(15 minutes, easy set-up)
Bring a potato to class. Keep it hidden. Hang the Old Testament Timeline to the wall.

Ask: What comes to mind when you think of the Pharisees? (Learners will probably give negative answers like bitter, threatened leaders with a legalistic form of religion.)Affirm learners’ responses. Ask: Were they for or against Jesus? Why? (They were against Him. They saw Jesus as a threat to their power over the people.) Say: Those are accurate impressions based on what we know from the New Testament. But have you ever wondered why they concentrated so much on keeping the Law?

If you have the Map/Timeline Kit, ask a volunteer to go to the timeline and find the date when Nebuchadnezzar deported the Jews and burned the Temple. Then ask the volunteer to find Jesus’ birth. Ask how much time passed between the events (almost 600 years).

Ask: What did the exile and the burning of the Temple mean for the Jewish people? Discuss how it is difficult to grasp the significance of this event. The Temple was the absolute center of Jewish religious and cultural life. The homeland of Israel proved God’s favor and covenant. After that destruction the Jews no longer had a priesthood, a monarchy, or a place to offer sacrifice. All they had left to focus on was the Law . . . for 600 years! Say: The Pharisees get criticized for their extreme observance to the Law, but the Law and the Prophets were all they had left. Keeping the Law was the only identifying mark that reminded them of their heritage.

Take out the potato. Ask: What are some uses for this potato? (Possible answers: It can be baked, fried, boiled, made into salad or soup, stuffed, or mashed.)Ask: How much does a bag of potatoes cost? (Potatoes are inexpensive.)Say: Like the potato, the Law had many uses by the time of Christ. The Law was all people had, so they made the most of it. They even used it for things it was not intended for, like to gain righteousness with God.