Sunday 13th December
Today we explore the visit of the Magi to baby Jesus. Why the star brought JOY to the wise men and why we too can be filled with joy.
Memory verse
“When the wise men saw the star, they were filled with joy.” - Matthew 2:10
Game
Find the star. Use a star decoration and have someone hide it somewhere safe in the house. Take it, in turn, to go find the star.
Story
You can either read through the passage or watch a version of the story here:
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea. This happened while Herod was king of Judea.
So Jesus was born in a little town in the region of Judea.
Herod was the ruler of that region. He is not a very nice guy!
After Jesus’ birth, Wise Men from the east came to Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the child who has been born to be king of the Jews? When we were in the east, we saw his star. Now we have come to worship him.”
So these Wise Men, who lived in the east somewhere, saw a star in the sky?
What made that star different from all of the others? It doesn’t say in the Bible, but it must have been a pretty special star in order for them to be able to follow it.
When King Herod heard about it, he was very upset. Everyone in Jerusalem was troubled too. So Herod called together all the chief priests of the people. He also called the teachers of the law. He asked them where the Christ was going to be born.
Why would a king, a grown man, be upset by a baby being born? Because it was the prophecy that He would be the king of the Jews. The Jews lived in the region of Judea and Herod was the king. He didn’t anyone coming in and taking over his kingdom.
What Herod didn’t understand was that Jesus’ kingdom is in heaven, not on earth.
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied. “This is what the prophet has written. He said,
“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are certainly not the least important among the towns of Judah.
A ruler will come out of you.
He will be the shepherd of my people Israel.”” — (Micah 5:2)
This was one of many prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His short life of 33 years.
Then Herod called for the Wise Men secretly. He found out from them exactly when the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem. He said, “Go! Make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, bring me a report. Then I can go and worship him too.”
Herod doesn’t want to worship Jesus. We find out later that Herod wants to kill Jesus.
After the Wise Men had listened to the king, they went on their way. The star they had seen when they were in the east went ahead of them. It finally stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy.
The star was moving with the Wise Men to show them the way.
It finally stopped over there Jesus was.
They must have thought this was a really funny place for a king to be born – in a stable.
Just imagine if you were one of the Wise Men…they actually got to see Jesus as a baby!
The Wise Men went to the house. There they saw the child with his mother Mary. They bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures. They gave him gold, incense and myrrh.
Those are strange gifts to give to a baby!
But God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they returned to their country on a different road.
God made sure that Herod wouldn’t find out exactly where Jesus was born, because Herod wanted to kill Him.
Activities
1. Colouring in. You can download the sheet here:
2. Make a star decoration. You can make your own or choose to make this one:
Worship Song
Finally, here is a festive song to have a dance to whilst you have your angel costumes on.
Prayer
Here is a prayer that you could pray together:
Dear God, the Wise Men knew that Jesus was special. Help us to make Jesus special in our lives, too. May we be filled with joy as we look to king Jesus. Amen.
