Birth of Jesus

This is a VERY condensed birth of Jesus lesson. Although the wise men visiting are included in this post, they did not visit at the stable. (See scripture below.) The shepherds visited at the stable, then Mary and Joseph went to the temple where Anna and Simeon were thrilled to see the Savior. Jesus was about 1.5 to 2 when the wise men visited.

We talked last week about the angel from God named Gabriel. He told Zacharias about John, and he also told Mary she would have a baby. Scripture is Luke 1:26-39; 2:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25.

One night, an angel of the Lord went and told Joseph that Mary is going to have a son and they are to name Him Jesus. The angel said that Jesus would save people from their sins. Joseph took Mary as his wife. Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth and Joseph is a carpenter.

The Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, made a law that everyone should be taxed, so the Roman government ordered people to go to their tribal ancestral city, and enroll by a census. Joseph was from the Tribe of Judah, so Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem. It was 70/85 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  

I had these printed for the students when they came in. They filled them in, and then we used them during the lesson. It really helped them understand the concept of census. You can print this census recorder by clicking on the picture.

At this part of the Bible lesson, we talked about their census paper, and I wrote the results on a white board for them to see as we talked about it. (I found this idea online years ago, and do not have the original site info)

When Joseph and Mary finally arrived at Bethlehem, there were a lot of people there. But there wasn't any room for them at the inn.  (Luke 2:7) We are not told who offered the stable to stay at.

During their time in Bethlehem, it was time for Jesus to be born. Mary wrapped Jesus in swaddling clothes, which is a blanket or fabric wrapped tight around the baby and laid Him in a manger. (Luke 2:7)

That same night, an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds. They were out in their fields during the night watching over their sheep. They were very afraid! But the angel told the shepherds: “Don’t be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and He will be lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:8-20)

The shepherds wanted to see baby Jesus. They went right away! After they saw Jesus, they told everyone about Him!

Mary and Joseph found a home in Bethlehem and stayed there. Let's talk about more men that came to see Jesus.

This took place about 1.5-2 years after Jesus was born. The shepherds came the same night, the wise men sometime later. In Luke 2 Jesus is referred to Babe or Child. Now, in Mathew 2:8, Jesus is called a young Child. According to the original text, Jesus was probably about 1.5-2 years old now.

There were wise men and they lived far to the east. One night, they saw a bright star in the sky and followed it to worship Jesus! The Bible doesn’t tell us how many wise men came to visit Jesus. There were 3 gifts, but that doesn’t mean that there were 3 men. They fell down and worshipped Him. They opened their treasures and gave gifts to Jesus. They gave Him gold, frankincense and myrrh.

I had the gifts for a visual. The insides have the items, found on eBay some time ago.

The gold is heavy gold glitter.

They smelled good! We talked about the value of the gifts. 

You can print the Birth of Jesus worksheet here.

You can print the birth of Jesus lapbook printable here.

Here are the printables for the worksheet part of the lapbook. You can print in color or black and white. The black and white does not have a shepherd, so there is a cow for the stable.

Color

Black/White

You can find all the download links for the Life of Jesus lapbooks and the lapbook worksheets here.

Bible Verse: Matthew 1:21

Today's Project is this paper plate Nativity scene. The plates are 9" from Dollar Tree.

Here is the teacher's visual aid copy (You just cut around the circle and glue it on).

Here is the students printable with the stable in the circle and everything else needs cut and glued.

Here is the Spanish version in color.

Click here to print the black and white version.

 The black & white in Spanish is here.

(Thanks to my Husband's co-worker for the Spanish translation!

  

This is some of the basics I have found about the gifts, and it has been years, so I do not know any of the original information came from.

Frankincense and myrrh were both valued for perfume.

Myrrh was used for killing pain (like cough syrup) and an antiseptic for killing germs.

Myrrh came from a bush and frankincense came from a tree.

Frankincense: back then frankincense was worth a lot of money. It was used for incense or it was lit and used as a candle. It could be melted and used as an oil. If you burned it, it kept mosquitoes and sand flies away. Think about how useful that would be living in the desert!

Gold carries obvious significance. It’s precious, worthy across all cultures and times. It’s a gift fit for royalty. Gold says “He will be a king”.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.

Used by permission.