There are two retellings of this story, and if you’ll forgive the simplification. The telling in Luke mostly sticks to the bare bones of the story, the idea that there was a banquet where everyone uninvited was welcomed. The Matthew one, by contrast, puts in some deep symbolism. It ‘ups’ the banquet to a wedding, talks about the servants being killed when they went to collect the guests, and ends with a puzzling passage about a man being thrown out for dressing incorrectly. All these are great to explore further with older groups, but I’ve stuck to the simple form for this retelling.
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 : Luke 14 Additional Passage : Matthew 22
The point of this parable about the bad tenants is where this craft resides. We see the rejected prophets becoming the very stones that God’s kingdom is being built upon. It ties into the idea of Jesus as the cornerstone but also that the contribution of those beaten, stoned and killed prophets gave in their service as God’s messengers.
Here are the images you need for the hero’s attributes linked to the Parable of the Bad Tenants (Matthew 21).
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.)
I love acting out stories, puppets, props, crafts, they can all highlight elements of the story and breath gusts of energy into dry dusty words – these blow life quite literally as you blow them across the table. Move the servants across the table on his way to collect from the Tenants, send the vineyard owner, his son, and a servant who is returning beaten and broken. Talk about the different characters, What were they feeling on their journeys? What obstacles did they face? What would they meet at the end of their travels?
The parable of the bad tenants is all about consequences, about unheeded messengers, about responses that should never have been an option. Jesus may seem to be teasing the religious leaders with such a brash tale, but the truth is that we all too easily forget that our actions send ripples into the future. Here is a selection of games to suit a wide range of ages and set-ups. Choose the game you would most like playing and your youngsters would respond to best.
How many does it take
All Ages
Any size group
Requires setup time
Quiet game
Can be seated
Cut up on magazine picture per child / team and place each picture into a separate bag. Have a child randomly pick one piece and try to guess what the whole picture is. Repeat until they guess or reconstruct the picture. Link this game to the idea of how many servants/prophets were sent.
Story Road
All Ages
Small group
Requires setup time
Quiet game
Can be seated
Print this game and travel the journey of the parable. You’ll need dice and counters. Print available by clicking on the picture.
Ripple effect
Ages 7+
Big group
No Setup time
Noisy game
Space needed
Easily described as ‘Simon says’ meets ‘a crowd’s rolling wave’. Have the kids stand in a circle and pass an action around. The easiest is a wave, encourages creativity. Once the action reaches the person who started it for the 2nd time, they stop the action and the next person starts a new one. Links to the idea of consequences.
I was stopped by…
Ages 7+
Any size group
No Setup time
Noisy game
Can be seated
A storytelling game that escalates swiftly. The first person tells the story of beginning a journey (eg. walking down the road) when “they were stopped by…” (eg a falling piano). The second person continues the story, navigates the obstacles and continues the journey until “they were stopped by…” and the third-person takes over.
Consequences
Ages 7+
Small group
No Setup time
Quiet game
Can be seated
This is a classic game. If you don’t know it each player is given a sheet of paper, and all are told to write down a word or phrase to fit a description, optionally with some extra words to make the story. Each player then folds the paper over hide the most recent line, and hands it to the next person. At the end of the game, the stories are read out.
An example may be 1) An adjective 2) A man’s name 3) The word “met” followed by an adjective 4) A woman’s name 5) The word “at” followed by where they met 6) The word “to” followed by what they went there for 7) The words “he wore” followed by what he wore 8) The words “she wore” followed by she wore 9) What he did 10) What she did 11) The words “and the consequence was” followed by details of what happened as a result 12) The words “and the world said” followed by what it said
