Middle School Bible Lessons - New Testament

As the early Christian church continued to grow despite the persecution by the Council, other concerns arose. The apostles heard that some of the widows were being neglected, so they called the congregation together to choose seven men, to become deacons and help care for the needy.

After the Passover was over Jesus and His disciples travelled back to Galilee, but they went through Samaria. Here Jesus would reveal Himself as the Messiah to a Samaritan woman.

The Lord has used persecution to spread the gospel message throughout Judea and even Samaria. Philip, one of the deacons, went to the city of Samaria, where the Lord blessed the preaching and many were baptized.

Although Jesus had already called some of the disciples they did not yet follow Him in His ministry. At this time Jesus will call the twelve disciples to become His “apostles”. They will follow Jesus during the years of His ministry in order to become acquainted with Him and to receive His instructions.

As Peter travelled through the land he was given power to perform many miracles so that many believed in the Lord. When Tabitha, a woman of many good works, died in Joppa they sent for Peter and he raised her from the dead.

Although Jesus began with performing miracles He was first a teacher come from God. The Sermon on the Mount is the longest sermon recorded in the Gospels and the greatest sermon ever spoken.

As a result of the persecution by Saul, the Christian church was scattered abroad. When the number of believers in Antioch increased Barnabas was sent to preach there. As the church increased Barnabas went find Saul, in Tarsus, to join him there.

As Jesus' fame spread abroad there were many who brought their sick to Jesus to be healed. When Jesus healed the Roman centurion's servant He only had to speak and did not even go there. He also gave the centurion faith to believe in Him.

As Jesus travelled through the country many people began to follow Him. He began to teach them as one having authority, but yet using simple parables that the people could understand.

As the Christian church continued to spread, despite the persecutions, it pleased God to choose Paul and Barnabas as the first missionaries. After they were called by the Holy Ghost, they were sent out from Antioch and travelled through various cities of Asia preaching the gospel message.

Although Satan knows who Jesus is and trembles, yet he continues to seek a way to defeat Jesus. When Jesus will cast out the Legion they ask to enter into the swine thinking to escape, but Jesus shows that He has all power.

When Paul and Barnabas planned to go on their second mission they couldn't agree about taking John Mark along. As a result they went separately, Barnabas with John Mark and Paul with Silas. Timotheus joined Paul at Lystra and at Troas they were joined by Luke, the author of Acts.

After visiting the churches established during the previous mission journeys, to establish and strengthen the disciples Paul kept his promise and returned to Ephesus. Paul continued here for some time teaching both Jews and gentiles about the kingdom of God and performed many miracles.

Herod was troubled when he heard about Jesus and his miracles. He believed that it was John the Baptist, whom he had killed, come back to life. He had killed John for the sake of Herodias, his brother's wife.

When Paul arrived in Jerusalem, his enemies accused him falsely and sought to kill him. When he was rescued by the Roman soldiers he told the people the story of his conversion. The next day he was called to address the council. The chief captain brought Paul to the castle for safety.

Jesus constrained the disciples to take the ship and go to the other side of the lake, while He went onto a mountain to pray. While the disciples were toiling in a storm Jesus went to them walking on the water.

During the two years that Paul was prisoner in Caesarea he defended himself three times, but each time before a different ruler. The first ruler was Felix, who was impressed by what Paul said, but left him in prison. The second ruler, Festus, would consider sending Paul to Jerusalem, but since Paul realized that this was unjust, he appealed to Caesar.

While Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles He heals a blind man on the Sabbath Day. Now the Pharisees vent their anger not only upon Jesus but also upon those who confess Him.

Paul was sent to Rome with some other prisoners. After a slow voyage to the fair havens Paul advised them to spend the winter there, but the captain preferred to go on to Phenice. They were caught in a violent storm for fourteen days before it suffered shipwreck and the passengers were able to get to the shore of Melita, as God had promised Paul.

Jesus taught many lessons by way of parables. Each of these have a specific lesson not only for those to whom Jesus told it but also for us.

The enmity of the Jewish rulers continued to increase towards Jesus, especially as more publicans and sinners followed Him. Jesus plainly told and showed them that He was come to seek and to save sinners and not the righteous. He continued to use parables to illustrate His message.

