The Wise Men Visit Jesus

We are continuing our study on Jesus. Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the temple and Simeon and Anna are so happy to see Jesus. Then, the wise men follow the star to see Him also!

We studied about the birth of John. His parents were Zacharias and Elizabeth. Zacharias couldn't talk until he wrote 'His name is John' because he didn't believe that they would have a baby in their old age.

Last week we talked about the birth of Jesus. His Mother, Mary and His earthly father lived in Nazareth. They went to Bethlehem to pay taxes, and with so many people there also paying taxes, the inn was full.

Joseph was told that they could stay in the stable. That is where the animals were kept. Mary had baby Jesus and they laid Him in a manger. An angel from God told shepherds that were out in the field that the Savior has been born! They were so excited, they left right away! They couldn't wait to see Jesus! When the shepherds left Jesus, they told everyone about Him!

Our lesson today is found in Luke 2:21-40 and Matthew 2:1-12.  During Bible times, new mothers had to wait after having a baby for a time called Days of Purification. After that time, new parents that have a firstborn son, take the baby boy to the temple to present him to the Lord and to offer a pair of doves or two young pigeons. (Luke 2:24) Mary and Joseph took baby Jesus to the temple with their offering.

There was a man named Simeon that lived in Jerusalem. God had told Simeon that he would not die before he saw Jesus Christ. Simeon went to the temple, saw Jesus, and took Him in his arms. Simeon told Mary & Joseph that now he could die in peace. He has seen God's salvation and glory. (Luke 2:28-31)

There was also a prophetess in the temple that was 84 years old. Her name was Anna and she was a widow. She stayed in the temple fasting and serving God. She also gave thanks to God for Jesus and told everyone about Him. (Luke 2:36-38)

Mary, Joseph and Jesus returned to Nazareth in Galilee when they completed their duties in the temple.  Luke 2:39

Mary thought about all the things she had learned about Jesus while they were in the temple.

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 from the east. They studied astrology. Which means that they studied the stars and planets. One night, they saw a bright star in the sky. They went to Jerusalem and told King Herod that they were looking for the King of the Jews. They had seen His star in the east, and they wanted to worship Him. (Matthew 2: 2)

When King Herod heard this, he didn’t like it. He was worried that a new king would take his power. King Herod gathered the chief priests and scribes together and questioned them about where Jesus was born. They told King Herod that it was written by the prophets that a Ruler would come, and He would be a Shepherd over God's people.

Then King Herod secretly talked to the wise men. He sent the wise men to Bethlehem and told them to look for the baby Jesus and come back and tell him where Jesus was. King Herod told them he wanted to worship Him.

The wise men saw the star in the east again, and they followed the star and were very happy. (Matthew 2:9) When they came to the house (Matthew 2:11), they saw Mary with the young child Jesus. (The Bible doesn’t tell us how many Wise Men came to visit Jesus.

There were three gifts, but that doesn’t mean that there were three men. The wise men fell down and worshipped Jesus. (Matthew 2:11) They opened their treasures and gave gifts to Jesus. They gave Him gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The wise men were warned in a dream not to return to Herod when they left Jesus, so they went back to their country a different way.

An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told Joseph to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt. (Matthew 2:13) Joseph was supposed to stay in Egypt until God told them they were safe to leave. King Herod was so angry when the wise men didn't return, that he had all the male babies under two years old to be killed. (Matthew 2:16)

 

I made this conversation starter for today to talk about all the things that God gives to us. Every day. That we take for granted. The gifts are in random order because I wanted to print them on different colors of paper and not have two of the same color back to back. I put mine in this order, but use them in whatever order works for you: cover, wise men's gifts, worship, daily, family, friends, outside, you name it. You can have the kids add stickers or draw to make it more fun instead of writing. I will do both. Click here to print.

I added this a year later to this post because I have a lot bigger class. I wanted the same basic Q&A as the above set of printables, but less to print and less work for me. So, I made this Venn type worksheet. Click here to print it.

Click here to print the worksheet.
Print the Spanish worksheet here.

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Click here to see more about the gifts the wise men gave to Jesus.

Click here to print the lesson.

Click here to download the updated visuals and pictures to color.