Leader Guide

Bible Activity

Bibles or the Superbook Bible App
Whiteboard and marker, or chalkboard and chalk

Give children a Bible if they do not have one.

Note that the suggested answers are from the New Living Translation. If children are using different translations, their responses will vary.

Sometimes people reject other people. But Jesus invites all people to come to Him, and we should invite them to know Him, too! Let’s look up and discuss some Bible passages about people who Jesus welcomed.

Mark 10:46-52

⁴⁶Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and His disciples left town, a large crowd followed Him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. ⁴⁷When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
⁴⁸“Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, He’s calling you!” ⁵⁰Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. ⁵¹“What do you want Me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!” ⁵²And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.

1. Who wanted to meet with Jesus? Bartimaeus.

2. What did he shout to Jesus? “Have mercy on me.”

3. In verse 48, did the people encourage Bartimaeus and help him to see Jesus? No, many were unkind and told him to be quiet.

4. In verse 49, did Jesus speed past and ignore Bartimaeus? No, He stopped and told the people to bring Bartimaeus to Him.

5. According to verse 51, when Bartimaeus met Jesus, did Jesus scold him for being loud and demanding? No, Jesus asked Bartimaeus what he wanted Him to do.

6. What did Bartimaeus request of Jesus? He wanted to see.

7. In verse 52, what did Jesus say was the reason Bartimaeus was healed? His faith healed him.

8. Did Bartimaeus return home after he was healed? No, he followed Jesus.

9. What are some things we can learn about Jesus from this passage? Jesus doesn’t always see people as we do. Jesus has the power to heal. Jesus sees our faith and hears our prayers. Jesus has time for everyone and is not put off by our requests. Jesus invites everyone to come to Him even when others would disagree and reject them.

2. Luke 17:11–19

¹¹As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, He reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. ¹²As He entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance, ¹³crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. ¹⁵One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” ¹⁶He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him for what He had done. This man was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”

1. In verses 11 and 12, why do you think the ten men stood at a distance? They had a disease called leprosy.

In Bible times, people with leprosy were cast out of the city and rejected as being unclean.

2. In verse 13, how were the men’s actions similar to Bartimaeus’s in the previous Bible passage? They called out Jesus’ name and asked for mercy.

3. In verse 14, did Jesus tell them to stay away because they were unclean and He didn’t want to catch their disease? No, He looked at them and told them to show themselves to the priests.

In Bible times, the priests had to determine if someone was cured of leprosy and clean before they could enter the city or go into the Temple again.

4. According to verses 15–16, what did one man do that was different than the others? When he saw that he was healed, he returned to thank and worship Jesus at His feet. He shouted, “Praise God!”

5. Verse 16 tells us something else about this man that is important, what is it? He was a Samaritan.

6. Think for a moment about today’s SuperVerse and SuperTruth; why is being a Samaritan significant? The Jews and Samaritans were enemies. Jesus invites everyone regardless of who they are or where they come from (nationality/ethnicity).

As far as the Jewish people were concerned, the one man who returned to thank Jesus had two major problems. First, he had leprosy; and second, he wasn’t Jewish—he was a Samaritan. Jesus invites everyone to come to Him—just as the master in the parable told the servants to go out into the back roads and find people—no matter who they were.

7. Why do you think the other men did not come back to Jesus? They were not as appreciative. Maybe they were Jewish people who believed they were righteous and didn’t believe in Jesus or feel they needed Him. Or maybe they were just so excited about being healed that they forgot to say thanks.

3. Luke 19:1–10

¹Jesus entered Jericho and made His way through the town. ²There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. ³He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. ⁴So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. ⁵When Jesus came by, He looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” He said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
⁶Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. ⁷But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.⁸Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” ⁹Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

1. According to verses 1–2, why do you think Zacchaeus was avoided and even hated by the people of Jericho? He was a tax collector, the chief tax collector. He was rich because he cheated people on the amount of taxes he collected.

2. In verses 3–4, what made it difficult for Zacchaeus to get near Jesus to see Him? The crowd wouldn’t let him push through to get close to Jesus. He was short and couldn’t see over the crowd.

3. Did Zacchaeus decide to give up? No, he climbed a tree to see Jesus.

4. Jesus was surrounded by a large crowd. It would have been easy for Him to miss or ignore Zacchaeus. Is this what happened? Jesus saw Zacchaeus in the tree and called him by name.

5. In verse 5, think of how Jesus interacted with Zacchaeus. What does this tell you about how Jesus thinks about you? He knows my name; He knows who I am and where I am. He wants to spend time with me. He has time for me. It doesn’t matter what everyone else thinks of me, Jesus wants to have a personal relationship with me.

6. What was the crowd’s reaction to Jesus taking time for Zacchaeus? The people were displeased and grumbled. They couldn’t believe that Jesus was spending time with a terrible sinner.

Zacchaeus’s life was changed forever. He vowed to give half his money to the poor and return four times what he had stolen. All this because Jesus invited a “notorious sinner” to come to Him!

7. How do you think the religious leaders and other Jewish people felt when Jesus declared that Zacchaeus was a true child of Abraham? They were offended, shocked, confused, angry.

8. Referencing verses 9–10, would you say that Jesus’ interaction with Zacchaeus was in line with His mission in coming to the earth? Yes, Jesus said salvation had come to Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a lost sinner and Jesus found Him and saved Him.

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