Jesus Without Language

Jesus openly criticised the Pharisees long threads upon their garments. These long threads are religious symbols but the Pharisees would make them super long, impractically so, to show their great piety. They joined a long list of criticisms that Jesus accused the religious leaders of. There is a lot of symbols and cultural references in Matthew 23 but this one is quite clear and carries a very simple message – God doesn’t look at the outside but at our actions.

 
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This passage about the religious hypocrites holds such a lot of symbols but all of them have at their root the idea of pride. This is reflected in these games, each taking the ideas from a slightly different angle.

Inverted Mirror – this mirroring game takes two people facing each other but they are going to copy each others actions in reverse – ie if one moves left the other will move right. Have both people start by sitting down on chairs. As one person moves to become bigger/taller, the other moves to become smaller/shorter – generally this if one person leads at first. Talk about how Jesus reversed the importance we place of people in this passage.
 

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The idea of the servant being the greatest is one that Jesus revisits in many passages, this little split pin craft looks at how not only the servant is the greatest but often the authority is also the least. It’s based on Matthew 23:11-12 where Jesus says “The greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

 
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Here are the images you need for the hero’s attributes linked to the Religious Hypocrites (Matthew 23).
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.)

English

Extra’s – (English Only).
 

 

If you want the teachers page then please click on the image for the pdf.

Today’s hero is the Pharisee because he shows us the gift of a hypocrite

Essential Teachers notes:
This passage is chock full of symbolism, cultural norms and is a potential minefield to understand as a modern adult let alone as a child. It’s also pure teaching as opposed to a person based narrative so to make it more identifiable I’ve focused on how one Pharisee may have heard it. The word ‘Hypocrite’ is quite an adult term and it’s worth spending a few minutes explaining the meaning to the kids. If you have a very young group then simply omit that one reference in the retelling below.

Tell this story or a similar one of your choice from a favourite bible translation or story book. This version is supplied for inspiration, feel free to omit or embellish to give it your personal voice.

Main Passage : Matthew 23:1-12

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