As we continue in our series on Seeing and Unseeing in the Gospel of John, this week we are going to explore unseeing and unbelief. We are going to use the concepts from a 100-year-old science-fiction novella, Flatland, by Edwin A. Abbott to ponder what it means to see the world from an entirely new perspective, and why it can seem so difficult to “see” something that is right in front of us.
Light a candle, take some deep breaths, or sing a song, to draw your attention to God’s presence. Say this prayer together or read it to yourself.
Share with one another:
What is something that you hope to make room for in this coming season?
Read aloud John 12: 36b-43
Edwin A. Abbott was an English theologian, Anglican priest and teacher who published the novella Flatland in 1884. This is a satirical work that uses mathematics and geometry to explore seeing the world in different dimensions. You do not need to understand the math or have read the book for today.
Rather, please watch this short video which gives an overview of the book before having a group discussion.
As a group discuss the following:
If you are interested, here is another video on Flatland:
Close this time of worship by reading this blessing (written by Andrea Perrett).
Lesson Highlights: We introduce the idea of King Jesus young because later on it will help us understand both Jesus’ mission and his death. Jesus reigns not over a place on a map, but over a group who trust him and who decide to live together on earth as if God really does reign. Meanwhile, we see how this makes Jesus a threat to religious leaders (“How dare he claim this– only God is king?”) and Roman leaders (“Cesar is the only king, this man is a threat”). Are these big kid concepts? Yes, but this is how we start a small, spiral later.
Leader Reads:
One day, Jesus was walking with his friends. They were going to visit a city called Jerusalem and Jesus wanted to ride into the city on a donkey. Jesus told his friends where they could find the donkey and the friends went to look for it.
When the friends found the donkey, they took it to Jesus. Jesus’ two friends took their coats off and put them on the donkey’s back so that it would be soft for Jesus and easy to ride on. Jesus sat on the donkey and started to ride into town.
Let’s make the sound of the donkey walking. Pat your hands on your knees and say
Clippity-Clop.
Clippity-Clop.
Clippity-Clop.
Clippity-Clop.
Many people heard that Jesus was coming and they knew that Jesus was special. The people had been waiting and hoping for a good king to care for them. Jesus listened to them (hands behind ears), he helped them (reach hands out), and he loved them (hug yourself).
The people wanted Jesus to be their king (hands on head like a crown). They wanted to show love to Jesus and tell him how great a king he was, so they had a parade for Jesus. When I think of a parade I think of marching bands, floats, and dancing. They are so much fun!
But the people at Jesus’ parade didn’t have big bands and huge floats. Instead, they did many other things to show that they thought Jesus was a great king.
One way they did this was by putting their coats on the ground for the donkey to walk on. They were showing love to Jesus. They made a special road for him to ride on. Let’s pretend to put our coats on the ground.
Hold up your coat. (Hold two hands in the air) and lay it on the ground for Jesus. (Wwwwppppshhhhh.) Do it again. Hold up your coat. (Hold two hands in the air) and lay it on the ground for Jesus. (Wwwwppppshhhhh.) Do it again. Hold up your coat. (Hold two hands in the air) and lay it on the ground for Jesus. (Wwwwppppshhhhh.)
But the people didn’t stop there. They wanted to show more love to Jesus because they thought of Jesus as a King. (Hands on head like a crown). The people got some special palm leaves to wave at Jesus. In the parade the people waved their branches at Jesus. Let’s wave our arms back and forth like palm branches (wave arms back and forth over head). And then, the people sang special words too. They sang “Hosanna! Hosanna! Jesus is a King!” The people sang these words to show their love to Jesus! The people loved Jesus so much they used their voices to sing and shout to Jesus, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Jesus is King” The people sang, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Jesus is King!”
Say that with me…Hosanna! Hosanna! Jesus is King!
The people showed love to Jesus by having a parade for him!
Leader Reads:
One day, Jesus was walking with his friends. They were going to visit a city called Jerusalem and Jesus wanted to ride into the city on a donkey. Jesus told his friends where they could find the donkey and the friends went to look for it. The friends who went to go and find the donkeys were two disciples, the disciples were 12 men that spent a lot of time learning and listening to Jesus. Can you name another disciple? (Maybe Peter, John or Judas)
Back to our story. The friends of Jesus who were called ________ (the disciples) did exactly what Jesus had asked. They found a donkey and put their jackets on the donkey so Jesus had a comfy seat to ride one. There were a lot of people waiting for Jesus to show up because they had heard about Jesus at this point. You see, Jesus had been doing a lot of miracles and healings. While Jesus often told people who he was, sometimes people were pretty confused including his good friends and family of what that meant. Crowds were collecting because they were anticipating the arrival of a KING!
Why do you think that they thought Jesus would be a King? The Israelites had been promised that someone was coming that would make their life better and they had waited MANY years for that person to show up. They expected someone really powerful, maybe someone who had great military leadership or a lot of horses. But that wasn’t who Jesus was. He was incredibly amazing, but he didn’t exactly act like a King.
As Jesus rode down the road on a donkey, some put their coats on the road for Jesus’ donkey as he passed by while others waved palm branches. You see, while people didn’t understand who Jesus was exactly yet, they knew he was important. So important that they believed that his donkey shouldn’t even touch the road. This was treatment like a King.
As Jesus rode down the road on the donkey people shouted “Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest!” Hosanna is a word used in the Bible that was used to describe deep praise or adoration. Saying this to Jesus would have been a huge recognition of his role and respect.
When Jesus showed up in Jerusalem those that didn’t know who Jesus ask began to ask “Who is this?” The crowds joyfully responded with “It’s Jesus, from Nazareth!”
Using your skill of curiosity, what are some questions you have from this story?
Imagination prayer
Get comfy, close your eyes if you’d like, and take a big breath. Use your awesome imagination and picture this: what’s it like when Jesus is King? How do you feel inside? How do people treat people? How do people treat creation? What else do you imagine?
Jesus, help us see your kingdom all around us. Thanks that we can live there with you. Amen.
Supplies: scissors and green paper, or green markers and white paper
Create and decorate a palm branch. Invite your child to write something that they love about Jesus on the paper leaf, or simply the word “Hosanna”.
Put on some fun music and have a parade around your home or a dance party together. If you made them, wave your leaves!
Supplies: Graham crackers, frosting, gummy bears, green sour straws
Using a graham cracker road, create your own reenactment of Jesus’ entry and parade with gummy bear people, frosting coats, green sour straw palm leaves.
Allow kiddos to use their imagination of what they think the scene looked like and then eat it after they are done creating! Keep it simple by just using the basic supplies or add more if that’s your style.
