so.
- Students will learn even though Jesus did not deserve to be crucified, he agreed to it because he knew his sacrifice was necessary to obtain forgiveness of our sins.
- Students will recreate a trial while learning vocabulary used in legal situations.
Guiding Question: Why was Jesus’ sacrifice so important for our salvation?
Materials: Student-made props
Procedure: Review the story of Jesus on trial. Remind students that Jesus had to stand up for himself and be brave in admitting that He was the Son of God. Explain that Jesus knew what was coming and still chose to be brave because He knew that His sacrifice was necessary for our salvation. Have students share why they think Jesus’ sacrifice was the only way to be forgiven for our sins and have salvation. Talk with students about the importance of the sacrifice and how important it was that Jesus was brave. Explain that Jesus was the model for how we should stand up as Christians even when we might be scared to or feel uncomfortable.
Introduce the activity. Tell students they are going to recreate the trial and assign students different characters. Review the following words and their meanings with the students: judge, witness, legal, illegal, guily, testimony, evidence, jury. Have the students plan and perform the recreation of the trial while incorporating the legal words they learned.
Additional Questions: How can students use legal language in an appropriate context?
Supplemental Activity: Introduce and review the following words: judge, witness, legal, illegal, guily, testimony, evidence, jury. Tell the students they are going to create and perform a mock trial. Give students choice in what they want the trial to be over and then assign students various parts. Have the students plan, practice, and then perform the mock trial.