Lesson Plans that Work – Year A
Eastertide
Second Sunday of Easter
John 20:19-31
Background: Today’s reading from the Gospel of John follows the discovery of the resurrected Jesus by the women at the tomb. Although several disciples raced to the tomb to see for themselves, they returned to the upper room in fearing that they would be the next to be killed. While they huddled in fear, Jesus came to them continuing to teach the message of peace and forgiveness. Note that the same Gospel reading occurs on the Second Sunday of Easter in all three Lectionary cycles, so for each cycle the lesson plan suggests a section of the reading as the focus. For today’s session, the suggested focus is Thomas and his difficulties believing what he has not seen (verses 24-28).
Before: A variety of activities are suggested so you can use what fits your timeframe. Some will require gathering materials. If you choose to do the Egg Shell Mosaic, you will need to collect shells from colored Easter eggs.
Intergenerational Lesson Plan
Gathering: As people arrive invite them to examine the Paschal Candle and then draw it on their name tag. It would be good to have someone standing by who is familiar with what the decorations mean and can answer questions. Here is an explanation quoted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_candle
This candle is traditionally the first to be lit and the one from which all other lights are taken. In most cases today the candle will display the Greek letters, alpha and omega (the beginning and the end), together with the year indicated at the base. Five grains of incense in red are embedded in it to represent the wounds of Jesus Christ (from the nails in each hand and foot and the spear in the side).
Getting Acquainted: If people do not know each other well or just for the fun of it, invite them to form teams to get answers to the queries provided. Pair very young children with an adult they know, older children can pair with a grandparent type or a teen. You could suggest that “old timers” find “newcomers” to pair with.
Here are three sets of ideas. Obviously, feel free to add your own ideas to the ones suggested here:
Set A:
Get the name of someone who has been baptized in our church building.
Find someone who has lived in 3 or more cities.
Find someone who is wearing something red
Find someone who likes lima beans.
Set B:
Find someone who lives close enough to walk to church.
Find someone who has to ride for more than 10 minutes to get here.
Get the name of someone who was born in this town.
Find someone wearing something blue.
Set C:
Find someone who has a dog at home.
Find someone who knows our priest’s middle name.
Find someone who goes to school during the week.
Find the favorite jelly bean flavor of three different people.
Opening Prayer: Standing around the Paschal Candle, have someone light it. Then, use your own words, or these: “Thank you, God, for this time together as we notice how Jesus is light in our lives. Amen.”
Preview: Tell the group what you have planned for this session: beginning and ending in prayer, hearing and reflecting on today’s Gospel passage with a few questions and selected activities. Let them know what time you expect to be finished and answer any questions.
Option: Tell the group we are going to pretend that someone has joined us who has never heard of Jesus and who has no idea what the words “Easter” and “Resurrection” mean to us. We will put together our explanation. Ask people to offer ideas, accepting all ideas. Tell people they can add to an idea. Remember not to dismiss any ideas. Example: Easter means the Easter Bunny brings candy and . . .
Take notes so you can help the group keep track of what they have offered.
The Story: John 19: 24-28. Jesus had died and the disciples are very sad. Some of the disciples have seen the Resurrected Jesus with their own eyes but Thomas has not. This is what happened:
While the disciples were in the room where they had been with Jesus before he died, trying to figure things out, Jesus suddenly was standing right there with them. They could see him, wounds and all. Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, “Peace be with you.” He also reminded them to forgive each other.
But Thomas was not in the room. Later, the others tried to convince Thomas that they had seen Jesus. It was just too much for Thomas. “Unless I see for myself, I cannot believe,” he said. A week later when all the disciples were together, including Thomas, Jesus appeared again. Jesus invited Thomas to touch the wounds on his body. Now Thomas could believe. When Jesus said, “Peace be with you,” all of them could feel the peace.
Questions:
Ask the group if anyone can share a time they heard some news that was so good it was hard to believe.
