Kids Bible Study (John 11:1-45) Jesus Raised Lazarus from the Dead - Ministry-To-Children (2024)

This Sunday School lesson was designed for parents to use with their children at home on the week of March 29, 2020. Everything is included in the PDF download below (teaching notes, coloring pages, craft directions, game ideas, and worksheets).Use what is most helpful for your kids and ignore the rest. Families can also watch our children’s message, suggested music, and craft demonstration in the video playlist below.

“Jesus Raised Lazarus”

Home Sunday School Lesson on John 11:1-45

God’s Plans Might Surprise Me…but HE is Working Things Out! Sunday School Suggestions to Study and Celebrate the Story of Lazarus (Home Edition)

This “special edition” Sundayschool lesson contains adaptations that are geared to doing at home, ifcirc*mstances present you with the need to stay away from the larger groupchurch. With a little creativity, you can still guide your child(ren) through afun and meaningful Bible lesson!

This lesson surrounds thestory of Lazarus, and reflects on the recognition that God is always working inour lives, even if we feel like we don’t understand what He is doing.

Lesson focus: Sometimes life feelschallenging, and we may not always understand how God is working in us. Hisplans do not always follow our time table, but we can trust that He always hasour best interests in mind, and that one day all things will be made new.

Passage: John11:1-45

Target Audience: Kindergarten-6^thgrade (or whoever you might have at home!)

Materials Needed: Bedsheets, paper towel/toilet paper tubes, paper plates, cups, markers or crayons,wrapped straws.

More Kids Bible Study Ideas for Teaching Ideas for John 11

• Compare another Bible Lesson: The Resurrection of Lazarus for Kids
• Children’s Sermon on the John 11:1-45 (included in our combined download)
• Jesus Raises Lazarus Lesson(offsite link to Mission Bible Class)
• Jesus and Lazarus Science Lesson(offsite link to Future Flying Saucers)

Game & Lesson Introduction

Lesson Opening: Ifyou are in the comfort of your home, or working with a small group, you havethe blessing of flexibility with timing and activities. Feel free to kickthings off and start conversation with any variety of openers. Additionally,you could sprinkle these throughout your “lesson” time, doing one in thebeginning, one during the story, and one at the end. You might even want toextend an activity and do it at a later time in your day!

• Lazarus mummy wrap…if you wish to conserve toilet paper,you could still practice making a “mummy” by wrapping kids in large bedsheets.See how quickly they can be wrapped, how tight they can get, or how quicklythey can unravel from the wrapping.
• Discuss ancient burial techniques. Take a look at thingslike ancient tombs, mummies, and what people did with their dead. What did thissay about what they believed?
• The resurrection straw: this is a simple but fun activityto introduce the topic of resurrection. Take a paper-wrapped straw, andcarefully remove the wrapping so that it bunches down into a small ball. Gentlyadd water, a drop at a time, and watch the straw wrapper “come to life”!
• Tears…discuss reasons and circ*mstances that make us cry.Why do we cry? Did Jesus cry? In this story, He did in fact weep for Hisfriend. Jesus had feelings, because He was human!
• Come out, Lazarus! If multiple kids can play, encouragethem to build a fort “tomb” of sorts to hide in. When you call, have themcarefully emerge from the tomb.
• Practice a “mummy walk”, with arms straight out and legsnot bent at the knees.

After a couple of fun activities, begin todiscuss how sometimes things in our lives can be challenging. There are hardthings that happen all the time. Sometimes it might feel like God is far awayin those times. Today, we will look at a Bible story that has another amazingmiracle from Jesus, but also has some challenges for the people involved. It’ssort of like watching a movie where a lot of things go wrong, but there’s stilla happy ending. We can know that our lives will ultimately end in victory, becauseJesus has already won the victory. It doesn’t mean things will be easy, but wecan trust God’s power.

Ask: Whenhave you felt sad, or felt that something was especially difficult foryou?

Bible Lesson: Jesus Raised Lazarus from the Dead (John11)

How you choose to experience the story will vary according to the ages andabilities of your children (and how many are participating). For youngerchildren, you may wish to use a children’s or storybook version of the Bible,and explain details as you go. Older kids can take turns helping to read thestory. You can also turn this into a skit and have children act out the variousparts as you are reading the narrative. You might find a short video version toreinforce it. If your students have longer attention spans, feel free to readthe whole story at once, and then discuss questions. If it works better, breakthings up into chunks and pause for questions as you go along.

