Click below to download the Cornerstone Connections leader’s guide and student lesson. This week’s resources also include two lesson plans and a discussion starter video which offer different ways of looking at the topic. Each lesson plan includes opening activities, scripture passages, discussion questions, and real-life applications.
It is from the bloody tree at Calvary that Jesus calls us to live lives of sacrifice, forgiveness, perseverance, selflessness, and grace. Never underestimate the power of gazing upon the cross!
Scripture Passages
Matthew 27:31-53
OVERVIEW
This lesson is going to show that even the most told story in Christianity can find new ways to impact every day of life.
Take important moments from world/Bible history and refresh them in a skit. You could do this in one of two ways. Option 1: Charades. Give each group of students a story and have them act out the story while the rest of the group tries to guess what it is. Option 2: Modernize the story. Give each group a story and have them “GenZ” the story. (i.e. They have to use a cell phone somehow, use GenZ lingo, and/or excessive use of emojis.)
Here are some story ideas: (feel free to add your own favorite story to the list)
Biblical
Historical
QUESTIONS
TRANSITION
Do you have a parent or grandparent who doesn’t remember what stories they’ve already told you and you have to hear the same story over and over…all the time? I know I’m guilty of repeating stories or not remembering who I’ve told a story to as well. Why do you think people do this? (Take time to make this more than a rhetorical question.) Ok so I’m sure some people said this happens because grandpa is losing his memory…that could be true. But I know that sometimes it’s because the story is important to the person telling it, they can’t help repeating it. And sometimes, as I listen to that story one more time, I get a new insight that I hadn’t heard before. I also find that some of those stories become so familiar they become my own story as well. Today we are going to be talking about one of those stories in the Bible. One of the biggest moments in all of history. A story told more often than David and Goliath.
BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
The Story of Jesus’ Crucifixion is in every single Gospel. It, along with the Resurrection (more on that in the coming weeks), is the crux of Christianity. It is why we are a religion in the first place! So it is important that it be in all of the Gospels!
(Share the following personal story or a similar experience you’ve had.) I remember going to a big conference when I was in college. There were over 5,000 Christians in attendance. I was one of several Seventh-day Adventists in the large crowd. One of the organizers got up to welcome everybody and introduce the weekend. After some announcements he asked the crowd to shout out where they lived. Since we had come from all over the country there was a cacophony of noise as everyone shouted different things. He asked what church we represented . . . there was more noise as everyone shouted. I think there were one or two more questions where everyone answered differently. Then came the final question. By this time the noise was getting to me and I was giving up on answering because it didn’t matter; nobody could hear what I was saying anyway. But the final question was different. “Who died on the cross for your sins?” With one voice everyone in the arena shouted JESUS! It was a wonderful learning moment for me. We are all from different places, sometime literally, sometimes philosophically, sometimes even spiritually. But it is Jesus who should always bring us together. It is Jesus’ sacrifice that brings unity to the universe.
Today we are going to be looking at the story of Jesus’ road to Calvary and His death on the cross. Let’s have another prayer as we ask God to give us refreshed insights into this important story.
(Have prayer with your students.)
Read Matthew 27:31-32.
31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.
QUESTIONS
Read Matthew 27:38-44.
38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
QUESTIONS
Read Matthew 27:46.
46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
QUESTIONS
Read Matthew 27:51-54.
51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
QUESTIONS
Make sure to come back next week because it’s when we get to the best part of this story!
APPLICATION
NOTE TO TEACHERS: If you haven’t gone through them before, here is a link to the stations of the cross for teens. There is one reference to Mary (station 4) that you might want to edit. And perhaps the station #6 might be skipped. But it is a good reflection activity that will be new to most of your students.
The Stations of the Cross for Teens Life Teen version.pdf - https://bit.ly/2YPWHUx
LEADER’S NOTE
For a Relational Bible Study (RBS) you’ll want to get into the Scripture passage and encourage the youth to imagine participating in the story while it’s happening. Then you will be able to better apply it to your own situation today.
