As Jesus traveled the region of Galilee, teaching, proclaiming, and healing, he soon found himself atop a hill surrounded by a great multitude. It was there that Jesus delivered the most famous sermon ever recorded: The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). This sermon is noteworthy for both its content and its style — what Jesus taught and how he taught. Jesus taught by leveraging the power of visual storytelling. He taught with images that stuck with his audience, images as powerful today as they were over 2,000 years ago. As a Sunday school teacher or volunteer, you want to teach with maximum impact. So, has your Sunday school discovered the power of visual storytelling?
Visual Storytelling
Show vs. Tell
Matthew 6 contains some of the Bible’s most comforting words concerning worry. Here, Jesus uses the imagery of birds and flowers to help his listeners see the faithful provision of God.
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? – Matthew 6:26-30 (NIV)
Provision and worry are abstract terms. These words can be difficult for adults to define, let alone for children to grasp. However, all adults and children have seen birds and flowers. This simple, but powerful picture allows Jesus to do more than just tell us the truth; he is able to show us the truth. The visual story of birds, barns, flowers, and grass all become the doorway to greater learning and deeper understanding.
In the Sunday school classroom, we must do more than just tell students what the Bible says. We need to show them what the Bible says! Let them see the regret in Adam and Eve’s eyes as they eat from the forbidden tree, the overconfidence of the giant Goliath, the father’s joy as the prodigal son returns and the agony of Christ upon the cross. These moments of showing open the door of telling.