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village ofMary and her sister Martha.²It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.³So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord,he whom you love is ill.”⁴But when Jesus heard it he said,“This illness does not lead to death. It is forthe glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” -John 11:1-4

Pause and have kids predict what will happen next. Is Jesus going to healLazarus? What might it mean that an illness is for God’s glory?

NowJesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.⁶So, when he heard that Lazaruswas ill,he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.⁷Then after this he said to the disciples,“Let us go to Judea again.”⁸The disciples said to him,“Rabbi,the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?”⁹Jesus answered,“Are there not twelve hours in the day?If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.¹⁰Butif anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is notin him.”¹¹After saying these things, he said to them,“Our friend Lazarushas fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”¹²The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”¹³Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly,“Lazarus has died,¹⁵and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”¹⁶So Thomas, called the Twin,^]said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go,that we may die with him.”
-John 11:5-16

See Also

A Children's Sermon on John 11:1-45 - The Raising of Lazarus - Gary Neal Hansen -

This is a tricky passage to swallow. Couldn’t Jesus have healed His friend?Why would He let Lazarus die? It seems like He is taking this somewhatcasually…why didn’t He go right away when He found out His friend was sick?

These might be tough questions for children to understand…and sometimes itfeels this way in our lives. We might think God is being silent, but really Hehas something better planned…

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tombfour days.¹⁸Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles^]off,¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Maryto console them concerning their brother.²⁰So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.²¹Martha said toJesus, “Lord,if you had been here, my brother would not have died.²²But even now I know that whatever you ask from God,God will give you.”²³Jesus said to her,“Your brother will rise again.”²⁴Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again inthe resurrection on the last day.”²⁵Jesus said to her,“I am the resurrection andthe life.^[]Whoever believes in me,though he die,yet shall he live,²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in meshall never die. Do you believe this?”²⁷She said to him, “Yes, Lord;I believe thatyou are the Christ, the Son of God,who is coming into the world.” -John 11:17-27

Pay close attention to the responses of Martha and Mary. They seemfrustrated, and unsure of why Jesus didn’t come right away to heal theirbrother. At the same time, though, they still trust Him. They still believe inHis promises, even if they don’t know what will happen.

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private,“The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”29And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.30Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.31When the Jewswho were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.32Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him,“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, hewas deeply moved]in his spirit andgreatly troubled.34And he said,“Where have you laid him?”They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”35Jesus wept.36So the Jews said, “Seehow he loved him!”37But some of them said, “Could not hewho opened the eyes of the blind manalso have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus,deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It wasa cave, anda stone lay against it.

39Jesus said,“Take away the stone.”Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, forhe has been dead four days.”40Jesus said to her,“Did I not tell you that if you believed you would seethe glory of God?”41So they took away the stone. And Jesuslifted up his eyes and said,“Father, I thank you that you have heard me.42I knew that you always hear me, but I said thison account of the people standing around,that they may believe that you sent me.”43When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice,“Lazarus, come out.”44The man who had died came out,his hands and feet bound with linen strips, andhis face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them,“Unbind him, and let him go.” -John 11:28-44

There are several significant things that happen here. We see that Jesus is “deeply moved.” He loved Lazarus, and loved Martha and Mary. He wept, genuinely crying and grieving for His friend. We can know that Jesus loves us, too, and feels sad with us when we are sad.
But Jesus does something else…He goes to the tomb, calls to Lazarus, and brings him back to life! He had clearly died and been buried, but through Christ he returned to life.

How might this be something that would bring God’s glory?

Also, who else do we know that spent time in a tomb, and came back to life??

In the case of Lazarus or Jesus, pain and hardship, and even death, tookplace, but ultimately restoration came, too. What does this say about ourlives? Things might be challenging, but one day God is going to bring allthings together and make a whole new world for us. That is a promise we canbelieve and take to heart. When we believe and trust God, we can be assured ofeventual blessing. Life on Earth is still hard. It’s a broken, sinful,messed-up world. But God is in control!

Close with prayer. Ask for God’shelp in trusting Him, even when we don’t understand His ways. Acknowledge Hispresence and power, and thank Him for His love.

Craft: Lazarus mask, Lazarus out of the tomb

The suggested crafts on Jesus raising Lazarus are included in the download above. Crafts on Jesus Raising Lazarus

Sunday school Coloring Pages

The suggested coloring pages for this lesson are included in the download above. R is for Resurrection coloring page | Believe on the Lord Jesus coloring page (included in our combined download)