Jesus Anointed at Bethany Preschool Lesson
Preschool lesson (ages 3–6, 20 minutes)
1. Welcome (3 min)
Sit in a circle, greet every child by name and show one thing from the story to touch.
2. The little story (5 min)
Teach the refrain first: “The whole house was filled with the sweet smell.”
Jesus came to the village of Bethany. It was close to the big city of Jerusalem. In six days it would be the Passover – a big feast for God’s people. At Passover they remembered how God brought them out of Egypt, long, long before.
Jesus’ good friends lived in Bethany: Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus. Not long before, Lazarus had died. But Jesus had raised him from the dead!
Once, when Jesus visited, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to him. Can you sit very still, like Mary listening?
They made a supper for Jesus. Martha served the food. Lazarus sat at the table with Jesus. Yum!
Then Mary took a jar of perfume. It was pure nard – a very, very precious perfume. It was made from a plant that grew far away. It cost a lot of money. And there was a lot of it!
Mary poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet. Then she wiped his feet with her hair. The whole house was filled with the sweet smell. Can you take a big sniff? Mmm! The sweet smell went into every corner of the house.
But Judas, one of Jesus’ disciples, did not like it. “Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” he said. Ointment is a thick oil that smells sweet.
Three hundred denarii was a lot of money. A worker had to work almost a whole year to get that much!
But Judas did not really care about the poor. He kept the money box for Jesus and his friends. And he took money from it that was not his.
Jesus said, “Leave her alone.” Mary could stay right there, at Jesus’ feet. The whole house was filled with the sweet smell.
Jesus said, “You always have the poor with you, but you don’t always have me.” Jesus knew that soon he would die on the cross. But he also knew that God would raise him to life again. Mary had given him her very best.
Mark’s book tells more of what Jesus said that evening. “She has done a good work for me,” said Jesus. And he said, “She has done what she could.” Can you give a thumbs up for Mary’s good work?
Jesus said that people all over the world would tell what she had done. And look – tonight, we are telling it too! The whole house was filled with the sweet smell.
Many people came to Bethany. They wanted to see Jesus. And they wanted to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead!
Jesus loved Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus. They were his good friends. And Jesus loves his friends today, too. The whole house was filled with the sweet smell.
3. Talk together (3 min)
- What do you think the perfume smelled like?
- What is something very special you could give to Jesus?
4. Move (3 min)
Refrain Freeze: move around the room; when you say the refrain, everyone freezes and says it together.
5. Make (4 min)
Color Jesus’ 3 friends in Bethany: Martha, Mary and Lazarus.
6. Verse and prayer (2 min)
“She has done a good work for me” — Mark 14:6 (She has done → point to a friend; a good work → thumbs up; for me → hands on your heart)
Dear Jesus, thank you that you love your friends. I love you too. Amen.
Lesson for older kids (ages 6–10)
Big idea: Give God your very best
Memory verse: “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me.” — Mark 14:6 · WEB
The Bible story
A quiet dinner in Bethany, a jar of costly perfume, and one loving act that Jesus said would be remembered all around the whole wide world.
Talk about it
- In which town did Jesus' friends live? — Bethany
- Who served the dinner for Jesus? — Martha
- What had Jesus done for Lazarus before this dinner? — Raised him from the dead
- What did Mary bring to Jesus? — A jar of costly perfume
- What was the perfume made from? — Pure nard
- What did Mary do with the perfume? — Poured it on Jesus' feet
Where is Jesus in this story?
Jesus said Mary had saved this perfume for the day of his burial (John 12:7). Less than a week later he died on the cross. On Sunday morning some women came with spices to anoint his body, but they were too late in the happiest way: the tomb was empty because Jesus had risen (Mark 16:1–6). Mary's love reached him just in time.
What God wants to tell us
God sees every loving thing we do, even the quiet ones nobody else notices. Mary did not save her best gift for later or worry about what other people thought. She simply gave Jesus everything she had, because she loved Him. God shows us here that no act of love is ever too small or too costly in His eyes. When we give our best to God, with a happy and honest heart, it makes Him smile, and He remembers it forever.
Prayer
Dear Lord, thank You for loving me so much. Help me to give You my very best, just like Mary did, with a happy and thankful heart. Teach me to love You more each day and to share Your love with others. Amen.
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