In this week’s Gospel passage Jesus says whoever is not against Him is for Him, while laying out a difficult teaching on the nature and consequences of sin. Jesus’ teaching is simple in concept, but it is difficult to be His disciple in practice. In this lesson, students analyze scenarios of sin to apply Jesus’ teaching.
Read the Gospel passage aloud to your students as they follow along. Then discuss the focus and reflection questions with them as a class.
Focus Questions
Lower Elementary Gospel Reading, Mark 9:38-48
What do you think Jesus meant when He said, "whoever is not against us is for us" ? Jesus explains that anyone who performs a mighty deed in His name cannot at the same be against Him.
Do you think it is a sin to cause someone else to sin? It is sinful to intentionally cause someone else to sin, even if you are not sinning directly yourself. The Catechism explains “we have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them” (CCC 1868).
Gehenna is another name for Hell. What does Jesus teach about the consequences of sin? Gehenna or Hell is the consequence for our sins.
Activity Part II, Sin Scenarios
Read the Sin Scenarios aloud to your students as they follow along and discuss the questions together as a class.
Sin Scenarios
A. Dave is shopping at a department store. He sees a sweater that he really likes. Dave cannot afford to buy the sweater. Looking around to see if there are any store employees watching, Dave puts the sweater in his shopping bag and walks out of the store without paying for the sweater.
How is Dave sinning this situation? Dave’s sin is stealing the sweater.
What should Dave do? Dave should have put the sweater back and left the store. He could save up his money to return later and buy the sweater. Or he could decide he already has enough clothes—much more than most people in the world have—and he really doesn’t need another sweater.
B. Helen and her friends are playing on the playground. As they are playing, one of Helen’s friends, Elizabeth, keeps calling another friend, Jane, a loser. It’s obvious that Jane does not like being called this name. Helen knows that Jane doesn’t like it, but is afraid if she says something to Elizabeth, she’ll be called names too. Helen does not say anything.
Who is sinning in this situation? How? Elizabeth sinned by calling Jane names. Helen is sinning too, by witnessing what happened, knowing it was wrong, but not acting to stop Elizabeth’s bullying. This is a sin of omission.
What should Helen do? Helen should have stood up to Elizabeth and asked her to stop calling Jane names. She could have made an effort to be especially kind to Jane so that others could see her and know what it looks like to be a friend. Helen and Jane could have stopped playing with Elizabeth and found something else to do.
C. Jose and Carl want to go see a movie, but don’t have the money for tickets. Jose knows that his mom keeps some money in her purse. Jose asks Carl to keep watch for his mom at the doorway to her room while he takes the money from her purse. Carl agrees and stands at the doorway watching for Jose’s Mom.
Who is sinning in this situation? How? Both Jose and Carl are sinning. Jose is stealing money from his mom, while Carl, who is not directly committing a sin, is sinning by cooperating with Jose’s sin. Both are also sinning by knowingly using stolen money to buy the movie tickets.
What should Carl do? Carl should have refused to help Jose steal the money. He could have also suggested they find something else to do other than see the movie.
Activity Part I, Gospel Reading
Have students read the Gospel passage, or read it aloud to your students, and then answer the focus questions. You may have students answer them on their own or you may discuss them together as a class.
Review and discuss the answers to the focus questions.
Focus Questions
Upper Elementary Gospel Reading, Mark 9:38-48
Why did Jesus tell John to not prevent the person from driving out demons in His name? Jesus explains that anyone who performs a mighty deed in His name cannot at the same time speak ill of me. He says whoever is not against Him is for Him.
Do you think it is a sin to cause someone else to sin? What does Jesus teach about leading someone else to sin? It is sinful to intentionally cause someone else to sin, even if you are not sinning directly yourself. The Catechism explains “we have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them” (CCC 1868). Jesus says “it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”
Gehenna is the ancient Jewish equivelent of hell. According to Jesus' teachings, what is Gehenna the consequence of? Gehenna is the consequence for our sins.
