Curriculum
Jesus Cleans the Temple
Memory Verse:
“He said, ‘Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!’” John 2:16
Bible Background
What Kids Will Learn
God’s temple, the church, is a place of worship. While He invites us to come as we are, we need to heed the warnings of Jesus and treat God’s church with a beautiful reverence.
Scripture Summary
The Jewish people celebrated Passover each year, and each male made the trip to Jerusalem for Passover and the week-long celebration of Feast of Unleavened Bread. Passover commemorated God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.
Passover was celebrated in Jerusalem, the religious and political capital of Palestine. The temple was an enormous and intimidating structure dedicated to the worship of God. Solomon built the
First Temple at this site around 950 B.C., but it was destroyed. Zerubbabel finished rebuild- ing it around 515 B.C., and Herod the Great began a remodeling project 46 years before this scriptural account.
While the religious leaders knew that the temple was a place to wor- ship God, their decisions had allowed other practices to take place.
What began as the convenient availability of sacrificial animals to trav- eling worshippers quickly became a chaotic and crowded marketplace complete with dishonest profiteering.
The marketplace became a distraction from the true purpose of the temple—worshipping God. It’s no wonder Jesus was righteously indig- nant at the monstrosity. He took matters into His own hands, drove out the merchants, and protected His Father’s temple.
John records the first time Jesus cleared the temple. In just three short years, Jesus would again clear the temple (Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19).
When Jesus mentioned He would rebuild the destroyed temple in three days, He was referring to Himself, not the physical building.
Why Is This Important
Jesus invites each of us to worship God. The great news, under the New Covenant, is we can worship God anywhere. But God’s house, our church, is a special place of worship. Jesus wants us to focus on God when we’re in His house. He wants us to see and remember how He provides and trust Him more and more each day.
Teacher Devotion
Scripture
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8)
Stuff. I’m surrounded by stuff. Stuff in my drawers and closets. Stuff lying around the house. Stuff in my car. Stuff at my desk. While some of it’s useful, so much of my stuff is distracting.
I can watch decluttering home shows and embrace the simplistic approach of Marie Kondo. For each piece in a home, she encourages me to ask, “Does this bring me joy?” The bright summer shirt that no longer fits…no. The picture frame showcasing the joys of a family vacation…uh, most definitely!
Jesus did His own act of decluttering, really cleansing, the temple of Jerusalem. Religious leaders had turned God’s temple, a place of worship, into a marketplace complete with underhanded business deals for profit. I doubt this marketplace appeared overnight. My guess is, step-by-step,
religious leaders adopted questionable acts—beginning with making sacrificial animals available to those traveling far distances.
I see a parallel to my own spiritual clutter. My clutter didn’t happen overnight, either. Step-by-step, I’ve allowed in pride, judgment, and poor choices that do not honor God and don’t give Him praise. May God cleanse my heart and my life. I want to only keep that which brings Him joy.
Marie Kondo sets a goal to have a house full of items that bring her joy. I’m thinking God’s goal is to have a church full of people and actions that bring Him praise.
Prayer
Dear God, please help me get rid of the clutter in my life. I realize there are thoughts, words, and actions that are not pleasing to You. Help me see—and keep—only that which brings you joy. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Bible Memory Verse
You’ll Need: Rope, Index cards, Clothespins, Bibles - one per, child
Get Ready:
Before class, write a word or phrase from today’s memory verse on each index card. Turn them writing side down and mix them up on the floor. Hang the rope so the cards can be hung like laundry on it.
“To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!’” John 2:16
Lead kids in these steps:
Invite each child to open their Bibles to John 2:16.
Read the verse several times aloud with the class.
Explain that you are going to see how quickly they can pin the cards in order on the rope.
Remind kids they can keep their Bibles open and help each oth- er to make sure the cards are put in order.
After the memory verse is in order, read it aloud as a class.
ASK:
What do you think about what Jesus did in the temple?
What surprises you about what Jesus did?
SAY: Jesus picked up a piece of rope and made it into a whip to drive out the cattle and sheep that people were selling in the temple. Jesus was serious about cleaning out the temple because it was not a market. It was a house of worship.
Interactive Bible Experience
You’ll Need: A styrofoam cup, A nice, opaque tea cup, Mud, Bibles - one per, child
Get Ready:
Before class, place mud all over the outside of the styrofoam cup. Also put mud on the inside of the nice tea cup, but keep the mud low in the cup so it’s not obvious by looking at the outside.
