by Mandy Grisham, Executive Pastor
Last Sunday I had the privilege to teach in the Godly Play classroom where our 4 year olds through 5th graders learn. We began our circle time looking at the church calendar and reflecting about last Sunday being Easter. Rosie moved the arrow over to show that today is the second Sunday of Eastertide. Then she counted the seven white blocks and confirmed that we have seven weeks of Eastertide. Wesley asked if he could pass out the wooden crosses that we have in a tiny basket. The children are now comfortable holding a tiny wooden cross like a fidget toy while the lesson is being shared.
When Wesley finished passing out the crosses, I wondered out loud where I might find our lesson for today. I wandered over to the New Testament shelves and pulled out the materials: a wooden copy of Davinci’s painting, The Last Supper, and a basket of wood shields that are painted with symbols.
I began to tell the story of Jesus’ last evening with his disciples and pointed out the bread and the wine on the table in the painting. I showed them where Jesus was sitting in the middle of the table and how the disciples were painted in groups of three. I showed them where Judas was and why he was significant in the story and that Jesus had told his disciples that night that one of them would betray him. We could see the bag of coins Judas is holding.
For the next several minutes, I shared information about each disciple, what their profession was, who their siblings were, where they took the gospel after Jesus went to heaven, and eventually how each one died. Considering all of them except for John were martyred, it was a pretty heavy moment. I shared with them that over time, the church has given each disciple a symbol that represents him, which sometimes included the weapon they were killed with. I moved each symbol over the disciple in the painting, and by the end of the lesson, all 12 disciples had their shields with symbols displayed.
I paused for a moment when the story was over, then asked “I wonder which of the twelve you like best?” Most of them pointed to John whose symbol was a snake and a cup. I then asked “I wonder which one is most important?” They were all still and quiet.
Very gently, Eamonn who is six, leaned over to the painting and placed his tiny cross over Jesus in the center of the table. One by one, each child laid their tiny cross and stacked it on top of Eamonn’s. At that moment, I realized that Jesus was the only one at the table who did not have a symbol or a shield placed above him. And these children saw that they had what was missing in the painting. I asked Eamonn why he placed his cross on the painting and he said, “that’s how Jesus died. On the cross.”
I have rarely gone speechless while teaching a lesson, but I was certainly choked up. What a powerful observation and response.
I took a few deep breaths before moving on. I asked each child how they wanted to reflect on today’s story. Four children went to the art area and drew their version of The Last Supper. And the rest went to areas where they could play with materials from previous lessons.
After our reflection time, we gathered back at the circle for the Feast, which is veggie straws and water, but it is a very important time of connection and reflection. For many minutes, the children made silly faces on their plates with the veggie straws. I thought we were winding down and our time was nearly over. Then out of the blue, 8 year old Cooper says, “Wait a minute. There were 13 people in the painting. Jesus plus the twelve. And there’s 13 people in this room!” Every single child began to count the number of people. Sure enough, we had exactly 13.
Then a child said, “Can we take a picture like the painting?” The kids went wild with excitement. Wyatt took charge and told everyone where to stand so that we were in groups of three, just like the painting. Benjamin took the painting in the middle and sat in Jesus’ seat. And Mrs. Jessie used the timer on her phone and a makeshift tripod so her phone could capture the moment.
So here is your Godly Play crew recreating Jesus’ last supper:
Before dismissal, we ended our time like every Sunday, with a personal blessing for each child. It was a special time that I will treasure forever.
If you have made an investment in our children’s ministry through serving as a volunteer or giving your tithes and offerings, thank you for helping make these teachable moments happen. The Holy Spirit is moving in the hearts of our children and it is a joy and privilege to see it first hand.