YEA Lesson Library
For the Love of Money
About This Lesson
Using the episode when Jesus cleared the Temple of the merchants and moneychangers, this lesson teaches that greed, dishonest dealings, and drugs/alcohol do not produce the kinds of lives pleasing to God.
Scriptures
Isaiah 33:15-16
Isaiah 56:6-8
Matthew 6:19
Matthew 21:12-17
Mark 11:15
Luke 12:15
John 2:13-17
1 Timothy 6:10
Words to Know
MONEYCHANGERS - Men who trimmed and clipped small amounts of silver and gold from coins, and charged to change money.
STENCH - unpleasant odor or smell
The Lesson
Mike was three years older than Katie and was often seen sketching people. His art work wasn’t bad. He had sold a few drawings at street markets hoping someday to make it rich as an artist. Katie thought Mike was cute. And she couldn’t keep her mind off of him. Being only 14, Katie knew her parents would disapprove of her dating a guy three years older than she was. So she just admired him from a distance.
Mike’s home life was pretty rough. His mother had mental problems and his dad had divorced her and remarried. Mike and his two siblings disrespectfully called their new step mother the “Ugly Witch.” It wasn’t long before a new baby came along. Dad had never really spent much time with his kids. Neither did their step mom. But now the new baby got all of their attention. To say the least, Mike felt rejected and lonely. Life was bad, he thought.
It wasn’t long before Mike turned to drugs for comfort, relief and money. Every time Katie walked by his house, she saw a different car across the street. Suspicion began to grow in her mind that Mike was dealing in drugs. Later a friend confirmed that Mike was a big drug dealer – making lots of money off the kids at school.
Three short months passed, and out of the blue Katie’s friend came running to her door. “They’ve found Mike, and he’s dead!” the friend screamed. Katie followed her to the creek bed on a nearby vacant lot. Police cars were everywhere. What an awful sight! Mike was hanging lifeless from a tree. His problems seemed huge, but the solution was deadly. No one knows who killed Mike, or if he hung himself. But the results are the same. He’s dead!
For whatever reasons, Mike lost his purpose. He not only sought relief from his misery and comfort in drugs, but he also became greedy. He wasn’t willing to wait for the right time to develop his artistic skills and make a good honest living. He wanted to make a killing now!
Some people in Jesus’ day were equally greedy. They too were unwilling to wait for the right time and right place to make an honest living. We learned in our last lesson that Jesus humbly rode on a long-eared, slow beast of burden into the Holy City. The Passover season was approaching. People were coming to Jerusalem to offer their sacrifice. This muscular young Jesus approached the outer court of the Temple and was met with the smell of a barn. This was the only area in the Temple where Gentiles were allowed to come and pray. As Jesus entered, He found oxen, sheep and crates of doves all over God’s house. The smell of incense mixed with the odor of manure was a ghastly stench!
Merchants knew pilgrims traveling into Jerusalem to keep the Passover would need an animal to sacrifice. These merchants wanted to make a fast buck, and were willing to be dishonest in their dealings in order to do it. They didn’t set up their market stalls in down town Jerusalem. They set them up in the beautiful Temple of God. Even worse, they set them up in the only place in the Temple where Gentiles could worship. The Temple was not just a place where Jews and Israelites worshiped, Gentiles worshiped there as well. The moneychangers not only robbed the people in their dishonest dealings, they robbed the Gentiles of their place of worship. Jesus saw them doing wrong and dealt with it.
How would you have felt walking into a sacred building, God’s Temple, and finding merchants selling sheep, oxen and doves? What would you have done? Jesus didn’t even try to hide His disappointment, disgust and righteous anger. It’s no wonder that Jesus was angry. His Father had designed the Temple. God, Himself, gave specific instructions for the building of this structure. It may have been more beautiful than any building on earth at this time.
As Jesus cracked His whip doves’ feathers flew, sheep and oxen fled. “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” Jesus thundered. Those words echoed throughout the Temple. Jesus knocked over their tables and ran them and their customers out saying they had turned His Temple into a den of thieves.
Jesus came to die for the sins of all people. He is not just the Savior for the Jews and Israelites. He is also the Savior for the Gentiles as well. “As for the Gentiles, the outsiders who join the people of the Lord and serve him and love his name, and are his servants and don’t desecrate the Sabbath, and have accepted his covenant and promises, I will bring them also to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and make them full of joy within my House of Prayer. I will accept their sacrifices and offerings, for my Temple shall be called ‘A House of Prayer for all people’”( Isaiah 56:6-8 TLB).
Dr. Dobson says, “Whatever a person hungers for, Satan will appear to offer.” Mike wanted to get rich quick. So he allowed one thing to lead to another in his life. In his misery, he tried to get rich fast and he paid for it with his life. The moneychangers tried to short cut the system by setting up markets in the Temple and robbing the people. Jesus gave their business a severe blow by running them and their animals out of the Temple. “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). Obeying God always pays. No matter our pain or circumstances, God will honor the person who deals honestly with all people.
Student Prayer
Great God and Father,
Thank you for giving us the Ten Commandments that show us how to live our lives in such a way to prevent getting hurt. We know that getting involved in drugs put Mike’s life at risk. And he paid a terribly price for it. Help me never to even consider using or dealing in drugs.
In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen.