SAY: Today I brought with me two cups. One doesn’t look so great, but this special tea cup is very nice and expensive. Allow the kids to look at each cup from a distance.
ASK:
Which cup would you like to drink out of and why?
What if I clean up the outside of the styrofoam cup. (Wipe down the outside of the cup and make it look clean.)
Tell which cup you prefer now, and why.
After kids decide which cup they would rather drink from, slowly show them the inside of the styrofoam cup first and then the tea cup.
SAY: Today we learned about a time Jesus went inside the temple to clean it. He was not happy with what was going on inside so He reminded people that the temple should be a house of worship. Let’s look at Matthew 23:25-26 now.
Invite kids to open their Bibles to that passage. Read it aloud.
ASK:
How can we keep ourselves clean for God’s Spirit who lives in us?
SAY: Just like the temple wasn’t clean on the inside, when we dress up and come to church, it doesn’t mean we are clean on the inside either. We may look nice, but we may be hiding something like the sin of unforgiveness. Jesus cares that we are clean on the inside, too. It’s important for us to have a clean heart. To do that means we may need to talk to God silently about a sin and say we’re sorry. We will close this time with some silent moments for you to talk to God.
Snack
Temple Snacks
You’ll Need: Large and small pretzel sticks, Large and small marshmallows, Paper plates - one per child
Follow these steps to make the “Temple Snacks”:
Give each child a paper plate, some pretzel sticks, and some marshmallows.
Invite kids to construct a temple out of their pretzel sticks and marshmallows.
Enjoy.
SAY: Great job making temple snacks out of pretzel sticks and marshmallows.
ASK:
As we think back on today’s lesson, what seemed most important to you of the things Jesus cleaned?
Why are those things the most important?
Game
Clean-Up Challenge
You’ll Need: Masking tape, Copy paper
Get Ready:
Before class, divide the room in half by putting a masking tape line down the middle of the room.
Follow these steps to play the “Clean-Up Challenge”:
Divide the class into an even number of kids.
Give each team an equal stack of typing paper.
Explain they have one minute to turn all the typing paper into balls by wadding each sheet up as quickly as possible.
Once both teams have their paper wads ready, explain that when you say go, each team will try to clean up their side of paper wads by throwing them to the other side.
They must always stay on their side of the line and they cannot hold paper wads for more than five seconds.
Allow kids to play for several minutes and then call “stop.”
The team with the least amount of paper wads on their side at “stop” wins.
ASK:
Was it easy or hard to keep your side cleaned up? Explain.
Is it easy or hard to keep your hearts clean? Explain.
SAY: We aren’t great at cleaning things up. In fact, we’re like the people in the temple in today’s lesson. We’re great at making messes. That’s why it’s a great thing to see how Jesus can come along and really clean things up. Not only did Jesus clean the temple that day, but by His dying on the cross, He has given us the gift of forgiveness and cleansing of our sins. That’s great news!
Craft
Temple Key Craft
You’ll Need: “Key Handout” printed on cardstock - one per child, Binder rings - one per child, A hole punch, Scissors, Markers
To make the “Temple Key” crafts, have kids follow these steps:
Instruct the children to cut out several keys from the “Key Hand- out.”
On each key, invite children to write something important that we can do in our church. For example, one key can say worship, another key can say praise, another key can say sing, another key can say pray, and so on.
Next, children will punch a hole in the top of each key.
Give each child a binder ring to put their “Temple Keys” onto and take home to hang on their wall.
SAY: Jesus was not happy about what was going on in the temple. He wanted to make a point that the temple is a place of worship. Take these keys with you to remind you of the real reason for going to church.
Prayer
Church Hunt Prayers
You’ll Need: Index cards
Get Ready: Before class, write clues for areas in the church, such as these:
Find a place people gather to worship together.
Find a place where people hear God’s Word in smaller groups.
Find a place where people pray together.
Find a place where people serve.
Find a place in your church that talks about missions.
Explain to the class that they are going to go on a hunt and pray in different areas of the church.
Read each clue and allow kids to give suggestions on where they could go in the church. At times, there will be more than one right answer. Allow them to decide on one place as a group.
Once they reach the location, invite kids to pause and pray in the area.
Ideas for prayer:
Pray for the people involved.
Pray for the work being done.
Pray that the church would remain a house of worship.
SAY: As you walk through our church each week, remember that this is a place of worship. Jesus takes that very seriously and we can, too.
