Arrest of Jesus - Sword

We just learned that Jesus had gone off to a place called Gethsemene and prayed to God about the job he knew he had to do,
and that Judas gave Jesus a kiss to betray him to the guards.

When the guards arrested Jesus, some of his apostles tried to fight them, and one of them cut off the ear of one of the people arresting Jesus.

Jesus told his followers not to fight, because he knew that he had to go and die on the cross, so he had to go with the guards.

He told them "Put your sword back in its place, .. for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
He said that if he wanted to he could call down angels to protect him if he wanted, but he knew that he had to die on the cross.


(from: wikipedia - arrest of jesus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Miracles - Healing Lepers

Arrest of Jesus - Judas' Kiss

We just learned that Jesus had gone off to a place called Gethsemene and prayed to God about the job he knew he had to do.

When he was there with his apostles, Judas came up to Jesus and gave him a kiss.

There were guards with Judas, hired by people that did not like Jesus.
When Judas gave Jesus a kiss, that was to tell the guards who Jesus was, and they came and arrested him.


(from: wikipedia - kiss of judas)

Jesus knew that Judas would betray him, as he had told him at the Last Supper.

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Miracles - Healing the Blind

Arrest of Jesus - Jesus' Prayer

After Jesus had eaten the Last Supper with his disciples, they went out to a place called Gethsemene.

There Jesus went for a walk by himself to pray.
He prayed to God the Father and said "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

He wasn't talking about an actual cup, but the job that he had to do that was very difficult.
Jesus knew that very soon he was going to die on the cross for the sins of the whole world, and this was a very hard thing to do.
He asked God for help, and said that he would do whatever God commanded.
When he got done praying he want back to his disciples who had all fallen asleep!
He told them to wake up and pray so that they would be strong.


(from: wikipedia - arrest of jesus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Apostles and Disciples

Last Supper - Communion

We've learned that Jesus was having his Last Supper with his apostles, he said that Judas would betray him.

While Jesus was at the dinner, he took some bread and gave it to his disciples, told them to eat it, and that it was his body.
Then he poured some wine in a cup and gave it to his disciples, told them to drink it, and that it was his blood.

He told them to eat and drink the bread and wine like that to remember him because he was going to die on the cross for them.

This is sometimes called Holy Communion, or the Eucharist, or the Lord's Supper.
The word Eucharist means thanksgiving.

(from: wikipedia - eucharist)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Apostles - Matthias

Last Supper - Judas' Betrayal

When Jesus was having his Last Supper with his apostles, he said that one of them would betray him.

There were a lot of people that did not like Jesus, and some of them wanted to have him killed, but they wanted someone like one of his apostles to tell them where he was.

Jesus knew that Judas would be the one who would do it, so at the last supper he told his apostles that Judas was the one who would betray him.

Judas left the supper and went to tell the people who wanted to kill Jesus where he was.

(from: wikipedia - last supper)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Apostles - Judas Iscariot

The Last Supper

After Jesus went to Jerusalem and was greeted as a king,
he sat down for with his twelve apostles for the last time before he would be taken away to be killed.

Because it was the last time they would have supper together, this is known as The Last Supper.

(from: wikipedia - last supper)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Apostles - James Son of Alphaeus

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

We just learned about the Plans to kill Jesus

After Jesus told his apostles that he was the Messiah,
that he would be killed and then raised back to life three days later
and was transfigured on the mountaintop he went to Jerusalem.

Jesus told his apostles to go to the nearby village and they would find a donkey.
He told them to take the donkey and bring it back to Jesus.

The apostles went to the village and just like Jesus said they found a donkey tied up there waiting,
so they untied it and brought it to Jesus.

Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem, and when he got there a big crowd of people was cheering in the streets for him.
They took their coats off and put them on the ground for Jesus to sit on or walk on.
They cut branches down from the palm trees and placed them on the road for him.
They shouted out loud to him:
Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!

The people of Jerusalem saw Jesus as their king coming to save them.


(from: wikipedia - triumphal entry into jerusalem)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Apostles - Thomas

Plans to kill Jesus

We just learned about Jesus' Transfiguration.

After Jesus had done many miracles and taught people using parables, some of the people in those days didn't like what Jesus was doing.

Some of the leaders were upset because people were following Jesus instead of them.

