Lesson 16

Jesus Christ Has the Power to Heal

Purpose

To help each child understand that Jesus Christ has the power to heal and that priesthood blessings can help heal the sick.

Preparation

1. Prayerfully study Matthew 9:18–19, 23–26; Mark 5:22–24, 35–43; Luke 8:41–42, 49–56; James 5:14–15; and Doctrine and Covenants 42:48.

2. Copy or trace the drawings found at the end of the lesson and cut them apart. These drawings will be used in the “What Am I?” activity.

3. Materials needed:

   1. A Bible and a Doctrine and Covenants.

   2. A first aid kit or sack containing a few items that help people heal when they are sick or injured, such as salve, bandages, and cough syrup.

   3. A small bottle of consecrated oil.

   4. Picture 2-25, Jesus Blessing Jairus’s Daughter (Gospel Art Picture Kit 215; 62231); picture 2-26, Jesus Healing the Sick; picture 2-27, Administering to the Sick (62342).

4. Make the necessary preparations for any enrichment activities you want to use.

Suggested Lesson Development

Invite a child to give the opening prayer.

Follow up with the children if you encouraged them to do something during the week.

We Sometimes Get Sick

Attention activity

Show the children the first aid kit or sack and explain that inside it are some things that help us heal when we are sick or injured. Give the children clues about each item to help them guess what it is (for example, “It helps keep germs and dirt out of sores and cuts”).

When the children guess each item, show it to them and talk briefly about how it is used to help people heal. Remind the children not to use these items without their parents’ help.

Teacher presentation

Explain that almost everyone gets sick or hurt. Sometimes hurts or sicknesses last just a little while and our parents can easily take care of us, but other times our illnesses are serious and our parents need to take us to a doctor for help.

Explain that there is another way we can be helped when we are sick. When Jesus Christ lived on the earth he blessed many people and made them well. He used the power of the priesthood to heal them.

Jesus Christ Healed the Sick

Scripture story

Show picture 2-25, Jesus Blessing Jairus’s Daughter, and tell the story of Jesus raising Jairus’s daughter, as found in Luke 8:41–42, 49–56 (see also Matthew 9:18–19, 23–26 and Mark 5:22–24, 35–43).

Explain that Jairus had great faith. He believed that if Jesus came and blessed his sick daughter, she would get well. As Jesus went to Jairus’s home, many other people crowded around him, asking for his help. While Jesus was helping another sick woman, a man came with a message for Jairus.

Read aloud Luke 8:49–50.

• What did the messenger tell Jairus? (See Luke 8:49.)

• What did Jesus tell Jairus? (See Luke 8:50.)

Explain that when Jesus arrived at Jairus’s home, he told the people not to cry, because the girl was not dead. But the people laughed at Jesus and made fun of him because they thought she was dead (see Luke 8:52–53).

Jesus sent all the people away except his disciples Peter, James, and John and Jairus and Jairus’s wife. Then Jesus took the girl by the hand and told her to arise. The girl got up from her bed, completely well again.

• Why do you think Jesus sent everyone out of the house except Peter, James, John, and the girl’s parents? (Perhaps because the other people were laughing at him and did not believe he could heal the girl. They did not have faith.)

• Why was Jesus able to heal Jairus’s daughter? (He had the priesthood; the girl’s parents had faith.)

Teacher presentation

Show picture 2-26, Jesus Healing the Sick, and ask the children to imagine how it would feel to have Jesus come to bless them when they were sick. Emphasize that Jesus loves each of them as much as he loved the children who lived on the earth when he did. Although he isn’t here on the earth now, he has given righteous men the priesthood and the power to act for him. They can give us blessings to heal us just as Jesus would if he were here.

Men Who Hold the Priesthood Can Administer to Us

Discussion

Display picture 2-27, Administering to the Sick.

• What is happening in this picture?

Explain that when men who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood give a blessing to someone who is sick, we call this administering to the sick. Have the children repeat the word administer several times.

Show the children the bottle of consecrated oil. Explain that this oil has been specially blessed by men who hold the priesthood. When someone is sick and needs help to get well, two men who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood use the oil and give a blessing to the sick person (see James 5:14–15).

• Have you ever been administered to?

Let the children tell about any priesthood blessings they have had or have seen in their families. You may want to tell the children about a time when priesthood holders administered to you or a family member.

