One Good Side
Object Lesson ·
Upper elementary ·
10 min
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Leon Kotze
POWERED BY KIDOLOGY
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OBJECT LESSON · Ages 9–11 · 15-21 MIN · Mark 10:35-37
One Good Side
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BIG IDEA
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James and John wanted the seat everyone could see, but Jesus measures greatness by the sides nobody is looking at.
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GENERATED WITH 2 EDITOR NOTES · READ THEM AT THE END BEFORE YOU TEACH
SUPPLIES · 2 ITEMS
| HOW TO SHOW IT |
YOUR NOTES |
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SET UP
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Set up the cube
| DO |
Before the children arrive, prepare the Rubik's Cube with one complete face. Leave the other five faces mixed up. Keep the solved face toward you until the opening. |
| DO |
If children arrive early and spot the cube, keep it in a pocket, bag, or behind your back until you begin. |
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1
1-2 min |
Is this cube solved?
| DO |
Hold the cube at chest height with the one solved face toward the group. Keep your fingers around the sides so they cannot see the other faces. |
| SAY |
Quick vote. Is this Rubik's Cube solved, or not solved? Hands up for solved. Hands up for not solved. Pick one before I turn it around. |
| DO |
Let children commit with hands before revealing anything. Do not hint that there is a trick. |
| SAY |
You had one face to look at. Was that enough information to decide? |
| DO |
Take two or three shouted answers. If children immediately suspect a trick, let them vote anyway. Their prediction still sets up the reveal. |
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2
1-2 min |
Turn it around
| DO |
Slowly rotate the cube so the mixed-up faces are visible. Pause for the groans and reactions. |
| SAY |
One good side. Five very confused sides. This cube looked solved because I showed you the face I wanted you to see. |
| SAY |
How did I fool you that fast? |
| DO |
Take a few answers. Accept answers such as, “You only showed us one side,” or, “We didn’t ask to see the rest.” |
| SAY |
Right. We made a decision from the side we could see. |
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3
3-5 min |
Two men ask for the best seats
| DO |
Hold the cube with its solved face toward the group again. Open the Bible to Mark 10:35. |
| SAY |
Listen to how James and John begin a conversation with Jesus. |
| SAY |
“James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came near to him, saying, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we will ask.’” Mark 10:35 (WEB) |
| SAY |
Jesus asks what they want. In the next two verses, they ask to sit at his right and his left in his glory. They are asking for places everyone would notice. |
| SAY |
The text says they wanted those places. It does not say what they were feeling inside. Maybe they felt excited, maybe nervous, maybe something else. We are not told. And we are not told what the other ten disciples looked like right then. |
| DO |
Turn the cube so the solved face is visible, then rotate it back to the mixed faces. |
| SAY |
James and John were focused on the face of the cube everybody would see—the important-looking seat. But a cube is not solved because one face looks good. |
| SAY |
Serving can happen in the places that do not get a spotlight. |
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4
2-3 min |
Which face is your good face?
| SAY |
Think about places, not people. Where do kids your age get noticed for doing something good? |
| DO |
Take several answers from across the large group. Keep the pace moving; do not wait for every hand. |
| SAY |
Now where are some helpful jobs that almost nobody looks at? |
| DO |
Let children name places and tasks: taking out a bin, helping a younger sibling find shoes, picking up scraps after a project, putting books back, stacking chairs, or wiping a table after everyone leaves. If nobody answers, offer the stacking-chairs example and ask for one more. |
| SAY |
Those hidden jobs are not tiny to the person who gets helped. Somebody has to do them. |
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5
2-3 min |
One hidden turn before Wednesday
| DO |
Ask children to turn to one nearby person. If there is an odd number, make one group of three. Do not ask anyone to report their partner’s choice to the room. |
| SAY |
Tell your partner one hidden job you will do before Wednesday, and say when. Make it real enough to put on a calendar. |
| SAY |
You could say, “I’ll carry Nana’s bin out Tuesday morning,” or, “I’ll put the class reading books back at lunch on Monday and not mention it.” |
| DO |
Give pairs a brief moment to share. If a child cannot think of an idea, quietly suggest one ordinary task at home, school, or church. |
| SAY |
We do not serve to earn Jesus’ love or grab a better seat. Jesus already loves us. We serve because we belong to him. |
| DO |
Hold the cube with the mixed faces facing the group as you pray. |
| SAY |
Jesus, thank you for loving us. Holy Spirit, show us one helpful job we would normally walk past. Help us serve people because we belong to you, not because we are trying to earn a better seat. Amen. |
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THE PASSAGE · Mark 10:35-37
James and John come to Jesus with a big request. They want to sit at his right and left in his glory—the places of honor. Jesus asks what they want, but these verses do not tell us what James and John were feeling or what the other disciples looked like when they heard it.
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TALK ABOUT IT · PICK ONE OR TWO
YOUNGER
Where do kids your age get noticed for doing something good?
What are some helpful jobs that happen where almost nobody notices?
OLDER
Why might an unseen job be harder to choose than a job that gets applause?
How can helping in a hidden place change a room, even if nobody says thank you?
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STILL BEING FINISHED · 2 EDITOR NOTES
This piece is usable as it stands. An editor has flagged the points below — read them before you teach, and use your judgement where they apply.
NOTE |
The central claim is not carried by Mark 10:35-37. The big idea says, “Jesus measures greatness by the sides nobody is looking at,” and Step 4 says James and John wanted “places everyone would notice,” but the specified passage only records their request for Jesus’ right and left in his glory. Jesus’ teaching that greatness means serving comes later in Mark 10:42-45, outside the required passage. Do not present the visibility/status explanation or the serving definition as what Mark 10:35-37 says. |
NOTE |
The cube demonstration communicates that a person can make one visible side look good while their hidden sides are a mess. The application asks children to choose helpful unseen service, which is a different idea: doing good where no one sees. The lesson therefore needs the leader to supply the connection after the reveal, and the object is not demonstrating the stated truth. With this object setup and the required passage, wording changes cannot make the cube’s “hidden mixed-up sides” mean unnoticed service. |
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BEFORE YOU TEACH IT
Please review and adapt all generated content before use.
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Leon Kotze · OBJECT LESSON · One Good Side
KIDOLOGY.ORG
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