The authority of Jesus
key words
biblical reference
Matthew 21:1-17, 23-27; 26:14-16; 28:18.
lesson objective
To help students learn and accept the authority of Christ in their lives.
memory verse
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die’” (John 11:25-26a, NIV*).
prepare yourself to teach
For a large number of people, Jesus was just a historical figure. He is considered a good teacher or a prophet of biblical times. History recognizes him as a master of old times who died at the time of the Roman Empire. However, students must learn that Jesus is the Son of God and has divine authority over our life.
In all interpersonal relationships, it is necessary that the parties involved come to know each other more and more, to cement the relationship and create closer links. The same happens in our relationship with the Lord. How can we love Jesus if we do not know him?
Use these lessons so that your students know Jesus Christ more closely, and decide to follow him day by day.
biblical commentary
Read Matthew 21:1-17. The last week that Jesus was on earth, he experienced many emotions: joy, anger, worry and suffering. When he triumphantly arrived in Jerusalem, he affirmed his status as the promised Messiah and the crowd received him as a king. The people, excited to think that he would free them from the suffering and the Roman oppression, threw palm branches on the road for him to pass. The palms were a symbol of prosperity, justice and triumph.
Then he went to the temple, but he did not like what he saw. When people went there to worship, they offered animals as sacrifices. Many people traveled long distances, so they preferred to buy the animals in the court of the temple. Some travelers came from other countries and had to exchange their foreign currency for local money. But the problem was that the traders and sellers deceived the people to obtain greater profits.
Knowing this, Jesus did not hesitate to drive out the sellers and turn over the tables of the moneychangers, cleaning the temple of those who exploited the people.
Then the lame and the blind came to him and he healed them.
Later, Jesus confronted the Pharisees who challenged and questioned his authority. They wanted to know by what authority he had thrown the merchants out of the temple and healed the sick.
Jesus, using a common method among the Pharisees, answered them with another question: “Where was John’s baptism from? Heaven or men?” (V. 25).
The Pharisees did not know what to answer. They knew that the people would be angry with them if they answered that John’s baptism belonged to men, but if they answered that it was from heaven, they would have to recognize Jesus as the Son of God, because John had already prophesied it.
introduce the lesson
Who is the authority?
Ask two volunteers to help hand out pencils and the student activity sheets for this session.
Then ask the students to locate Student Activity Sheet #327-A, and then discuss what happens when you obey a person with authority.
Allow volunteers to read each of the situations and, together answer the following questions in accordance to each case:
Who is the authority?
What do you lose by obeying them?
What do you gain by obeying them?
teach the lesson
If the size of your class allows it, divide your students into four teams and assign them one of the rectangles with questions in Student Activity Sheet #327-B and #327-C. Allow time for them to read the passage and respond to the questions. Ask each group to name a representative, who will read the Bible passage and report the team’s answer to the other teams.
To conclude, tell them: Through these passages, we learned that Jesus has all the authority. Any authority that a person exercises on earth is because God has allowed it. However, God will judge those who misuse authority or abuse it.
connect the lesson
Who is he?
Ask students to individually complete this activity using Student Activity Sheet #327-D. Then, talk about who Jesus is to them. If time allows, encourage them to give a short testimony about their relationship with Jesus.
Read the memory verse on the worksheet a couple of times. Then ask that, without help, they try to repeat it by memory.
practice the memory verse
Tear papers into strips and write one word of the verse on each of them. (It may be easiest for this exercise to just use whole pieces of paper, or even half, and write one word per sheet.) Fold them in half. Invite everyone who wants to participate. Have each child choose a piece of paper and tape them up on the board in the correct order.
wrap-up
Pray
Have a short time of worship before you say goodbye, and invite your students to evaluate their lives, recognizing what areas they need to surrender to Jesus. Give them a few minutes to pray in silence. Then, conclude by thanking God for sending his only Son.
Encourage
Emphasize the importance of remembering Jesus’ authority and obeying him. He did not come as a dictator, but as Savior and Redeemer.
Invite
Make sure the students pick up the materials they used before saying goodbye. Tell the group something of interest that will encourage them to attend the next session and to invite others.
* Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™