You will need to ask God for the Holy Spirit to be present as your small group discusses the questions (no more than 3-6 people in a group is recommended). Start with the opening question. It is a personal question and the answer is unique for each individual. There is no right answer and nobody is an expert here, so don’t be surprised when you hear different responses. You are depending on the Holy Spirit to be present and to speak through your group. Say what God prompts you to say, and listen to what others share.
Take turns reading the chapter out loud. Follow that with giving the students some time to individually mark their responses to the questions (a PDF version of the handout is available as a download). This gives each person a starting point for responding when you start to share as a group. Next, begin the discussion by asking the students to share what they marked and why on each question as you work your way through. Feel free to take more time on some questions than others as discussion warrants.
Encourage each person in the group to apply what is discussed to their personal lives and to share with the group what they believe God wants them to do. Then ask them to pray that God will help each of them to follow through in doing so. Remind them to expect that God will show them ways to live out the message of this passage in the coming week, and that they are free to ask others in the group to help hold them accountable.
Jesus has reached the climax of His ministry; the culmination of events that led to the cause that led Him to our earth. There are so many different aspects, versions, and storylines to be explored in the tale of the cross, but sometimes it’s better to just look at the story and tear it apart to find the things God wants us to learn from it. By this point, Jesus had been tortured, whipped, mocked, and voted against by the crowd, soldiers, and religious leaders. As Jesus carried His cross to Golgotha, a man named Simon (a gentile from Cyrene) was made to carry the cross as Jesus was physically giving out. This act resembles what we must all do to earn our salvation; carry our own crosses to lay at Jesus’ feet. After His arrival at Golgotha, Jesus asked for a drink, but was only offered fermented wine, which He refused. It is interesting to note that Jesus used pure wine to demonstrate His blood during the Last Supper, and this fermented version can represent the sin that He took on for us.
In the hours leading up to His death, Jesus was mercilessly teased by the very people who had hailed Him their prophet and teacher earlier. They constantly mentioned that if He was the son of God, He would be able to save Himself from His plight. They weren’t wrong; if Jesus wanted to, He could have easily used His divine power to bring down the cross and even heal Himself of the wounds that were inflicted. However, what they did not comprehend was that He chose to stay there, chose to be the Sacrificial Lamb so that they (and us) can obtain their eternal life if they so wished.
Around noon on Friday, the entire land fell into darkness, a physical mark of the separation of Father and Son due to sin, and Jesus cried out a heart wrenching plea of “Father, why have you abandoned me?” As Jesus prayed His final prayer and breathed His last breath, Heaven was in a state of sadness like never before. It hurt God the Father to see His son struggle so, but at the same time, it brought back the hope of salvation to the world that had been lost since Adam and Eve took a bite of that forbidden fruit. At exactly the third hour of the afternoon, the world shook in a powerful earthquake, tombs opened, the curtain in the Temple split in two, and Jesus took His final breath. The world may not have known at the time, but that was the exact moment when we were given our salvation.
Salvation in the Form of a Cross
How do you define the word salvation?
Read Matthew 27:31-53.
31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.
38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
SUMMARY
The story of the crucifixion is one of pain and suffering, but it is also one of hope and salvation. This was the ultimate motive, the ultimate plan that God had in store to redeem the world He so loved, but which was tainted by the dark streak of sin. Every event, every moment, up to the tiniest detail was a fulfillment of previous prophecy and words of hope. Although the scene at Calvary is one of the most heartbreaking pictures painted in the Bible, it is also one of the most glorious and refreshing ones.
APPLICATIONS
The story of Calvary and salvation is vital to our lives today. It is always a necessary part of studying to sit back and meditate how a story applies to us. Below you will find three applications that can benefit the youth in your group and help them meditate on the word shared today. These applications work both individually and in a group.
Jesus tells us we must carry our crosses and lay them at His feet.
Basically every event at Calvary had already been prophesied by either Jesus Himself during His ministry, and/or a prophet in the Old Testament.
