Grade 3 to 8 Kids Fun Mystery solving activity to find out what Jesus did for LENT!

copyright Jo Dibbern 2011

WHAT???? You ask. Am I bonkers?

Please, hold on until you read the whole thing.

This is the TEACHER DISCUSSION GUIDE, and you can choose to print it out at the end of the page.

How did Jesus prepare for Easter?
What did Jesus do for Lent?

Lent is the time for preparing for Easter. Right?

It is the time immediately before Easter.
Neither the words Lent nor Easter were words known in Jesus' time. Neither words, Lent or Easter appear anywhere in the Bible! We Christians adopted those words as well as the names of the special days of Good Friday(death) and Maundy Thursday (Last Supper).

Knowing what we know now, and substituting our words for what happened then, how did Jesus prepare for Easter and Good Friday? We will be solving this mystery. It is the same as asking, "how did Jesus prepare for His own death and resurrection"?

Jesus prepared for Easter for a long time before Good Friday (the day he was nailed on the cross). He stepped up His preparation in His last week (Holy week)

Jesus knew what was going to happen.

You could say His whole life on earth was preparing all people for the time after Easter (his resurrection) and for after He had gone to heaven (his ascension). We will focus on Jesus Himself and the Apostles.

Specifically, Jesus prepared Himself and the Apostles for what was ahead.. We are going to look at the evidence to prove it.

So it could be asked, "What did Jesus do for Lent?
Meaning, what did Jesus do in preparation for His death and what was to follow.

- Jesus prepared the disciples (apostles) for His death.
- Jesus prepared the disciples (apostles) for His own resurrection
- Jesus prepared the disciples (apostles) for the betrayal.
- Jesus prepared the disciples (apostles) for what their duties and responsibilities will be after he is in heaven.
- Jesus prepares himself for His own death and suffering.

Jesus' preparation time for His Easter - Resurrection day- was not 40 days - our Lenten season - but for us, a set period is more understandable.

The Mystery to be solved:

1. Who knew THAT JESUS WAS going to be CRUCIFIED?

2. Should the Apostles (Disciples) have been surprised at what happened on Good Friday and Easter?

3. Were the Apostles (Disciples) prepared in any way for what would happen?

4. How were they (Apostles) prepared for what was ahead for them (Apostles)?

5. How did Jesus prepare himself for Good Friday and Easter?

You will get all kinds of clues (evidence) to help you solve the mystery.

Print everything.

Cut apart the Mystery Clues before class and pre-read them. Remove any you would not want to use.

Though there are many clues in this kit, there are even more clues which are not in here. If the class comes up with anymore clues, write them in the blank space on the appropriate category heading sheet. One example could be Jesus telling Peter about his denial before the rooster crows. Which is tangentially applicabale.

Steps for solving the mystery

1.Print and Read the \teacher Discussion Guide, "What did Jesus do for Lent?" to the class

2. Print the 6 Category Heading sheets
- Jesus prepared the disciples (apostles) for His death.
- esus prepared the disciples (apostles) for His own ressurection
- Jesus prepared the disciples (apostles) for the betrayal.
- Jesus prepared the disciples (apostles) for what their duties and responsibilities will be after he is in heaven.
- Jesus prepares himself for His own death and suffering.
- Other preparation or information

3. Put the category sheets either on a commonly shared table or on a wall.

4. Cut apart the 26 Jesus' Lent clue cards. (TEACHER Pre-read all the cards and remove any you do not wish to use) lent-mystery-clue-cards-v2.doc

5. TEACHER: Fold the cut Clue Cards in half so the class does not peek at the insides. These clues are EVIDENCE!

6. Have each student choose a clue card from a hat or box, so they cannot see what is inside.

7. Do #6 again until all the clue cards are distributed.

8. Have someone read their Clue Card. Read the introduction (purple simple arial font) and all the verses (black Times Roman font) . Let all decide which Category heading sheet it belongs on. (Put it there or tape it there) CARDS WORK WELL IN COLOR OR BLACK AND WHITE

9. Repeat # 8 until all the cards are read and in place.

10. ASK THE CLASS NOW:

Based on all the evidence in front of you,

1. Who knew THAT JESUS WAS going to be CRUCIFIED?

2. Should the Apostles (Disciples) have been surprised at what happened on Good Friday and Easter?

3. Were the Apostles (Disciples) prepared in any way for what would happen?

4. How were they (Apostles) prepared for what was ahead for them (Apostles)? (What were they told they were to do?)

5. How did Jesus prepare himself for Good Friday and Easter?