This is lesson continues our curriculum for preschoolers about knowing Jesus. Each lesson is based on a passage in the Gospel of Mark. You can read the series introduction for more explanation and links to the other lessons.
This particular lesson is from Mark 5:21-34 when Jesus heals a woman and commends her for having great faith. This story reminds us how Jesus has great compassion and love for those who suffer. Preschoolers will know Jesus is the only one who has the power to cleanse us from our disease, sin. This lesson includes age-appropriate learning activities and a simple Bible memory verse.
Bible Passage: Mark 5:21-34
Bible Lesson Title: Jesus Heals a Sick Woman
Target Age Group: 4-5 years old (preschool & Kindergarten)
Target Time Frame: 37 minutes
Original Teaching Context: Preschool Sunday School
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Knowing Jesus through the Book of Mark: Lesson Fifteen (37 minutes)
Scripture: Mark 5:21-34
Exegetical Idea: Jesus shows great love and grace in healing and cleansing a woman who has faith in Him.
Pedagogical Idea: In grace and love, Jesus heals and cleanses those who have faith in Him.
Cognitive Aim: Preschoolers will know Jesus is the only one who has the power to cleanse us from our disease, sin.
Affective Aim: Preschoolers will feel God’s deep love for them as individuals.
Behavioral Aim: Preschoolers will praise God through song and memorize Mark 5:34.
Memory Verse: Mark 5:34, “He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease.” (ESV)
Lesson Overview
- Kindle Curiosity (5 minutes) Description: Talk about love. Supplies: Bible outfits, soft blanket, Bible
- God Revealed (15 minutes) Description: Experience the lesson. Supplies: Bible, boat (or your imagination)
- Personal Pursuit (10 minutes) Description: Discover truth about Jesus and ourselves. Supplies: Bible, soft blanket
- Daily Knowing (7-10 minutes) Description: Sing hymn Nothing but the Blood of Jesus; memorize Mark 5:34. Supplies: Song, notecards for parents with Mark 5:34 written on them
**Before the children arrive, have the Bible outfits ready.
1. Kindle Curiosity (5 minutes)
- After all of the children arrive, have them put on their Bible outfits. Gather them around you on a soft blanket.
- Ask: Who loves you? (Allow them time to give answers.) Why? (Allow time for answers.) Most of the people in our lives love us just because. Their love is called unconditional. They love us no matter what. They love us for who we are to them (their child, their student, their friend.) God loves each of us deeply. He loves you (child’s name.) He loves you (child’s name)…etc. He knows every detail about each one of us, from our biggest fear to how many hairs are on our heads!
- State: Today’s lesson comes from Mark chapter 5 verses 21-34. Mark is a book of the Bible. The Bible is God’s Word. He wrote it, so we know that it is truth. Let’s get to know Jesus more today, and hear how He showed His great love for a certain woman in today’s story!
2. God Revealed (15 minutes)
- State: Jesus had been teaching and spreading the Good News. He has healed the sick and calmed a storm. Some people are afraid of Jesus and do not want Him around (see Mark 5:17). Some people think Jesus is a liar. Others are very interested in what He has to say and follow Him everywhere. In today’s story, Jesus has just left a town where they did not want Him around anymore because they were afraid of Him. Jesus got in His boat and traveled to the other side of the lake. Let’s get in our boat and travel with Him! (Pretend to row to the other side of the lake with Jesus.)
- State: A large group of people crowded around Jesus. We are part of that crowd! We want to hear Him teach and see if He is going to perform miracles. Suddenly, we see a man come up to Jesus. He looks worried! He falls down at Jesus’ feet and begs him to come heal his daughter, who is dying. Jesus begins to follow him to his home. We are going to follow too. In fact, the whole crowd is following Jesus! There are so many people that we are all bumping into one another! (Act this out.)
- State: There is a woman with us in the crowd. She has been bleeding for 12 years (We do not know where she was bleeding from exactly). That is longer than you have been alive! She has seen many, many doctors and spent all of her money to find a cure, but nothing has worked. No doctor could help her, and she is getting worse. Then she heard about Jesus. She thought to herself, “If I can just His robe, I can be healed.” So this woman squeezes through all the people and gets closer and closer to Jesus. It was probably very hard for her to get close to Him! She then touches His robe. What do you think is going to happen next? (Allow them time to guess. This can help you see what maturity level they are on, as well as what they have learned about Jesus so far.)
- State: Immediately her bleeding stopped! She felt in her body that she had been healed! Jesus knew right away that power had gone from Him into someone else. He turned around to the crowd and said, “Who touched my robe?” The disciples thought this was a weird question. There were so many people crowded around Jesus that many had probably touched Him as they were following Him.
- State: The woman shook in fear as Jesus looked out at the crowd, but she fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. Jesus responded and told her something very important. He said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease.”
3. Personal Pursuit (10 minutes)
- State: Okay. Let’s all go sit back down and talk about this story. What do you think about this woman? (Allow them time to answer.) This woman had been very sick for 12 years. She did not know what was wrong with her, and no human had been able to heal her. She heard about Jesus, and suddenly she experienced hope. She truly believed that if she could just touch the back of Jesus’ robe, she could be healed. She had never met Jesus, and yet she believed. The Truth had drawn her to Him. God Himself gave her a heart that had faith and believed in who He was. Do you think it was touching Jesus’ robe that healed her, or was it her faith? (Allow them to answer.) What is faith? (Hopefully someone can remember from previous lessons.)
- State: There is something important we also need to see about Jesus in this story. Do you think He really did not know who touched Him? (Allow them to answer.) Jesus is God. He already knew who the woman was. He knew she had touched Him. He knew she had been sick for 12 long years. Why do you think He asked all of the people “Who touched me?” (Allow them time to answer.) Jesus wanted the crowd to see who He was and what He desires from His followers. He was teaching us and showing us something about Himself. He loves each of us deeply. He loved this woman and desired to speak to her face to face. This woman never forgot the day Jesus spoke to her. He called her “daughter” and probably looked right into her eyes!
- State: We are each God’s children, His daughters and His sons. He loves each of us as His children. He desires for us to have faith and believe in who He is. If we know Jesus, truly know Him, then we will recognize His voice. We can hear His voice in His Word. We can hear His voice when we are doing something sinful. We can hear His voice when we are afraid. And we can believe it is His voice that comforts and guides us because we are His children.
4. Daily Knowing (7-10 minutes)
- State: What is impossible with humans is possible with God. No human could heal this woman. But Jesus could because He alone is God. Like this woman, we are sick. Our sickness is called sin. We sin every time we disobey God. Our hearts are very sick and dirty with sin from the time we are born. Jesus can cleanse us and make us pure from our sin when nothing else can. No matter how many good things we do, our hearts can never be cleansed from sin. But Jesus can cleanse us, just like He cleansed this woman from her sickness. He died on the cross for us so that we could be made clean.
- Sing the hymn Nothing but the Blood of Jesus together.
- State: Now I would like for us to memorize the special words that Jesus spoke to the woman in today’s story. This verse is Mark 5:34, “He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease.” These are words He speaks to each of us when we believe in Him alone to forgive and cleanse us of our disease, our sin. Let’s think of hand motions to help us memorize this verse!
- Make sure you review with them the next week or when you have encounters during the week one-on-one. Remind the parents how important it is for them to help their children review their verses all throughout the week. Provide each parent with a notecard that has Mark 5:34 written on it. Be conscious of children who do not have parents who are believers and strive to communicate these things with them, along with encouraging them in their pursuit of Christ.
For more lessons like this, you can browse our growing inventory of free preschool lessons for Sunday School. We also have free coloring pages for preschoolers you can print.