A Withered Hand

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following passage:

Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11

On the Sabbath Jesus was in the synagogue. There was also a man there who had a withered hand. Some Pharisees were there who were trying to trap Jesus. They were watching closely to see if Jesus would heal this man’s hand on the Sabbath, which was against their laws. Jesus knew what they Pharisees were thinking and he became angry with them because they had hard hearts. Jesus told the man with the withered hand to stand up in front of everybody. Then Jesus asked the people what was ok for them to do on the Sabbath, good or evil, to save a life or to kill. There was no response to Jesus’ questions. Jesus told the man with the withered hand to stretch it out. When the man did this, his hand was completely healed and looked just the same as his other hand. This angered the Pharisees and the left the synagogue to go plot how they might destroy Jesus.

Object Lesson:

Impossible Task

Supplies needed:
• A random object
Direction:
1. Place a random object someplace in the room. Put it in a place that is still visible, but out of reach for everyone except you. (I used a clown nose and stuck it on the light fixture on the ceiling.)
2. Tell the children you have a task for them. You want them each to try to retrieve your object. Give each child a chance to retrieve the object.
3. When all the children fail at retrieving the object, talk about how impossible this task must seem to them, since none of them could do it.
4. Tell the children there are things in our lives that also seem impossible, but with Jesus, all things are possible. Reach up retrieve the object. Tell the children that just as you were able to reach up and retrieve the object, Jesus is also able to accomplish things that seem impossible for us.

1st Aid Kit

Supplies Needed:
• A first aid kit
Directions:
1. Open the first aid kit and examine the items with the children. Ask how each item might be used to help someone who is sick or injured.
2. Tell the children that today’s story is about a man who was injured and the only thing that could help him was Jesus!

Lego Stop Motion:

Supplies Needed:
• This stop motion Lego video of this story (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diXcKDsA0ys)
Directions:
1. Play this stop motion video for the children. The audio is not in English, so you may wish to turn down the volume and read the passage straight from the Bible.

Memory Verse:

Matthew 12:12
How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

Jesus Connection:

When we are sick or injured, it may seem like we will never get better. Our healing may seem impossible. But God wants us to know that with Jesus, all things are possible! (Matthew 19:26) Not only that, but we do not have to wait to come to Jesus with our problems until a designated time. Jesus is available to us 24/7, and he wants us to come to him with our impossible problems and he will give us rest. (Matthew 11:28)

Songs

Ah Lord God

Ah Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens
And the earth by Thy great power;
Ah Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens
And the earth by Thine outstretched arm.

Nothing is too difficult for Thee,
Nothing is too difficult for Thee;
O, great and mighty God,
Great in power and mighty in deed,
Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing,
Nothing is too difficult for Thee.

Games/Activities

Band-Aid Relay

Supplies Needed:
• Two pieces of paper
• Two boxes of band-aids
Directions:
1. Before class, draw a person on each of the pieces of paper. It does not have to be fancy. (Mine was a stick person!)
2. Divide the class into two teams. Place each team on one side of the room, and tape the pieces of paper with your drawing on them on the opposite side of the room. Set a box of band-aids under each picture.
3. Have one child from each team run down to the drawing and open a band-aid. Then the child can apply the band-aid to their team’s picture and return to their team.
4. Continue this process until each team member has had a chance to go, or until a designated amount of time has run out.
5. The goal is to see which team can apply the most amount of band-aids the fastest.

A Wrapped Hand

Supplies Needed:
• Enough ace bandages for each child to have one.
• Scissors
• Pieces of paper
• Coat with a zipper
• A book
• Markers
• Band-aids
Directions:
1. Before class, set up several stations around the room. Each station will present a different task that needs to be completed
a. Paper with scissor- cut the paper
b. Coat with a zipper- put on coat and zip up
c. Book- read and turn pages in the book
d. Piece of paper and markers- color on the paper
e. Band-aid- open and apply the band-aid to self
2. Wrap one hand on each child with an ace bandage. You may want to recruit someone to help with the wrapping if you have a lot of children.
3. Explain to the children that they will get to experience what is might have been like for the man with the withered hand to do simple activities that we do every day. Encourage the children to explore each of the stations around the room. This is not a race, so the children can take their time.

Crafts

Wrapped Hands

Supplies Needed:
• Ace bandages used for the wrapped hands activity
• Fabric markers
Directions:
1. Wrap each child’s hand with an ace bandage. This may already be done if you have just finished playing the wrapped hand activity mentioned above.
2. Explain to the children that today, if the doctor gives you a cast or big bandage, it is often seen that people will decorate their bandages.
3. Provide fabric markers for the children to decorate their bandages.

Coloring Page