w/c 24th April
Our reading this week is Luke 24: 13-35
On The Road to Emmaus
13 That same day two of Jesus’ followers were going to a town named Emmaus. It is about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking about everything that had happened. 15 While they were talking, discussing these things, Jesus himself came near and walked with them. 16 (But the two men were not allowed to recognize Jesus.) 17 He asked them, “What’s this I hear you discussing with each other as you walk?”
The two men stopped, their faces looking very sad. 18 The one named Cleopas said, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who doesn’t know what has just happened there.”
19 Jesus said, “What are you talking about?”
They said, “It’s about Jesus, the one from Nazareth. To God and to all the people he was a great prophet. He said and did many powerful things. 20 But our leaders and the leading priests handed him over to be judged and killed. They nailed him to a cross. 21 We were hoping that he would be the one to free Israel. But then all this happened.
“And now something else: It has been three days since he was killed, 22 but today some of our women told us an amazing thing. Early this morning they went to the tomb where the body of Jesus was laid. 23 But they did not find his body there. They came and told us they had seen some angels in a vision. The angels told them Jesus was alive! 24 So some of our group went to the tomb too. It was just as the women said. They saw the tomb, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 Then Jesus said to the two men, “You are foolish and slow to realize what is true. You should believe everything the prophets said. 26 The prophets said the Messiah must suffer these things before he begins his time of glory.” 27 Then he began to explain everything that had been written about himself in the Scriptures. He started with the books of Moses and then he talked about what the prophets had said about him.
28 They came near the town of Emmaus, and Jesus acted as if he did not plan to stop there. 29 But they wanted him to stay. They begged him, “Stay with us. It’s almost night. There’s hardly any daylight left.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 Joining them at the supper table, Jesus took some bread and gave thanks. Then he broke some off and gave it to them. 31 Just then the men were allowed to recognize him. But when they saw who he was, he disappeared. 32 They said to each other, “When he talked to us on the road, it felt like a fire burning in us. How exciting it was when he explained to us the true meaning of the Scriptures!”
33 So the two men got up then and went back to Jerusalem. There they found the followers of Jesus meeting together. The eleven apostles and the people with them 34 said, “The Lord really has risen from death! He appeared to Simon.”
35 Then the two men told what had happened on the road. They talked about how they recognized Jesus when he shared the bread with them.
Prayer for the week:
Dear Lord,
When we feel disappointed and let down or we feel that life is unfair, help us not to blame other people.
When we see others who are feeling sad and disappointed, help us to share their feelings and encourage them to feel strong.
Thank you for all the times when we have felt happy because something good has happened that we didn't expect.
When we see others who are happy and joyful, help us to share in their joy and not feel jealous.
Amen.
Song for the week: Give me Oil in my Lamp
In school:
This week we started by thinking about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.
Charlie Bucket is a very poor boy who gets one bar of chocolate a year. Mr Willy Wonka, the mysterious owner of a large chocolate factory, announces that he has hidden five Golden Tickets in five bars of chocolate. The finders of the tickets will be allowed to visit his chocolate factory. When it is Charlie's birthday, he is given a bar of chocolate and readers expect a happy ending . . .
'You might as well get it over with,' Grandpa George said.
'Open it, my dear,' Grandma Georgina said. 'Please open it. You're making me jumpy.'
Very slowly, Charlie's fingers began to tear open one small corner of the wrapping paper.
The old people in the bed all leaned forward, craning their scraggy necks.
Then suddenly, as though he couldn't bear the suspense any longer, Charlie tore the wrapper right down the middle . . . and on to his lap, there fell . . . a light-brown creamy-coloured bar of chocolate.
There was no sign of a Golden Ticket anywhere.
(Chapter 7: Charlie's Birthday)
We decided that Charlie probably felt quite disappointed that there was no golden ticket in his bar of chocolate. Even though he new it was unlikely, he had still been hoping for one!
But the story doesn't end there. Mr Bucket loses his job and the family begins to starve.
Then one afternoon, walking back home with the icy wind in his face (and incidentally feeling hungrier than he had ever felt before), his eye was caught suddenly by something silvery lying in the gutter, in the snow. Charlie stepped off the kerb and bent down to examine it. Part of it was buried under the snow, but he saw at once what it was.
It was a fifty-pence piece!
Quickly he looked around him.
Had somebody just dropped it?
No — that was impossible because of the way part of it was buried. Several people went hurrying past him on the pavement, their chins sunk deep in the collars of their coats, their feet crunching in the snow. None of them was searching for any money; none of them was taking the slightest notice of the small boy crouching in the gutter.
Then was it his, this fifty pence?
Could he have it?
Carefully, Charlie pulled it out from under the snow. It was damp and dirty, but otherwise perfect.
A WHOLE fifty pence!
He held it tightly between his shivering fingers, gazing down at it. It meant one thing to him at that moment, only one thing. It meant FOOD.
(Chapter 10: The Family Begins to Starve)
Charlie used the money to buy another bar of chocolate which he wolfed down really quickly. Then he bought another one.
'I think,' he said quietly, 'I think . . . I'll have just one more of those chocolate bars. The same kind as before, please.'
'Why not?' the fat shopkeeper said, reaching behind him again and taking another Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight from the shelf. He laid it on the counter.
Charlie picked it up and tore off the wrapper . . . and suddenly . . . from underneath the wrapper . . . there came a brilliant flash of gold.
Charlie's heart stood still.
'It's a Golden Ticket!' screamed the shopkeeper, leaping about a foot in the air. 'You've got a Golden Ticket! You've found the last Golden Ticket!'
(Chapter 11: The Miracle)
We thought about why this chapter was called The Miracle. We decided it was because winning the golden ticket was something seemingly impossible for Charlie. We thought about any other books we know which contain Miracles. We knew the Bible contains stories of miracles and we could make a list of some of the miracles in the bible we knew:
Jesus walking on water
Jesus calming the storm
Jesus turning water into wine
Jesus healing people who are sick
Jesus bringing people back to life
Jesus coming back to life
We thought about how disappointed Charlie had been when he did not win a golden ticket in his birthday bar of chocolate and then how he would have felt when he did when the ticket.
We then thought about how when unexpected things happen, they can leave us full of joy and happiness. However, they can also leave us feeling disappointed. We often look forward to events, expecting them to be good or exciting. However, if the event goes wrong, we feel disappointed.
We also had some time for personal reflection:
I wonder if you have ever felt disappointed or let down? Let’s pause for a moment to think about those times.
I wonder if you have ever been given a wonderful surprise - perhaps something totally unexpected that has made you feel happy. Let’s pause for a moment to think about those times.
Questions to think about at home
When was the last time you felt disappointed? What happened?
Has there ever been a situation where you were initially disappointed but then things worked out differently to how you expected and something good came from the disappointment? What good came from a disappointing situation?
Have you ever felt disappointed with God? Why/why not?