Intermediate Level, Block 9—Biographies of Jesus
Week 82
Jesus—His Birth as Emmanuel, God with Us
Point to Emphasize: We can know who Jesus is; He is Emmanuel, “God with us”.
Reading Reference: Matthew 1:18-25, Matthew 2:1-11, Luke 2:1-11, John 1:14
Memory Verse: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel (which is translated, God with us). (Matthew 1:23)
[Note: If a child asks what a virgin is, you can simply say that this word refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus.]
Story Sample
While you go through the Old Testament and learn so many stories, one thing is certain; after God created man, God wanted to be closer to man. I don’t know if you remember, but God’s presence was first in the tabernacle and then in the temple where He could dwell among His people. That is quite something. But now, in the New Testament the very God who wanted to be with man came to earth to live among His people as a man. This man was named Jesus. He was also called Emmanuel which means “God with us”.
Jesus’ birth was like no other birth. When Jesus was about to be born, the whole territory of Judea had been conquered by the Roman army, and the Romans were ruling over them. The top Roman ruler was Caesar Augustus, and he commanded that everyone under his rule needed to be registered and taxed. The plan was that everyone should go to the city of their fathers for this to happen. Joseph and Mary packed things for the journey and began to go to Bethlehem. When Joseph and Mary reached Bethlehem, the city was full of people.
Have you heard the story of how you were born? Some births are fast, some slow, some in a hospital, and some in a house. [Storyteller, tell the story of how you were born or someone you know.] My birth was pretty ordinary, but Jesus’ birth was like none other. Let’s see how it happened.
Now they are in Bethlehem to be registered and Mary was about to deliver her baby. There were no hospitals like ours back then, and they could not find a room at an inn (a motel.) After Jesus was born, Mary wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger so that He would be warm and secure. A manger is the box that holds food for the animals to eat. [Note: Do not draw or show a picture of a baby or a manger or animals or a stable.] They did the best they could to give Him a safe and secure place to sleep.
There were shepherds in the area around Bethlehem spending the nights in the fields to keep a watchful eye over their flocks. Then one night an angel of the Lord came to these shepherds and stood by them. SUDDENLY there was a BRIGHT shining around them! The angel gave the shepherds the joyous announcement, “I announce to you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. Because today a Savior has been born to you…” (Luke 2:10-11). SUDDENLY there was a multitude of angels (that means a large gathering) rushed in praising God and giving Him glory! It was almost as if all those angels just could not stay quiet and let just one angel give this announcement. Oh, how these countless angels celebrated this baby’s birth! They were so joyous! They sounded out praises to God!
And when the angels departed from the shepherds into heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us” (v. 15). So they went as quickly as they could to Bethlehem. And they found Mary and Joseph and the baby. They told Mary and Joseph about how the angels came and announced the birth of this baby to them. As the shepherds returned to their flocks, they were glorifying and praising God for the things they had seen!
Jesus’ birth was like no other birth. It was foretold in the Old Testament, announced by an angel of the Lord, and celebrated with praises by a multitude of angels. Then after receiving the announcement of this birth, shepherds went to see Him and returned to their flocks praising God, because they had seen the baby who was Emmanuel, God with us. We will see much more about Jesus’ life in the coming weeks.