Wise men visit Jesus
key words
bible reference
Matthew 2:1-12
lesson objective
To help the children learn to worship Jesus.
memory verse
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16a, NIV*).
prepare yourself to teach
The story of the visit that the wise men made to Jesus is one of the most exciting of the Christmas season. It tells us the long journey that these men made to see the newborn child. The Bible does not tell us how many wise men there were or their names. Tradition says that there were three because of the number of presents that they offered to the Messiah. However, it is likely that they were more.
Instead, the Bible provides us with more accurate data. We know that they went from the east to Jerusalem, and went before King Herod to inquire about the birth of the king of the Jews (Matthew 2: 2). Herod did not know anything about this event, so “having summoned all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ was to be born” (v. 4). When they found the answer, they said, “In Bethlehem of Judea, because it was written by the prophet” (v. 5). The prophet who wrote this was Micah (5:2).
Immediately Herod called the wise men in secret. He wanted to know the exact date the star appeared to calculate the age of the child. Then he sent them to Bethlehem to look for the baby, telling them that when they found Him, they were to let him know so he could go worship him (v. 8). When the wise men left the palace, they followed the star to Bethlehem, where Jesus was with his mother, Mary. Contrary to popular belief, he was not in the stable. Experts on the subject have established that Jesus was already one or two years old when he received their visit. This explains why Herod ordered to kill all the children under two years old who lived in Bethlehem.
When the wise men found Jesus, they knelt and worshiped him, offering him very expensive gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh (verse 11). These presents symbolized Jesus’ ministry on earth. Gold was a gift that was offered to kings - Jesus was king. The incense was a gift of the priests. Christ became our High Priest so that we can go into the presence of God. Myrrh was a gift for the one who was going to die - Jesus came to die for us. The wise men were told in a dream that they should not return to Herod, so they returned to their land by another way (v. 12). Just as material gifts were important for their value and symbolism, those presents showed that the Messiah had come for all, not only for the Jews. From the humble shepherds to the wise men with their riches, all went to worship him. Even in our time, the message of Christ is for all people.
adaptation
Preschoolers enjoy receiving gifts. That’s why they wait for their birthday or Christmas with excitement. It is sad to see that in our time, materialism has reached alarming levels. It is common for the excessive purchase of gifts to overshadow the celebration of the birth of Jesus.
Many children’s interest today as to what they will receive at Christmas sharply contrasts with what the wise men did. They made a long journey to offer the King their presents of worship and obedience, along with gold, incense and myrrh.
Teach your children the true meaning of Christmas, following the example of the wise men in offering Jesus their love through worship and obedience.
introduce the lesson
The name of Jesus
For this activity, you will need white cardboard, golden frost, markers, scissors, glue, old newspapers, and paper towels to clean.
Cover the table with the newspapers and cut the card in pieces of 22.5 x 30 cm. Write “JESUS” with large letters on each piece of card and hand them out.
Help the children apply glue over the letters and let them cover the letters with the golden frost. Let these dry and remove excess frost from the sheet.
As they work, tell them: These letters form the name of Jesus, the Son of God. We celebrate his birth at Christmas. Today we will learn about wise men who also celebrated the birth of the Messiah.
Clean and reorganize the work area before going on to the next activity.
Prepare three boxes as gifts in advance that represent the gifts of the wise men, and place them in the front. Write the words gold, frankincense and myrrh on the front side of three different cards and attach a corresponding picture of the reverse side of each card. Then put one of them inside each box. You can show these cards to the group at the end of the lesson.
teach the lesson
Tell the group: “The visitors who came to see Jesus brought three gifts.” (gold, frankincense and myrrh) Then ask the children to try to guess the content of the gifts that the wise men offered to Jesus. After they finish guessing, tell them the Bible story.
Gifts for Jesus
A long time ago, in a very distant place, there were some wise men who studied the stars. One night, these men observed something different in the sky. A very large and bright star had appeared.
“This star means that a special baby has been born,” they said. “That baby is a very important king; let’s go worship him!”
The wise men climbed on their camels and set off on the long journey. “We must get to Jerusalem,” one of them said. “The people there will tell us where to find the new king.”
When they reached the city, they went to the royal palace to speak with King Herod, who ruled Jerusalem. “Where is the new king who has been born?” the wise men asked him.
King Herod became very nervous when he heard that question. Then he gathered the chief priests and other educated men and asked them, “Where is the new king to be born?”
“In Bethlehem,” they replied. “This is what it says in the Word of God.” Long before the birth of Jesus, God had chosen faithful men to announce to the people that he would send his Son into the world as a special King.
The wise men took their camels and began the journey to Bethlehem. The bright star they had seen guided them as they went on their way.
After a while, the star stopped over the house where the baby Jesus was. The wise men were very happy!
When they entered the house, they saw Jesus with his mother, Mary, and they knelt to worship him. “This is the new King,” they said excitedly.
The wise men gave Jesus three special gifts. These were very expensive gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. These presents symbolized Jesus’ ministry on earth. Gold was a gift that was offered to kings - Jesus was king. The incense was a gift of the priests. Christ became our High Priest so that we can go into the presence of God. Myrrh was a gift for the one who was going to die - Jesus came to die for us.
Afterwards, these men had to return to their homeland. It would be a long trip back, but they did not care. They were happy because they had met Jesus, the Son of God.
connect the lesson
Follow the star!
Prepare Student Activity Sheet #105-A and #105-B prior to the session. Give a picture and Student Activity Sheet #105-A and #105-B to each child. Let the children trace the word of faith and write their name.
Ask them to follow the paths marked by the blue, red and yellow stars. Ask them: “Who do we find at the end of these roads?” (Jesus)
Have the children turn to Student Activity Sheet #105-B and connect the gifts that are identical with colored lines.
Encourage the children to take home their activities and share the lesson with their families and friends.
practice the memory verse
Write on the board some letters of the words that make up the memory verse. Write the remaining letters on pieces of paper that you will place in a bag. Ask that some volunteers take out the letters from the bag and see if they correspond to the ones that are missing in the verse.
Children should place the letter in the corresponding place in the verse. When they have finished, read it together and repeat it several times.
wrap-up
Pray
Pray and give thanks to God for the gift of Jesus as Savior and King. Also thank them for having been able to work in your class for the year. Intercede for the requests children have.
Encourage
Because it is the last lesson in this unit, consider giving special recognition to your children for their hard work. Remind them that all the lessons are biblical truths that God wants them to apply to their daily lives. Do not forget to share all the work they did during the unit. If possible, organize a Christmas party or other special event to end the year.
Invite
Do not stop praying for your children and seek their spiritual growth, even if they are no longer in the group in the coming year. Perhaps your church promotes the older preschool children to the next level at the beginning of new calendar years. If so, you can also include this celebration with your end of the year event.
* Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™