What does Jesus' teaching about sin in this Gospel reveal to us about Heaven and Hell and the spiritual realities all around us? Jesus’ teaching about sin reveals that the spiritual realities of Heaven and Hell and even angels and other supernatural beings are eternal and therefore even more “real” and lasting than the physical reality around us, which will fall away. Our souls are eternal and will live forever. Hence, it is better for us to lose our lives in this world to avoid sin than it is to spend eternity in Hell because of our sin.
Activity Part II, For or Against
Have students respond to the reflection question and complete the sin scenarios from the For or Against worksheet. You may choose to have student work individually or with a partner.
Review and discuss the sin scenarios when finished.
Reflection Question: For or Against
Jesus boldly states “whoever is not against us is for us.” while in the next moment He gives a challenging teaching about the consequences of sin. Do you think it is easy to be “for” Jesus and follow Him? Why or why not? If the consequences for sin are so great, why do we still sin?
Most students will answer that it is not easy to be a follower of Jesus. Sin is often very attractive (if sin were not attractive, no one would sin!) and it is difficult to resist the temptation to sin. Also, the world around us views things very differently and we could be made fun of for being a follower of Jesus. We still sin because we might not understand the consequences for sin or we ignore them completely, or in moments of weakness we get confused or give in to temptation. Hence, it is important to stay vigilant and protect ourselves against temptation.
Sin Scenarios
A. Dave is shopping at a department store. He sees a sweater that he really likes. Dave cannot afford to buy the sweater. Looking around to see if there are any store employees watching, Dave puts the sweater in his shopping bag and walks out of the store without paying for the sweater.
How is Dave sinning in this situation? Dave’s sin is stealing the sweater.
What should Dave do? Dave should have put the sweater back and left the store. He could save up his money to return later and buy the sweater. Or he could decide he already has enough clothes—much more than most people in the world have—and he really doesn’t need another sweater.
B. Helen and her friends are playing on the playground. As they are playing, one of Helen’s friends, Elizabeth, keeps calling another friend, Jane, a loser. It’s obvious that Jane does not like being called this name. Helen knows that Jane doesn’t like it, but is afraid if she says something to Elizabeth, she’ll be called names too. Helen does not say anything.
Who is sinning in this situation? How? Elizabeth sinned by calling Jane names. Helen is sinning too, by witnessing what happened, knowing it was wrong, but not acting to stop Elizabeth’s bullying. This is a sin of omission.
What should Helen do? Helen should have stood up to Elizabeth and asked her to stop calling Jane names. She could have made an effort to be especially kind to Jane so that others could see her and know what it looks like to be a friend. Helen and Jane could have stopped playing with Elizabeth and found something else to do.
C. Jose and Carl want to go see a movie, but don’t have the money for tickets. Jose knows that his mom keeps some money in her purse. Jose asks Carl to keep watch for his mom at the doorway to her room while he takes the money from her purse. Carl agrees and stands at the doorway watching for Jose’s Mom.
Who is sinning in this situation? How? Both Jose and Carl are sinning. Jose is stealing money from his mom, while Carl, who is not directly committing a sin, is sinning by cooperating with Jose’s sin. Both are also sinning by knowingly using stolen money to buy the movie tickets.
What should Carl do? Carl should have refused to help Jose steal the money. He could have also suggested they find something else to do other than see the movie.
D. Lindsay is Brianna’s older sister. Lindsay doesn’t like going to Mass on Sunday because she says it’s boring. One Sunday morning, the girls’ parents had to work and told Lindsay to take Brianna with her to Mass. Lindsay agreed, but that morning, stayed home instead. Brianna had no way of getting to Mass on her own. Lindsay told Brianna that she had to lie to their parents and tell them they went to Mass so she didn’t get into trouble. Brianna reluctantly agreed not to tell.
Who is sinning in the situation? Both Lindsay and Brianna are sinning. Lindsay sinned knowingly not going to Mass on Sunday when she was capable of going. Lindsay also is directly causing Brianna to sin by asking her lie for her.
What should Lindsey do? Lindsay should have gone to Mass. She could have realized what she did was wrong and found a later Mass to go to. Given that she did not go, she should have told her parents and not lied, nor pressured her younger sister to lie.
