Good Samaritan
THE GOOD SAMARITAN
Objectives:
- Students should be able to identify this story as a parable of Jesus.
- Students should be able to tell the story in their own words.
- Students should have an understanding of what makes a good neighbor.
Possible Lesson Plan:
- Open with prayer. Use the Lord’s Prayer. Recite it a couple of times for memory practice.
- Scripture Reference: Luke 10:25-37. Review the meaning of a parable, a story with a hidden meaning. Jesus told this story to answer a question – what was the question? Who asked it and why? Where did the merchant come from; where was he going? What happened to the man in the story? How many people passed by? Why did they pass by? Why did the Samaritan stop? What did he do? Was the Samaritan man a good neighbor to the hurt man? Why?
- Discuss the concept of “neighbor”: Ask the children who are their neighbors. After a listing of friends and neighbors, try to expand their focus. Is the homeless man in the street who smells bad and is dirty also a neighbor? Is the child who steals their lunch money also a neighbor? Is the boy who hits them on the playground also a neighbor? Did Jewish people usually like Samaritans? Did Samaritans usually like Jewish people? Remind the children that the Samaritans were the descendants of the people who were not taken into Babylon in captivity; they married people of the land and were hated by the Jews when they returned. Was it easy for this Samaritan man to care for the Jewish man? Is it always easy to love other people and to do good things for them? Is there someone you find particularly difficult to love? Can you do something nice for them as a good neighbor?
- Play a learning game: Pass the Ball. Sit in a circle. The leader holds a small ball. He begins the story of the Good Samaritan with one line and passes the ball to the next player. This person must continue the story with one line. And so around the circle as many times as needed to finish the story.
Make an Envelope Viewer Movie Strip. Cut a TV screen hole in the front of a business-size envelope. Lick the envelope shut and cut off both ends. Give each student a strip of paper divided comic-strip style into about 6 frames. Have them illustrate the story of the Good Samaritan; what are the most important scenes? Insert the strip in the viewer and pull through to see the whole story. Can they tell the story with their “movie”?- Close with prayer. Have each child think of a particular person who is hard to love and pray for that person and plan something nice for that person.