Birth of John the Baptist

Zacharias didn't believe it when Gabriel told him they would have a baby!

We are going to be learning about the life of Jesus for the next couple of months. Today’s lesson is about the birth of John.  Bible Scripture is Luke 1:5-25; 39-80. He is about 6 months older than Jesus, and he is the one who baptizes Jesus. John's father is Zacharias, and his mother is Elizabeth. They were both faithful to God. They were older and didn’t have any children. Zacharias was a priest. He was burning incense in the temple during the hour of incense, and there was a huge number of people outside praying.

An angel of the Lord appeared to him on the right side of the altar of incense. When Zacharias saw him, he was worried and afraid. But the angel said "Do not to be afraid. Your prayer was heard, and Elizabeth would have a son and you will call him John. You will be glad, and many people will celebrate his birth. He will be great in the Lord’s eyes and will teach many people about Jesus. He will prepare the way for Jesus the Savior."

Zacharias asked the angel how I will know this; I am an old man, and my wife is old. The angel told him that he is Gabriel and was sent to tell him about John. But because you didn’t believe what I told you, you will not be able to speak until the things I told you happen.

The people waited for Zacharias and were amazed that it took him so long in the temple. When he came out, he couldn’t speak, and they thought he had a vision. When his work was done at the temple, he returned home to his wife Elizabeth. She found out that she was going to have a baby and hid herself for 5 months. She was very happy to have a baby.

Her neighbors and relatives were so happy for her and celebrated with her. When they were going to name the baby, normally they would have named him Zacharias like his father, but Elizabeth said they were naming him John. Her friends said, but no one in your family is named John!

And then they asked Zacharias what they were going to call the baby. Remember, he can’t talk and so he took a writing tablet and wrote “His name is John.” They were so surprised!

Immediately Zacharias could talk, and he spoke praising God. People all over the country heard about this and talked about it.

John grew up and became strong in his faith.

For the class Project: During the class, let the children use a small chalkboard and write comments/questions. They should write like Zacharias had to. “I can’t talk, food?, baby (add smiley face), etc.” At the end, have them write “His name is John.” They also take them home. I found mine here. I have seen them at Dollar General also.

Print Birth of John Worksheet here.

 

 Bible Verse:  Luke 1:63 

 

This is the printable for the Life of Jesus lapbook for John.

This is the first page in the lapbook, and since it is the first time for the kids to be in my class, I kept this simple. Plus, the left side (back of front cover) is where I glued the review printables for Life of Jesus. On this page only, I glued the lapbook part at the bottom, and the kids glued the notepad and wrote on the notepad His name is John. You can just as easily use a real piece of notepad paper instead of printing. All these pages are printed on cardstock. I use diecuts and stickers when I have them instead of printing. You can print the worksheet page and notepad here.

 

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

 

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

Used by permission.