Jesus' Temptation

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following:

Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13

As soon as Jesus had been baptized, the Spirit took Jesus into the desert, where he fasted and prayed for 40 day in preparation for his earthly ministry. One day, when Jesus was very tired and hungry, Satan came to Jesus to tempt him. Satan tempted him physically, spiritually and authoritatively. Each time he was tempted by Satan, Jesus withstood the temptation by quoting the Word of God. Jesus never sinned when he was tempted. When Satan saw that he would not be able to get Jesus to sin he left. After Satan left, angels came to attend Jesus.

Object lesson:

Balls of Temptation

Supplies Needed:
• Soft, squishy balls
• Large sheet or blanket
• Papers that say “The Word of God”
• tape
Directions:
1. On sheets of paper, write the words “The Word of God”. Tape the papers to a large bed sheet or blanket.
2. Ask for a volunteer who will walk across the room. Have him/her stand along one wall, and have all the other children stand along the opposite wall. These children have to keep one hand on the wall and hold a soft ball in their other hand.
3. When you say go, the volunteer child will walk along the wall while the other children try to hit him/her with soft balls. (Depending on time you may want to repeat this with each child taking turns being the volunteer.)
4. Explain to the children that the soft balls represent sin. It is often hard to avoid the sin that Satan throws at us.
5. Tell the children that it is your turn to be the volunteer. Ask them who thinks they can hit you will the balls. Pick up the prepped blanket and say go as you walk along the wall as you protect yourself with the blanket.
6. Explain to the children that when we use the Word of God, which is the Bible, we have protection against the sin that Satan throws at us, just as Jesus did in today’s story.

Temptation Delight

Supplies Needed:
• A specially prepared bowl of temptation
Directions:
1. Make a ‘tempting LOOKING dessert’. On the bottom of a pretty bowl put something like spinach or beets. Cover this with delicious looking cool whip, sprinkles, candies, etc.
2. Let the children see this during class and even share a little portion with those who want to try it.
3. Explain to them that sometimes things that look good, do not always end up being good. Talk about how Satan makes things look tempting, but things are not always what they appear to be.

Memory Verse:

Psalm 119:11
“I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

Jesus Connection:

Romans 5:12 tells us that sin entered the world through the sin of just one man, Adam. Because of his sin, the entire would is now trapped under the bondage of sin. In the verses that follow in this passage in Romans we see that we also have life through one, sinless man, Jesus. Just because Jesus never sinned does not mean he does not understand what we go through as we struggle to overcome sin. Hebrews 4:15 says “ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet he did not sin.” We know that Jesus cares for us as we struggle with sin, because he himself has been through these same temptations. He will make a way for us to get through these times of temptation. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Songs

The Temptation Song

(To the tune of BINGO)
When I’m tempted to do wrong
I turn and run away,
Say “NO!” and run away,
Say “NO!” and run away,
Say “NO!” and run away,
From sin I run away.

Games/Activities

Hot Potato

Supplies Needed:
• A soft ball
• Music that has a pause button
Directions:
1. Have the children sit in a circle.  Hand the soft ball to one person. Tell them that the ball represents sin, and the object of the game is to get rid of the sin as fast as they can.
2. When you start the music, have the children start passing the ball. When you stop the music, whoever has the ball is removed from the circle.
3. Repeat step 2 until there is only one person remaining, who wins the game.

Temptation Relay

Supplies Needed:
• Two equal stacks of cards
• 4 pieces of paper
Directions:
1. On small cards write down some things that people may be tempted to do that are bad (take money from mom’s purse, watch a bad TV show, cheat on a test…) and some things that are good to do (help a sibling with home work, bring a sick person a meal, shovel snow for the neighbor…) Make two sets of these cards.
2. On the top of two pieces of paper write the word ‘temptation’, and on the top of the other two pieces of paper write the words ‘good things’.
3. Divide your supplies evenly for two teams. Divide your children into two teams as well.
4. One at a time have the children run up to the table where there is a pile of cards for their team and two pieces of paper. Instruct the children to pick up one card and place it on the proper paper if it is a temptation they should avoid or something good they should do. The team that places all their cards onto the correct papers first wins.

Crafts

Pocket Heart

Supplies Needed:
• Thick, red or pink paper
• Scissors
• Ribbon or sting
• A selection of Bible verses.
• Hole punch
Directions:
1. Have the children cut out two, identical hearts.
2. Using a hole punch, punch holes on the ‘v’ edges of the heart.
3. Weave ribbon in and out of the holes to create an envelope, leaving the top of the heart open.
4. Write today’s Bible verse on the outside of the heart. (Psalm 119:11)
5. Have the children look up and write down several Bible verses about overcoming sin and temptation. ( I Cor. 10:13, Heb. 2:18, James 1: 2-3, James 1:12; I Peter 2:9, Rev. 3:10…) When they are done, they can put their verses inside their hearts.

Coloring Page