Ask the group if they can think of a time it is not smart to believe everything we hear.
Who are some people we trust to tell us the truth?
Act it Out: You will need at least a disciple or two, Thomas, and Jesus. If your group is small, work together to figure out what each person will say.
If you have a larger group, give the actors a few minutes with a copy of the passage to plan their skit. The rest of the group can be thinking of (and possibly jotting down) questions to ask the actors. Watch the skit and then work together to discuss the interview questions for the actors.
Hard Stuff/Good Stuff: Although we know Jesus wants us to forgive each other and to pass the peace to each other, sometimes this is not easy to do. To practice, ask the group to form partners. (It could be the same ones who played the get acquainted game together.)
Ask each person to think of a time when they were really angry with a friend and then were able to forgive that friend. Ask each person to try to remember how it felt to be so angry with the friend and then what it felt like when they could say, “Let’s be friends.”
Then, taking turns, pretend the partner is the one you were angry with. Then tell the person you want to be friends again. When each has had a chance to practice the anger and the forgiving, tell them to shake hands and one say, “Peace be with you.” The other then says, “And also with you.”
Ask the group to think about the time in church when we pass the peace. (If children are in Sunday School and not in the service at that time, ask someone to describe the way it happens in your church.) Tell them that when we pass the peace in church, the person we have been angry with is usually not in the room. So we shake the hand of the person near us, passing peace to them and through them on to the person we need to forgive. And, we accept the peace from the person next to us letting that peace also pass through us on to the person they need to forgive.
The Empty Tomb: Tell the group we will work together to make the Empty Tomb, fashioning the clay over the top of the box so it looks like a tomb. The stone that was rolled away will also need to be formed and placed near the opening. Fold the cloth neatly and place it inside the tomb. If you have access to small flowers you can make it look like the tomb is in a garden. If time permits, someone can draw and color angels to stand by the tomb, or fashion them out of the clay.
Find a place where the empty tomb can be displayed for all who come to church.
Over the next weeks, people can bring fresh flowers. They can also bring prayers (‘please’ prayers and ‘thank you’ prayers) written on small pieces of paper to place in front of the tomb.
Recipe for Cornstarch Clay (Double Batch)
2 cups cornstarch
4 cups baking soda
2 ½ cups water
Stir mixture constantly in a sauce pan over medium heat until mixture resembles mashed potatoes. Spoon mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap. When the clay is cool enough to knead, knead it a few times. The mixture will keep for several weeks if sealed in a plastic bag and stored in a refrigerator.
Latvian Egg Game: Latvia is the source of this version of a game that is played in several countries. The point of the game is to gently tap as many eggs as you can without cracking your egg or the egg held by your opponent. Gentleness does it. Violence loses! See how long you can make the game last with no one getting a cracked egg.
Easter Mosaic: Working together, decide what the group wants to depict. It could be the empty tomb, with flowers growing around it. It might be Thomas, before and after believing. Maybe it is the Resurrected Jesus. Let the group decide and create what they want the egg shells to represent.
A Paschal Candle to Go: Each person or family unit can decorate a candle to go home with them. When all are finished stand the candles on a small table in the center of your group so all can enjoy them.
Closing Activity: Place the Paschal Candle on or by the table and arrange all the completed projects on the table. An adult can light the candle(s).
Invite the group to sit quietly for just a minute and enjoy the completed activities. Then ask everyone to take a deep breath and hold it for the count of three. Then exhale. Invite the people to think as they are breathing in that they are breathing in the Peace that Jesus offers. And as they breathe out, they are breathing out Jesus’ peace on all of us. Do this for two or three times.
Closing Prayer: :Use your own words, or these: “Thank you, God, that Jesus breathes your peace on each of us and calls each of us to breathe peace on all those in our lives. Amen.:
Blow out the candle(s). The project can be placed in the church and/or taken home to enjoy during the Easter season.