Lessons Archives - Page 29 of 112 - Jesus Without Language

Some stories seem innocent enough until you get into them, this is such a parable. It wouldn’t have taken long for the listeners to start switching out ‘servant’ with ‘prophet’, to wonder if the vineyard was Eden’s glory or the promised holy kingdom of heaven on earth. The process was thinly veiled even by Jesus’ standard, there would be no explaining this one to the apostles later. For the religious leaders, clearly painted as the worst of tenants, it was a threat that couldn’t be more direct if it physically slapped them, but their hands were tied by the other ears that heard. As if adding insult to injury, Jesus then sets himself up as the cornerstone, the very foundation that the new kingdom would be built upon.

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 : Matthew 21:33-46

Biblical retelling of The Parable of the Bad Tenants, Matthew 1 for youngsters.

Jesus was telling stories: again. Stories about vineyard owners: again. And annoying the religious leaders: again!

“There was a vineyard owner” said Jesus, a small smile playing on his lips. “This vineyard owner bought a plot of land and planted his vineyard, he built a press, he built a fence, it was a fine vineyard. But the owner was old, the long days in the vineyard made him tired, he missed the place he used to live before he bought the vineyard and made a plan to go back there.

“Some men would look after the vineyard, they would be his tenants and once all the grapes had been harvested he would send a servant to collect his share.

“So the vineyard owner left, and many months went past until the day came for him to send 3 servants. Some weeks later, one of the three servants arrived back at the master’s house. He was bruised and his clothes torn. He told the vineyard owner that the tenants had refused to give them anything, they had beaten him, thrown stones at the other servant and killed the third. He alone was strong enough to travel back home.

“Angry, the vineyard owner sent a bigger number of servants, but they returned with the same story. Unsure what to do to communicate with his tenants, he decided to send his son, his only son, who he loved. When the tenants saw the son coming, they made a plan. If they killed his son, there would be nobody to take over the vineyard, and they could keep it forever. So they took the vineyard owner’s son and killed him.

“What would the Vineyard owner do? Well, he threw out those tenants and had them punished, then he gave the vineyard to other men who would share the harvest.”

The crowd went quiet. They knew this wasn’t really a story about vineyards and servants, it was a story about God’s kingdom, about the prophets God sent to his people, how the people of God had treated God’s messengers so badly. The religious leaders knew it too.

“Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’” said Jesus, that smile back on his lips again. He was teasing them. Even if they rejected him, he was going to build a kingdom and right now, they wouldn’t be in it.

In the parable of the Vineyard owner the men collect the grapes and that’s as simple as this craft linking idea is. It’s wonderfully open ended. Fill your bunch of grapes with coins that the men will be paid, scrunch tissue paper, dab paint, use glass beads or sequins, or anything you have on hand.

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In the parable of the Vineyard owner’s Two Sons the key idea is changing your mind. Visually a yes and no can be easily expressed through a thumbs up or thumbs down and that’s what this craft captures. It’s a really easy craft and you get a nice prop that the kid can use – the prototype came in quite handy for video calls!

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This parable talks about the two sons and encourages us to reassess, to be willing to change our mind, to question our answers. The games therefore link to these key ideas and sprinkled in there is the idea of two, matching two, and counting.

Yes/No

Under 7’s

Any size group

No Setup time

Noisy game

Space needed

Ask the youngster(s) “can you…(insert action)” and have them shout out yes or no. Then specify a single child and say “X will you….(insert action demonstrate or mime)”. Examples – Can you do a star jump? Can you whistle? Can you tidy your room? Saying you can/will and doing are different things.

Pairs

All Ages

Small group

Requires setup time

Quiet game

Can be seated

Print this little pair’s set and see if you can match them all up and say how they relate to the parable of the two sons. Pairs is played by having all the cards faced down. Players take turns in flipping two cards hoping to get them to match, matches are left face up, non-matches are returned to face down and the next player tries. Access the PDF by clicking on the image.

Second answer

All Ages

Any size group

Requires setup time

Quiet game

Can be seated

A simple guessing game. Hide some small prizes under many cups — there must be more cups than prizes. Ask a child to guess how many prizes there are. Turn over 1 cup or remove an empty cup. Would they like to change their answer? Talk about how we change our beliefs when new information appears.

Stop/Freeze

All Ages

Any size group

No Setup time

Noisy game

Can be seated

This is a great game just to get the wiggles out. Start but shouting out an action (walk, wiggle, hop etc) and let the kids begin to make it their own movements. Give them a few seconds, then shout Freeze! Award the most interesting pose with a high five and start again. Talk about how the kids changed the starting instruction to make it their own, how do we change from one viewpoint to another.

Simon says

Under 7’s

Any size group

No Setup time

Noisy game

Space needed

Use this classic following directions game to link to how the sons did or did not follow the fathers’ request or their reply.

Here are the images you need for the hero’s attributes linked to Parable of the forgiven Debt (Matthew 18).
Each hero set contains a high quality graphic of the character, a take home bible card and a colouring page.

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

English

Extra’s – (English Only).

This little parable packs a punch, here we have the vineyard owner again, but instead of looking for hired workers he’s asking his sons to help out. The two sons both react very differently, one says no (or perhaps ‘I won’t’ or ‘I don’t want to’ dependent on your translation) but the other obeys. At that moment, the good son is obvious. But as we see, the words are empty, much like the religious leader’s faith in the encounters. The challenge of this parable goes two ways, to act on your convictions and to be willing to recognise your errors and put them right. If you have older kids, do delve into the question that the religious leaders hit pass on and why they may be afraid to stand behind John the Baptist.

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 : Matthew 21:28-32

A Biblical retelling of the parable of the two sons s found in Matthew 21

The religious leaders were trying to trap Jesus, but Jesus kept asking them questions they were too scared to answer. When they had hit pass on yet another question, Jesus decided to tell a story.

“There was a vineyard owner” said Jesus – Jesus liked to tell stories about vineyard owners, there were lots of vineyards about as lots of people drank wine!

“This vineyard owner had two sons, two sons who were sitting near the house, not doing anything to help!

“Oi” shouted their father as he spotted them. “The vines need tending, go help the workers!”
He marched right over to where the elder son was sitting.
“Will you go and help?” asked the father.
The son looked down at the ground. He really didn’t want to help today, he was hoping his friend would call soon, and he would rather not lie to his father.
“I’m sorry Father, but I don’t want to today” he said.

The father looked sad but decided to go ask his younger son
“Will you go and help?” asked the father again
“Yes sir” replied the younger son, knowing that was what his father wanted to hear. He thought that he would go and help as soon as he finished the game he was playing.

Hours later, the younger son was still playing. He knew he should be in the vineyard, but he was having too much fun, and his father didn’t seem too upset when his brother had said no. He didn’t move all day until the evening meal was called.

Meanwhile, the older brother felt terrible. When his friend arrived, he sent him away so he could do what his father had asked. He changed his clothes and went to work to make up for the time he’d sat at home.

Which of the two did what his father asked?” said Jesus.

It was an easy answer: the older son. Because the older son saw that his choice had been wrong and changed. The religious leaders didn’t want to change their minds, even when they realised they might be wrong. Jesus said that because of this, they would be the last to enter God’s kingdom.

New Testament

Old Testament

Resource Type

Season

Yes/No

Pairs

Second answer

Stop/Freeze

Simon says

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