Lesson 2: The expensive perfume.
Passage: Luke 7:36-50 - Once Jesus was invited over for dinner at a Pharisee’s home. While he was there, a woman from town who had a reputation for being a sinful woman came in with a jar of perfume. She began pouring the perfume on Jesus’ feet while wiping them with her hair and tears. The Pharisee saw this and started muttering to himself, wondering how Jesus could allow a sinful woman to touch him like that. Jesus then told a parable about two people who owed differing amounts of money to a moneylender, both of whom were forgiven their debts. He concluded that the one who was forgiven more would have more love and appreciation for the one who forgave their debts. In the same way, the woman who had been forgiven much by God, showed her great love for Jesus.
Big Idea: God’s love heals our hearts.
For Teachers:
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Welcome — Activity Leader
Have the children sit in a circle on the circle time rug. Welcome them to class and introduce yourselves.
Warm Up Activity: Washing Each Other’s Feet — Activity Leader
Pretend to wash each other’s feet. This is an imaginative play idea where the kids can take their shoes off and use their perfume bottles and cloths to pretend to wash each other’s feet.
Preliminary Activity — Bible Story Leader
Today we are going to be learning about a time when a woman poured her very special, very expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet to wash it.
Let’s watch our video to find out more about the story…
Video Lesson — Bible Story Leader
Follow Up Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Does anyone remember from the story where Jesus was when the woman came and poured perfume on his feet? (he was at someone’s house for a party)
And do you remember if the woman was a very popular person that everyone liked or not?
Why do you think that people didn’t like that woman very much? (maybe they heard other people saying bad things about her)
Do you think that was fair for them to think badly about her?
Do you remember what Jesus said about her when the others were whispering and saying mean things?
Can you think of some ways that we can be like Jesus when we hear people saying mean things about someone?
Prayer — Bible Story Leader
“Dear God, thank you for the story we learned today about the woman who loved Jesus so much that she poured her special perfume on his feet. Thank you that Jesus healed her heart by reminding her that God loves and forgives her for all her mistakes. Thank you that you can also heal our hearts when they’re feeling sad or hurt. Please help us to be like Jesus to our friends by showing them kindness, and forgiving them when they make mistakes, just like you always forgive us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Activity: Perfume Bottles — Activity Leader
There will be playdough available for the kids to build their own perfume bottles, as well as colouring and activity pages.
If a child is not interested in the activity, allow them to move to free play.
Dismissal: Collect tags and make sure each child leaves with their caregiver.
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Welcome — Activity Leader
Have the children sit near the TV. Welcome them to class and introduce yourselves .
Warm Up Activity: Shoe Mix Game — Activity Leader
Ask everyone to form a circle; they are then to take off their shoes and put them in a huge pile in the middle of the circle.
Shuffle all the shoes in the pile; when the leader says “go” everyone will rush to find their own shoes; once they have found their shoes, they can put them back on and return to their spot in the circle.
Time the event from “go” to “finish” and see if the group can improve their previous record time.
Preliminary Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Today we are going to be learning about a time when a woman poured her very special, very expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet to wash it.
Let’s watch our video to find out more…
Video Lesson — Bible Story Leader
Follow Up Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Does anyone remember from the story where Jesus was when the woman came and poured perfume on his feet? (he was at someone’s house for a party)
And do you remember if the woman was a popular person that everyone liked or not?
Why do you think that people didn’t like that woman very much? (maybe they heard other people saying bad things about her)
Do you think that was fair for them to think badly about her?
Do you remember what Jesus said about her when the others were whispering and saying mean things?
What are some ways that we can follow Jesus’ example when we hear people saying mean things about someone?
Prayer — Bible Story Leader
“Dear God, thank you for the story we learned today about the woman who loved Jesus so much that she poured her special perfume on his feet. Thank you that Jesus healed her heart by reminding her that God loves and forgives her for all her mistakes. Thank you that you can also heal our hearts when they’re feeling sad or hurt. Please help us to be like Jesus to our friends by showing them kindness, and forgiving them when they make mistakes, just as you always forgive us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Activity: Clay Perfume Bottles — Activity Leader
There will be modeling clay available for the kids to build their own perfume bottles, as well as colouring and activity pages.
Dismissal: Collect tags and make sure each child leaves with their caregiver.
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Welcome — Activity Leader
Welcome the kids to class, introduce yourselves.
Warm Up Activity: Movie Charades — Activity Leader
There will be a word list printed; leader will call up an individual and whisper a movie title to them, which they will act out silently for the group to guess.
Depending on the size of the group, you can split them up into two teams and they can compete against one another.
Preliminary Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Today we’re going to be hearing about a time when Jesus was at a party at someone’s home, and a woman came in and poured her very expensive perfume on his feet.
Can you think of why the woman might have done that?
Let’s watch our video to find out more…
Video Lesson — Bible Story Leader
Follow Up Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Can anyone remember if the woman in the story who poured perfume on Jesus’ feet was very popular and well liked or not? Why do you think that was?
What did Jesus say when he heard people muttering about the woman after she poured perfume on his feet?
Was there ever a time when people were saying things about you behind your back or you heard rumours being spread about someone else? Why do you think rumours can be so harmful?
What do you think is something we can learn from Jesus’ example in the story and the way he treated the unpopular woman?
Prayer — Bible Story Leader
“Dear God, thank you for the story we learned today about the woman who poured her expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet. Thank you for the way that Jesus healed her heart by showing her God’s love and forgiveness when nobody else would, and that we know you can also heal our hearts when we feel misunderstood or hurt by the words of others. Please help us to follow Jesus’ example by showing love and acceptance to others who might really need it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Activity: Clay Perfume Bottles — Activity Leader
There will be modeling clay available for the kids to build their own perfume bottles.
Dismissal: Collect tags and make sure each child leaves with their caregiver.
For Parents:
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What happened in the Bible story from class today?
What was it that the woman in the story poured on Jesus’ feet? What did you think about that?
Was the woman someone that everybody liked or didn’t liked? Why do you think that was?
What did Jesus say to the woman when he heard people whispering about her? How do you think that made her feel to know that Jesus loved her and forgave her for her mistakes?
What are some ways that we can be like Jesus when we hear people saying mean or untrue things about others?
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What happened in the Bible story you learned about in class?
Was the woman from the story someone who was very popular or unpopular? Why do you think that was?
What was the surprising thing she did when she arrived at the party? Why do you think she did that?
What was it that Jesus said when he heard the others whispering about her? How do you think that made her feel to know that Jesus loved her and forgave her for her mistakes?
What are some ways that we can follow Jesus’ example when we hear people saying mean or untrue things about someone?
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What Bible story did you learn about in class today?
What was something the story says about the woman who showed up at the party Jesus was at? What did she do when she arrived?
How did the people at the party react when they saw her pouring perfume on Jesus’ feet? How did Jesus react?
How do you think it impacted the woman to know that Jesus accepted and forgave her for all of her mistakes?
What does it mean to you to know that Jesus sees you and loves you for who you really are on the inside, regardless of what anyone else thinks of you?