Daily Devotions
Sunday: Matthew 21:12-17
Monday: John 2:13-17
Tuesday: Isaiah 56:6-8
Wednesday: Luke 12:15
Thursday: 1 Timothy 6:10
Friday: Matthew 6:19
Saturday: Mark 11:15
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
1. Tell that the moneychangers were not only stealing from the people, they were robbing the Gentiles of the only place in the Temple where they could pray.
2. Talk about ways they can give support to a friend who may be tempted to use or deal in drugs.
3. Discuss that getting involved in drugs is a very dangerous proposition that could kill them.
4. Explain that the Lord will not settle for being second place in their lives – be it drugs, sex, fame, pleasure or money.
Topics & Themes
Anger, Jesus
Greed
Jesus, Savior
Obedience
Passover
Putting God First
Temple, Cleansing
Ten Commandments
Materials Needed
Bible, YEA students’ and teacher’s books, attendance and memory verse charts, songbook, cassette tape or CD, music player, any props you can bring to make each skit more effective, awards, pencils and paper, timer
How to Teach This Lesson
As the students arrive greet them warmly and seat them in a semicircle. Start at one end and have the students count off one, two, one, two until everyone has one or two as their number. Now give all of the ones a piece of paper with the words, “Mike’s Skit” on it, and all of the twos a piece of paper with the words, “Moneychanger’s Skit” on it. Send each group to a different corner of the classroom for about ten minutes to plan their skit. Bring them back together and have the number ones act out skit number one first, and the number twos do their skit last. Debrief by asking the following questions:
Mike’s Situation - How did you feel about Mike’s family situation? How do you feel it contributed to His drug use and becoming a dealer? What do you think he should have done to change the course of his life? How do you think it would have affected the outcome?
Real Letters - Have volunteers read the letter they wrote to Mike in their students’ book. If no one wants to read their letter, read the letter you wrote Mike before class.
Can You Help - How many of you have a friend or know someone on drugs? How many of you know someone who is dealing in drugs? (Do not condemn, just listen.) Are most of these kids from a broken home or do they have other family problems? Have any of you tried to help them resist or get off drugs? What have you done? What kinds of support do you think, as a Christian, that you can give these kids without becoming involved in drugs yourself?
Moneychangers - What two ways were the moneychangers guilty of stealing or robbing? They took advantage of the people needing a Passover sacrifice by overcharging them, and they set up their markets in the outer court in the Temple, robbing the Gentiles of the only place they could pray in the Temple. What was the lesson Jesus was trying to make to the moneychangers? What is the lesson for us today?
Background Information - Discuss relevant information under background with the students. Ask:What is wrong with making money too important in your life? Ask one of the students to read 1 Timothy 6:10 aloud. Now ask another students to read Matthew 6:19 aloud.
Teacher-Directed Activity
Have a contest between the two group divisions you made at the beginning of the class. Tell them that you’re giving the teams five minutes to write down the different ways that we can rob or steal from another person. The team that comes up with the most ways will get an award. Send them back to their corner of the room with a piece of paper and pencil. Start your timer. The things on their list should include such things as: finding a purse or money and not trying to find the owner, receiving too much change from a purchase and not giving it back, borrowing and not repaying it, taking money from their mother’s purse without permission, shop lifting, having sex with a person to whom you are not married, cheating on tests, etc. When the bell rings, bring them back to compare and discuss their lists and receive their awards.
REACH Activity
Spotlight Memory Verse
Read Exodus 20. Using your Bible tools, compare the Ten Commandments with the YEA lesson memory verse. Write the comparison in your Bible notebook. Find three supporting Scriptures relating to the memory verse.
Where in the World?
Draw or create a model of the Temple and label the different areas of worship. Present the drawing or model with the brochure or pamphlet in the next activity.
They Did What Back Then?
Use Bible tools to research the history and building of the Temple. Create a brochure or pamphlet with the information and share it with another YEA class.
Making It Mine
God made each of us with a empty space inside. It’s a hole in our hearts and minds that bothers us a lot. We want to fill it. We want to get rid of the emptiness. We may try to fill it with things that really do not satisfy: money, possessions, activities, friendships, drugs. Solomon did the same thing. He tried everything. And at the end, Solomon discovered that only God can fill that emptiness. Only He can satisfy. Oh, the pleasures and treasures of life may look really enticing and filling, but they aren’t and they don’t. So fill the empty spot in your heart with God. Read the Bible every day. Pray often. Spend time thinking about God and His ways. Talk about God with others. Fill your life with God. He will satisfy.
Worldview Collision
A false worldview says, “He who dies with the most toys, wins.” That’s how many people live their lives. They spend their lives and all their energy trying to get rich—quick. They want stuff and they want it now. But having it all doesn’t bring peace or satisfaction, as suicide rates among the most wealthy indicate. All of these treasures are fleeting and, in the long run, meaningless.
A godly worldview says that God satisfies. Use a concordance to prove this promise to yourself. Look up words like “satisfy” and “treasure” and “blessed.” Try Him and see. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Song
“The Road to Zion” is on page 73 of The Group Songbook.
Closing Prayer
Have the students form a circle and join hands. Ask for a volunteer to lead in prayer asking God to help us to understand how to always put Him first in our lives and not love anything more than Him.
Printable Pages