When Jesus came through Bethany He would often stay with Mary, Martha and Lazarus. One day , while Jesus was teaching near the Jordan, He received the message that Lazarus was very sick. His sisters expected that Jesus would come at once, but Jesus waited for two days and by that time Lazarus had died.

A rich young ruler asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. When he claims to have kept all the commandments Jesus shows him that he still loves his money more than God. He then leaves Jesus.

When Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover He was invited to a supper in the home of Simon the leper, in Bethany. During this supper Mary anointed His feet. Although the disciples rebuked her for this, Jesus praised Mary for her act of love.

After Jesus had cleansed the temple and the opposition of the Jewish leaders increased, He still told them another parable to warn them that if they rejected Him, God would reject them.

When the disciples asked Jesus about the destruction of the temple He told them about the events that would take place before the day of judgement.

During this week in Jerusalem Satan inclined the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray his Master to the Jewish rulers. He agreed that for thirty pieces of silver he would find an opportunity to deliver Jesus unto them. Thinking that no one knew he joined the disciples for the Passover.

Jesus was brought to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the council or Sanhedrin were gathered to try Him and find an accusation to bring Him before Pilate, since the Jews were not allowed to put anyone to death.

The Jewish rulers were anxious to have Jesus put to death before the people were aware of it, so when they had agreed that Jesus had committed blasphemy they brought Him before Pilate, early in the morning. Although Pilate had to declare Jesus innocent he agreed to allow Jesus to be crucified so as not to offend the Jews.

Throughout the Old Testament God promised that in the fullness of time He would send His Son, Jesus Christ, as the Saviour to redeem His people. Between the Old Testament and the New Testament there was a period of more than four hundred years about which the Bible is silent, but also during this time the Lord directed events to prepare for the coming of Christ and the spread of His kingdom.

After Pilate delivered Jesus to be crucified he was led to Golgotha where He would be crucified between two malefactors. While on the cross Jesus spoke seven significant sayings. The last words were: “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” And He gave up the ghost. So Jesus gave His life.

As we study about the birth of John the Baptist as the forerunner of Christ we need to focus on several remarkable circumstances. His birth to the aged Zacharias and Elizabeth was announced by the angel Gabriel.

Early on the morning of the first day of the week several women took the spices, which they had bought, to anoint the body of Jesus. As they walked they began to wonder who would roll away the stone, but when they enter the garden they are surprised to see that the grave is open.

In the fulness of time it pleased God to send His Son upon this earth. As the Saviour he would need to be very man and truly God. To fulfill the prophecies he would be born of a virgin and be conceived of the Holy Ghost. Therefore He is also called Immanuel, which means God with us.

The followers of Jesus were discouraged when Jesus was crucified and buried. Many of them had hoped that Jesus would deliver them from the Romans and establish an earthly kingdom, since they did not yet understand the scriptures. Now they were told that Jesus was risen but could not believe this.

There is not very much recorded in the Bible about the early years of Jesus life. In this lesson we will study three main events.

Jesus appeared to His followers a number of times during the forty days that He was upon earth after His resurrection. He met some of the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, where they were fishing. At this time Peter was restored in his office as a disciple and together with the others commanded to preach the gospel.

God had prepared John the Baptist, while he lived in the wilderness, to appear as a preacher announcing the coming of God's kingdom. Many came to hear him preach about the need for repentance at the river Jordan and were baptized.

The disciples returned to Jerusalem, as Jesus instructed them, to wait for the Comforter or the Holy Spirit. During this time they chose Matthias as an apostle to fill the place of Judas Iscariot.

By His baptism Jesus had entered upon His work as the mediator between God and man. Immediately following this He was led into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, since it was necessary for Him to defeat His enemy, Satan, but also as a comfort for His church in their temptations.

The disciples boldly proclaimed Christ and did miracles in His name. When they healed the crippled man, in the name of Jesus Christ, they were arrested. Although they were commanded not to preach of Jesus by the leaders, they were given faith and boldness to continue to preach and many believed.

After the wedding of Cana Jesus travels to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. Besides cleansing the temple of those who had made it a house of merchandise He also performed more miracles and revealed Himself as the Son of God.