Story

Tell a story about someone who was healed through a priesthood blessing. A true story about you or someone else the children know, such as a ward or branch member, will be most effective. If you do not know of such a story, you may want to use the following story:

When Jessica arrived home from school, her father met her at the door and told her that her new baby brother had been born that morning. The baby had come sooner than expected and was very tiny and weak. The doctor said the baby might not live more than a few hours.

Jessica could see how worried her father was. She was sad because she wanted the baby to live.

Jessica’s father called one of their home teachers to come and help him give the baby a blessing. When the home teacher arrived, they all went to the bedroom where Jessica’s mother and new brother were. Jessica’s father and the home teacher gently placed their hands on the new baby’s tiny head, and Jessica’s father blessed him to live to fulfill his mission on earth. Warm comfort and peace filled Jessica. She knew that because of the power of the priesthood, her little brother would grow and become strong. (Adapted from “Moments to Remember,” Children’s Friend, Feb. 1963, p. 41.)

Teacher presentation

Explain that Heavenly Father and Jesus love every person who asks to be healed, but sometimes people are not healed even when they are administered to. Some are not healed because Heavenly Father knows they can become stronger people by learning to live with their sickness or disability. Others are not healed because it is the right time for them to die and go back to Heavenly Father (see D&C 42:48). We must have faith that Heavenly Father knows the best answer to each prayer.

Activity

Have several children come to the front of the class and hold the drawings for the “What Am I?” activity. Have the children tell what the drawings represent.

Explain that you are going to read some descriptions of things and people involved in administering to the sick. Have the children decide which drawing fits each description.

1. I am used when a sick person is given a blessing. The priesthood holder puts a few drops of me on the sick person’s head. What am I? (Consecrated oil.)

2. I showed people how to live. Faith in me can help people overcome illness. Who am I? (Jesus Christ.)

3. I need a special blessing. I have a fever. I asked my father to give me a blessing to help me feel better. Who am I? (A sick child.)

4. I have been given a special power called the priesthood. I can use that power to give people blessings. Who am I? (A man who holds the Melchizedek Priesthood.)

5. When a sick person asks for a blessing, men who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood are called in. Usually a certain number of men participate. I am that number. What am I? (The number 2.)

6. When men who hold the priesthood bless the sick, they put me on the sick person’s head. What am I? (Hands.)

Summary

Review discussion

Show the first aid kit or sack again.

• What do we use these items for?

• What else can help us heal when we are sick or injured?

Testimony

Bear testimony about the greatness of Jesus Christ and his power to heal. Tell the children how thankful you are that Jesus has given righteous men the Melchizedek Priesthood so they can bless us when we are sick.

Ask the children to think about how they can share what they have learned with their families. Encourage the children to tell their families the story of how the Savior healed Jairus’s daughter.

Invite a child to give the closing prayer.

Enrichment Activities

Choose from the following activities those that will work best for the children in your class. You can use them in the lesson itself or as a review or summary. For additional guidance, see “Class Time” in “Helps for the Teacher.”

1. Print We believe in the gift of healing on the chalkboard and explain that Joseph Smith gave us this great truth as part of the seventh article of faith. Have the children stand and repeat the sentence. Help them memorize it by erasing one or two words at a time. Have the children continue to repeat the sentence until it has been completely erased and memorized.

2. Sing or say the words to the first verse of “Faith” (Children’s Songbook, p. 96), using the actions indicated below. Remind the children that faith is important to healing.

   Faith is knowing the sun will rise (form a circle over the head with arms),

   lighting each new day (slowly drop arms to shoulder level).

   Faith is knowing the Lord will hear (cup hand behind ear)

   my prayers each time I pray (bring hands together as if in prayer).

   Faith is like a little seed (form a cup with left hand and imitate planting a seed with right hand):

   If planted, it will grow (use right hand to imitate a plant growing from the cupped left hand).

   Faith is a swelling within my heart (place hands over heart).

   When I do right (point upward with right index finger),

   I know (touch head with right index finger).

3. Tell the story of Jesus Christ healing the Nephites, as found in 3 Nephi 17:5–9. If possible, use picture 317 in the Gospel Art Picture Kit (or 62541 in the meetinghouse library) to illustrate the story. Have the children touch on their own bodies some of the things that Jesus healed, such as eyes, ears, and legs. Talk with the children about how wonderful the Nephites must have felt when Jesus healed them. Read aloud the last part of verse 8 (from for I see) and remind the children that it is important to have faith in Jesus Christ.

4. Make each child a copy or tracing of the pictures at the end of the lesson. Give the children crayons and let them color the pictures. Encourage them to use the pictures to tell their families how sick people can be blessed through priesthood blessings.