This story has many meanings. It points to Jesus' humanity. It points us to Jesus' divinity. And it points us to our own hope for life in the hereafter. The bindings around Lazarus have also been interpreted as a metaphor for the bindings of sin which Jesus releases us from.
Objectives for Rotation
At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
Find the story in the Gospel of John. Retell the story in their own words. Know that Jesus was human: he had friends, he felt sadness. Know that Jesus is God. He performed the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, demonstrating his power over sin and death. Understand that it is God's desire to bring us back to life both now and in the hereafter.
PREPARATION
Read the Bible Background.
Materials List
Chalk or markers Chalkboard, whiteboard, or newsprint Computers Software: Kid Pix 3 CD, Let’s Talk CD, Life of Christ CD
Advance Preparation Requirements
Preview the software.
Note how many issues and subjects the story touches on.
PRESENTATION
Open - Introduction
After welcoming the students, ask them how much they know about the story, the “Raising of Lazarus." If they seem to know a little bit, prompt their memories with clues from the story to see how much of the story they can fill out.
After you've introduced the story, take a moment to write the "Questions for Today" on the board that you want students to focus on. These will also be a big help to your computer lab assistants when everyone moves to the computers.
Why do people die?
Why did Jesus bring his friend back to life?
What does this story tell us about Jesus and our life and death?
Make a point of describing Lazarus as a close friend of Jesus, and brother to two of Jesus' friends, Mary and Martha. At this point in the lesson, with age-appropriate sensitivity, ask the children if they have lost a friend or family member. This may include a pet. Ask them about the emotions they experienced and/or the emotions they saw in those around them.
This is an important step. Ask the students why they think people die. Why doesn't God keep everyone alive? You don't have to have a pat answer for that. It's a question for the ages. But it does bring up the unusual fact, that Jesus had the power to bring some people back to life, and he didn't do it very often. Why some and not others? The answer is that Jesus used his powers to teach us about himself, about who he was, about whose power was inside him. This is a continuing discussion you'll often have with children about the role of miracles. Lazarus' raising was a SIGN to others, not a selfish act of compassion to bring back a friend.
"Now let's read the story together."
Kids are often fascinated by unusual facts. "Jesus Wept" is the shortest verse in the Bible. It's an interesting question to ask "why" the person who came up with the verse numbering system made this verse the shortest.
Dig – Main Content
Life of Christ CD
Go to the computers and turn on Life of Christ CD. Go to lesson 26 in the Professor's orange crate of lessons. View the presentation, discuss the question that appears at the end of the story, and then take the quiz. Non-readers can view this lesson, and they will need help reading the quiz.
Reflect - Closure
Using Let's Talk CD -or- Kid Pix 3 CD
Work groups at the computer can pick, or be assigned, one of the following questions/activities to answer using either Let's Talk CD or Kid Pix 3 CD. Each of these programs has a fun "talk aloud" feature that makes the computer speak. This type of activity is especially good for a story that has so many questions, and so many things that can be expressed. Many of those questions can be placed on the lips of Lazarus himself.
Older Students
Use "Conversation Now" module in Let's Talk. This presents you with an "instant messaging" style interface for two students to talk to each other through the computer. Each will create a character which can "send" a message to the other character at the same computer. It looks like a chat screen, but doesn't require anything else but the software.
Assign one or two students at the computer to be Jesus, the other student(s) at the same computer to be Lazarus AFTER his raising. Lazarus' job is to ask all questions he undoubtedly had when he was raised. WHY he raised him, what does this mean? Will I ever die again? Why didn't you come sooner? Why didn't you heal me when I was sick? The computer helper should be prepared to help students converse back and forth.
After the students practice responding to each other back and forth asking in the Conversation Now module, switch to "Talk Now" module, create a Lazarus character, and have Lazarus come up with WHAT he is going to tell others about his "resurrection from the dead" when people start asking him about it. In other words, what is the good news, the Gospel, to share with others about this event? After they have created their response, have them play it back for the entire class.
If you have Kid Pix 3, you can use the "talk aloud" feature in that program as a substitute for Let's Talk. However, you won't be able to have the back and forth "conversation" at one computer. Depending on the size of your lab and the amount of coordination you can muster, you could have one computer with Kid Pix reply to ANOTHER computer that also has Kid Pix on it.
Younger Students
Non readers will not be able to create the conversation on the computer that older students will be able to (with help). So what we're going to do is something a little different. Assuming you have two computers and each has a copy of Let's Talk, your two computer groups are going to talk back and forth to each other. Each group, working with its teacher/helper, is going to have to come up with two good questions about the meaning of the story to ask the other computer group. The other computer group will respond by coming up with an answer and having their computer respond back. Thinking dueling computers.
Some questions for the Conversation Now or "dueling computers" activity.
Why didn't you come earlier? Why did you decide to raise me? Why me? Why not someone else? What am I supposed to do now? What should I tell others? What does my death and resurrection tell the world?
Closing Prayer:
If you have time, you can let students create a spoken prayer using Kid Pix or Let's Talk. Each can contribute a sentence or two with your help.
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS
If you have time, or if you will be spending less time in the software, you can add this activity.
This activity is like an object lesson. After going over the story of Lazarus and exploring it in the software, tell the class that there is one more meaning to this story.
Ask for a very willing volunteer to stand with you. Using strips of cloth, slowly wind the volunteer up in the fabric (kind of like a mummy). As you wrap the person, share these thoughts:
"In those days, bodies were cleaned and wrapped before being placed in a tomb. And when Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, he said to unbind him. Many Christians have seen in this story a description of how a Christian feels when Jesus calls him or her to new life. They describe sin as a kind of death, that our sins bind us up and keeps us from doing what we should do. They keep us from following God and helping others." By now your student should be well wrapped!
And then you slowly begin unwrapping and saying, "But Jesus forgives us. Jesus has the power to free us from our sins. And when we are free from our sins, we can begin to live again. We are free to be our true selves, free to reach out to others (as you unwrap an arm), free to see the world as God wants us to see it (as you unwrap the eyes), free to walk in God's way."
If you're brave, have the kids pair up and practice wrapping each other. Wrap and unwrap in unison. As they unwrap their partner, the teacher can be reading aloud some of the suggested dialog above. Students can repeat it if you'd like.
Young students may not want their eyes and nose covered.
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