Betrayal – Mt 26 v 14 – 16, Mk 14 v 10 – 11

Lk 22 v 3 – 6

Arrest – Mt 26 v 47 – 56, Mk 14 v 43 – 50, Lk 22 v 47 – 53, Jn 18 v 3 – 11

Lesson Aim

To understand the betrayal and arrest of Jesus

Hook 1: Chocolate money

Offer a child a chocolate coin in return for committing a bad deed e.g. they have to be willing to tell lies about their best friend/brother/sister. You might ask their friend to leave the room and gradually offer more coins until they agree. Then bring the friend back into the room to hear the lies.

Then apply the scenario to Judas. He betrayed his best friend’s life for 30 pieces of silver.

Hook 2: Torches and swords

Get everyone to sit in a circle in the semi-dark. Pray with the children. Your ‘Amen’ should be the signal for the other leaders to enter the room waving torches and swords. They should call out phrases like ‘Get him’, ‘Arrest him’ and, ‘Which one is the traitor?’

When you have calmed everyone down, one of the guards should come up to you and dramatically kiss you on the cheek. The guards should then pretend to arrest you.

You should then explain that this is what happened to Jesus and how his friends then ran away.

Application

When concluding there are a few points that the children should understand.

1. Judas betrayed his best friend’s life for 30 pieces of silver.

2. Judas was able to show the guards where they could arrest Jesus.

3. What would we have done? Would we have betrayed Jesus? Would we have run away like his other friends, caring more about our own life than the life of Jesus?