5 January 2018
The next sign miracle in John’s Gospel is the healing of the man at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-30). Jesus’ power to command the man is a visual picture of Jesus’ words in John 5:24-25, “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”
The Paralysed Man
Make a little character out of a baby sock! Use loom bands/rubber bands to form limbs, stuff it, and use more bands to make a neck and head!
Sleeping Bag
The little man has a sleeping bag to lie in by the pool. We made this using two squares of fleece material. The squares had strips cut round the edge and were tied together to make a sleeping bag.
Giant Bubbles
The man thought he had to get into the pool when it was stirred up to be healed. We filled a giant plastic tray with bubble solution (a whole bottle of washing up liquid and gelatine) so the children could stir it up and make giant bubbles. They loved it!
Crossing Over
The point of Jesus’ miracle is that he has power to call people over from death to life (John 5:24). we had two ‘crossing over’ activities. Building bridges out of giant Jenga blocks and out of lolly sticks and junk (and a lot of sticky tape!)
Milkshakes
Continuing the theme of ‘stirring up the water’ the children made milkshakes. They chose different fruits, added milk and ice cream and whizzed it all in a liquidiser.
Stamps and Images
By his miracles Jesus showed he was equal with God (John 5:18), the image of God. We made stamps by cutting letters and pictures out of foam sheets and sticking them to wooden blocks.