So they started making plans to have Jesus killed, because they could not stop him from doing miracles and teaching people.

(from: wikipedia - pharisees)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Apostles - Thomas

Jesus Transfiguration

We learned that Jesus told his apostles that he was the Messiah, and that he would be killed and then raised back to life three days later.

After that he went up on to a high mountain with Peter, James and John.
When they were up there, Jesus' face shined bright like the sun and his clothes became white as light.
Jesus' went through a big change to look beautiful and holy, and we call that transfiguration.

When Jesus was up on the mountain, he talked to Moses and Elijah, who were in heaven.

A bright cloud came over them and God's voice from the cloud said This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!

Jesus told them not to tell anyone else about what had happened until after he was raised from the dead.

(from: wikipedia - transfiguration of jesus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Apostles - Philip and Bartholomew

Jesus tells his apostles that he will be killed

After Jesus told his apostles that he was the Messiah, he told them that he was going to have to go to the town of Jerusalem, where he would be killed and then would be raised back to life three days later.

His apostles were very upset about this, especially Peter who said he wouldn't let that happen.
Jesus explained to Peter that it was all part of God's plan, and that it had to happen.


(from: wikipedia - jesus predicts his death)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Apostles - James and John Zebedee

Jesus tells the Apostles that he is the Messiah

We've learned that Jesus taught people by speaking to large crowds like the Sermon on the Mount, taught people using parables, performed many miracles and had chosen his 12 Apostles to follow him wherever he went.

When Jesus was going around doing miracles and speaking to people, they did not know he was the son of God.
Most people thought he was a prophet, or just someone that taught God's word and did miracles for God.
Even his own Apostles didn't really know for a while that he was God's son!

One day Jesus was talking to his apostles and he asked them who the people in all the towns thought was the Son of Man.
By Son of Man he meant God's son who was born as a person.

They answered that some people thought it was John the Baptist, the person who had come before Jesus to tell people that Jesus was coming soon.
Some other people from the towns thought it was Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets that lived long ago and were written about in the books of the Old Testament.

Jesus then asked his apostles who they thought Jesus was.
His apostle Peter said that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

Jesus said that because Peter was the one who came forward to say that Jesus was the Messiah, he would be the one that Jesus would use to help build his church.
He called Peter a rock meaning he was a very strong foundation for the church, and said that he would give him the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus then told all of his apostles not to tell anyone else that he was the Messiah.

(from: wikipedia - confession of peter)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Apostles - Andrew and Simon Peter

Parable of the Prodigal Son

We've learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower,
the Parable of the Weeds
the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl,
the Parable of the Wandering Sheep,
the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant,
the Parable of the Wedding Banquet,
the Parable of the Bags of Gold,
the Parable of the Two Sons,
the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and the Parable of the Rich Fool.
Another Parable Jesus told his followers was called the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Jesus told a story about a rich man who had two sons.
One son came up and said that he wanted his father to let him have his part of the family farm.
So the father split up the farm and gave the son what was his.

The son sold everything his father gave him and then ran off to live in another place where he wasted his money until he had nothing left.
He was poor after that and had to get a job feeding pigs. He was so hungry he even wanted to eat the food the pigs were eating!
He thought to himself that maybe he could just go home to his father and say sorry, and work as a servant there and at least get good food.

He went home, and when his father saw him coming he ran out to see him and gave him a big hug.
The son said that he was very sorry, and was not even good enough to be called the man's son anymore.
But the father was so happy to see that his son was alive that he threw a big party and welcomed him home.

The man's other son that did not leave was upset because he had stayed at home and worked while the other son was out wasting all of his money.
He didn't think it was fair that they would throw a big party for the son who left.

The father told him that he should not be sad because the father was always with him every day.
He was just so happy that his son came back because he thought he had lost his son forever.

Jesus didn't mean we should go run off with all of our money and it's still ok to come home!
He was trying to tell people that it didn't matter what they had done wrong in the world, he would always forgive them and be happy to welcome them into heaven.


(from: wikipedia - parable of the prodigal son)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus Tested

Parable of the Rich Fool

We've learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower,
the Parable of the Weeds
the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl,
the Parable of the Wandering Sheep,
the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant,
the Parable of the Wedding Banquet,
the Parable of the Bags of Gold,
the Parable of the Two Sons,
and the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Another parable Jesus told his followers was about a rich man whose farm grew so well that at harvest time he had so much grain from his crops that he didn't have enough room to store it all.

