L050 Archives - Jesus Without Language

This story pulls in many passages to paint a big picture of the character of James and John before the set passage. The main story highlights our impulsive and selfish nature, but shows How Jesus turns that around. It continues past the focus passage to show how James and John became changed by this encounter in their lives.

This retold version of the Bible passage is supplied for inspiration, feel free to omit or embellish to give it your personal voice.

Main Passage : Mark 10:35-45
Additional Passages : Luke 9:51-55, Mark 1 + 3

Biblical retelling of James and John (Mark 10) for youngsters.

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

Today’s story is about two of Jesus’s twelve special friends called disciples These disciples were called James and John, but Jesus liked to call them the “Sons of Thunder.” James and John were fishermen; they worked with Simon-Peter. Jesus had walked along near their fishing boat one day and called them to follow him. They went from fishing all night and pulling in heavy nets with fish to fishing for people to be part of God’s kingdom, fishing for followers of Jesus.

From then on, James and John could always be found near Jesus. We do know that they weren’t always very intelligent, and sometimes they got a bit overexcited. One day, they were so irritated with a village who didn’t welcome them that they suggested calling down fire from Heaven to burn it up. Do you think Jesus agreed with their request? No. Jesus told them that he was there to save people, not destroy them. James and John may have had bad tempers, but Jesus still chose them to be part of his kingdom.

One day, James and John came to Jesus with another request. The brothers had worked out that one day Jesus would be king, and they wanted to sit at his right- and left-hand sides when he was on the throne. Jesus listened patiently. The only throne Jesus would have on earth was a wooden cross; Jesus knew this, but obviously James and John hadn’t worked that out yet. “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you go through the things I must go through?” James and John didn’t hesitate, “Yes, we can, we really can.” Jesus looked at his friends; he did not want them to suffer but he knew they would. “To sit at my right or left is not for me to decide,” Jesus said and then he walked away.

When the apostles heard about this conversation, they became angry with James and John. Jesus called everyone together and gave them some new instructions. “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. I did not come to be served, but to serve,” he said. That must have sounded crazy to the disciples, but slowly they came to understand. Through Jesus, they learnt a better sort of greatness, not one you take but one you give.

After Jesus had gone to Heaven, James and John helped start the church, a church of people who would serve. The disciples tried to serve everyone, and the church grew. James became the first apostle to join Jesus in Heaven. His boldness meant he didn’t deny what Jesus had taught him, even if it meant losing his life. His brother John lived for a long time. He wrote to churches, and some of his letters are in the Bible. Knowing Jesus changed John. No longer did he imagine burning villages; his letters are full of love and understanding. He became known as “The Apostle of Love.”

James and John have 2 main crafts and this little extra. This is an extension of the worksheet activity where the children trace the correct items onto the pictures of James and John – here they assemble the items like you would a paper dolls clothes.

I would recommend this craft for younger groups, and those not using the worksheet.
The kids will probably want to try all the different combinations which makes this is a good discussion launching activity.

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James and John have 2 crafts, this being the second. The idea behind these is that only when you let go of control it becomes beautiful, that height only comes from the bottom up.

This is a modification of the SonicDad’s design with labels that fit the story – their original can be found here.

I would recommend this craft for older groups, minimum age of 7 upwards, both because of the strong glue and as younger ones may find difficulty making them fly. My hubby played with his prototype for weeks, they really are fun, and much simpler to make than it may seem at first.

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This James and John worksheet is very specific to the Mark 10 passage looking at greatness. The whole worksheet is an exercise in defining greatness and hopefully starting a conversation on what we look for in our role models. While it could be easily used as a time filling independent exercise at the end of a lesson, it could also be a group exercise. The tracing element at the end of the sheet would be best done in a room where you can lean (gently) against a window.

To complete the worksheet you will need something to write with and some coloured pencils.

The PDF can can be downloaded by clicking on the image.

James and John have 2 crafts, this being the first. This craft looks at the idea of greatness as encountered in Mark 10. It’s an ideal craft for those youngsters who want to show their parents what they have learnt, it’s also quite fun it that it moves. The template pages are provided with and without colour for your choice.

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James and John are the cheeky rogues of the disciples, brash and outspoken they don’t always say the most loving and inclusive things but their proximity to Jesus means they get a front row seat to almost everything in his 3 years of ministry. The games are therefore tying into the big and bold and yet also trying to highlight servant-hood over greatness.

Supper time balance– This is a silly servant theme game where you give each child a tray and get them to walk across the room balancing the things you put on it. Start with simple things but add more and more paper plates, plastic cups, and random pieces of cutlery. When they drop something they are excluded. This game can be done in teams or individually.

Tall towers and small pieces – This game is about getting the highest tower built. Give each child/team a set time to use whatever you have available. Either in advance, or as an unpleasant twist at the end, measure each tower and divide the number by the number of pieces used. The winner is the one with the highest resulting number. Link into individual serving pieces are sometimes more important than the resulting structure.

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Here are the images you need for the hero’s attributes linked to James and John (Mark 10).

Each hero set contains a high quality graphic of the character, a take home bible card and a colouring page.
I’ve included extras here with the single characters, James is in red, John in blue.

The images are displayed small here, click on the image you wish to have, then save the image that loads.
(Please note : these images have no watermark but are not copyright free, they are only intended for classroom use.)

English – scroll down for extra’s

German

Extra’s – separate graphics, English only.

New Testament

Old Testament

Resource Type

Season

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