He decided to build himself bigger barns to store all of his extra grain so he could just relax and be rich for the rest of his life.
God was angry with the rich man and said he was being very foolish, because that night the man was going to die!
Since he kept all the grain and money to himself, all the things he had stored up for himself would not help him.

Jesus was telling his followers that we need to build up our treasures in heaven instead of on earth.
When we die we can't take all of our things with us, but if we have used the things he gave us to help other people then we are building up treasures in heaven for after we die.


(from: wikipedia - parable of the rich fool)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus as a young boy

Parable of the Good Samaritan

We've learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower,
the Parable of the Weeds
the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl,
the Parable of the Wandering Sheep,
the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant,
the Parable of the Wedding Banquet,
the Parable of the Bags of Gold,
and the Parable of the Two Sons.

Another Parable Jesus told is called the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Jesus' told his followers that it is very important to love your neighbor.
Some of his followers asked what he meant by neighbor, so Jesus told a story about a man going on a trip.

In the story he told them that a man was traveling along a dangerous road, and robbers came and attacked him and beat him up.
He was laying in the road hurt very badly.

As he was laying there, a priest of the church came by and saw the Samaritan hurt in the road.
He did not help the hurt man, he kept walking.

Next came another person from the church, called a Levite.
He saw the hurt man and walked by too without helping.

Next came a man who was from the town of Samaria, called a Samaritan.
In Jesus' time his followers did not like the Samaritans, and the Samaritans did not like the people that were Jesus' followers.
They fought, argued and did everything they could to stay away from each other.

The Samaritan saw the man lying hurt in the road, a man that he normally would not like and may even have a fight with.
He went over to the hurt man and put bandages and medicine on him to help him heal.
Then he put the man on his donkey for the long journey to the next town and brought him to an inn.
At the inn he gave some of his own money to the person who owned the inn and asked him to please watch over the hurt man until he got better.
He even said that if the innkeeper had to spend money to help the hurt man, he would pay the innkeeper back.

Jesus said that even though the Samaritan was normally an enemy to the hurt man, he was his neighbor.

His people were very surprised that Jesus was telling them they had to be nice to people they didn't like!

His message for people was that we have to treat everyone in the world like our neighbor and love them and take care of them, even if we don't like the person or if they are our enemies.


(from: wikipedia - parable of the good samaritan)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: After Jesus' Birth

Parable of the Two Sons

We've learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower,
the Parable of the Weeds
the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl,
the Parable of the Wandering Sheep,
the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant,
the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, and the Parable of the Bags of Gold.

Another Parable Jesus told is called the Parable of the Two Sons.

A father had two sons.
He asked them both to go work in the vineyard.

One son said no he would not go, but then later changed his mind and did go to work.
The other son said yes he would go, but never did go to work.

What Jesus meant by this is that it is very important to do God's work.
It is more important whether or not you do the work, than whether or not you say you will do it.

(from: wikipedia - parable of the two sons)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Birth

Parable of the Bags of Gold

We just learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower,
the Parable of the Weeds
the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl,
the Parable of the Wandering Sheep,
the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant,
and the Parable of the Wedding Banquet.

Another Parable Jesus told is called the Parable of the Bags of Gold.

Jesus told his followers a story of a man who was going away from his land for a long time.
While he was gone, he asked three of his servants to come and see him.

He gave the first servant five bags of gold, the second servant two bags of gold, and the third servant one bag of gold.

The first servant with the five bags went out and used that money to try to earn more money, and he earned five more bags.
The second servant with the two bags went out and used that money to try to earn more money, and he earned two more bags.
The third servant with the one bag went out and dug a hole in the ground, and buried his bag of gold to hide it.

When the master came back he asked to see the servants to see how they did with his money.

The first servant showed him that he earned five more bags of gold.
His master was very happy and said that because he did good work he would be rewarded.

The second servant showed him that he earned two more bags of gold.
His master was very happy with him also and said that because he did good work he would be rewarded.

The third servant told him that he was afraid of someone stealing the gold bag, so he hid it in the ground to keep it safe.
His master not happy!
He was very angry with the servant for being lazy and not using the bag of gold that he was given to try and make more.
The second servant showed him that he earned two more bags of gold.
His master was very happy with him also and said that because he did good work he would be rewarded.
So he took the bag of gold away and gave it to the first servant.

Jesus wasn't talking about real servants and having bags of gold.
He was telling us about the gifts God gives us, and the gift of his love.
We need to use the gifts he gave us to help other people and to share God's love with others, not hide it away because we are afraid.


(from: wikipedia - parable of the talents or minas)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: John the Baptist

Parable of the Wedding Banquet

We just learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Weeds the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl, the Parable of the Wandering Sheep, and the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.

Another Parable Jesus told is called the Parable of the Wedding Banquet.

He told the story of a king whose son was getting married so he was going to throw a big party.

The king sent his servants off to go invite people to the party, but when they did no one would come to the party.
So he sent more servants with news about how great the party was going to be.
Some of the people ignored the servants saying they were too busy, and others actually killed his servants!

The king was very mad, so he sent his army off to go destroy the bad people.

After that he told the servants to go invite anyone and everyone they could find.
When they did that the party was a great success.

Jesus wasn't telling people that they have to go to wedding parties.
He was telling his followers that he was inviting them to the big party in heaven.
Many people that were invited said they were just too busy for Jesus, and some people mistreated him.

He invited everyone, and the people that believe in him get to come to the big party in heaven.


(from: wikipedia - parable of the wedding feast)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: John

Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

We just learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Weeds the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl and the Parable of the Wandering Sheep.

Another Parable Jesus told is called the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.

He told his followers about a king who had servants who owed him money, and he wanted them all to pay back the money they owed.

One man owed him ten thousand bags of gold!
The king ordered that this man and his wife and children would be sold to be slaves because they owed so much.

The servant begged the king to please just give him time and he would pay back all the gold he owed.
The king felt sorry for the servant, so he told him that he didn't have to pay back any of the ten thousand bags of gold!

After the servant left the king, he found one of his own servants who owed him only a hundred silver coins, which is worth a lot less than ten thousand bags of gold.
He grabbed his own servant, choked him and yelled at him to pay back the money he owed.
The other servant begged to give him time and he would pay it all back.
But the first servant said no and had his own servant thrown in jail!

The king found out what the first servant did, and was very mad at him.
The king had let the first servant go and said he didn't have to pay back the ten thousand bags of gold,
but the first servant threw the second servant in jail for only one hundred silver coins.
So he had the first servant thrown into jail because he did not treat his other servant the same way he was treated.

Jesus told this story because he wanted us to understand that we need to forgive other people when they do something wrong,
just like he forgives us when we do something wrong.

One of Jesus' followers asked him if he should forgive someone who did something wrong to them seven times.
Jesus said not just seven times but seventy-seven times!

He didn't mean count up to seventy-seven and then that's it, he was trying to say that you should always forgive other people because God always forgives you.


(from: wikipedia - parable of the unforgiving servant)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Luke

Parable of the Wandering Sheep

We just learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Weeds and the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl.

Another parable Jesus told was the Parable of the Wandering Sheep.

Jesus told his followers about a shepherd who had a hundred sheep.
Even though he had a hundred sheep, if just one of them wanders off he goes off to find it.
And when he finds the sheep he is very happy that day that he found it.

He told his followers that we are like the sheep and Jesus is the shepherd.
He cares for every single one of us, even though there are many people on the earth.


(from: wikipedia - parable of the lost sheep)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mark

Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl

We just learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Weeds

Another two parables Jesus told were called the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl.

Jesus told his followers that the kingdom of heaven was like a treasure someone found in a field.
When they found it, they wanted the treasure so badly that they sold everything he had just so that they could have that treasure.

He said the kingdom of heaven is like someone who is looking for beautiful pearls. When they found one pearl it was so beautiful and valuable that they sold everything they had just to buy that pearl.

Jesus isn't telling us to go buy fields and pearls or to hunt for hidden treasure.
He is telling us that following his teachings and wanting to get to heaven should be so important to us that we want it more than anything else in the world.

(from: wikipedia - parable of the hidden treasure)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Matthew