FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS
CRAFT: People come in all shapes, sizes and ages. Have the children find pictures of people of all ages and paste them on a page. It could say something about "Jesus Came to Save Us All" if you want.
SNACK: Popcorn, especially if they make it. It grows up.
LESSON PLAN: At the age of 12 Jesus was in the temple not simply listening to the Elders, but teaching them. This is a significantly unusual event. Children were rarely allowed to be with the Elders much less speak to them. Jesus' explanation was that this is what he was sent to do.
MEMORY WORK: Luke 2:52 Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS
We will learn that Jesus had a childhood very much the same as we did (do.)
We will understand that as God, He had all the wisdom of the world.
We will thank God that the Godman Jesus fulfilled His mission and purpose in the world in a perfect and God pleasing manner.
Preliminary considerations: The overall theme for today is Jesus grows up. The Introit is a combination of Isaiah 9:6 and Psalm 98. We get the promise of a Child who grow up to be our Savior. The Collect asks (basically) that we be allowed to grow up in the favor of God. The Old Testament Lesson is the promise that in our Salvation we will be made anew, starting over as maidens who dance. The Gradual is the Introit repeated. The Epistle Lesson speaks of us as the children of God who grow into Salvation through our Savior. The Gospel Lesson is the account of Jesus' trip to Jerusalem for the Passover at the age of 12. He astounded the Elders with His knowledge.
THE OLD TESTAMENT LESSON: Jeremiah 31:10-13
Christmas is a time of family reunions, dinner at grandma's house. The birth of the Savior brought about the return of those who had been scattered. The Shepherd was in the world to gather up His sheep. The shouting would be done as if by children, even by the elderly. Sadly the Hebrew people took this more literally than they should have. They assumed the nation would be set back in place, and what God was saying is that the whole world would be brought back to him from the exile of the reign of sin, death and Satan.
THE EPISTLE LESSON: Hebrews 2:10-18
One danger of Christmas is that we don't look beyond the manger; we fail to recognize why Jesus became incarnate. There is the purpose and will of God in the Child. The Child was born to made satisfaction for the sin, suffering and death of His people. There is a cataclysmic struggle ahead for the manger Child. He is going to do a classic battle of good verses evil. The real joy of Christmas is that the birth of the Child brought us into the family of God through the adoption offered us in Him.
THE GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 2:41-52
There is an interesting complication going on in our Gospel Lesson. It starts and ends as a narrative of Mary and Joseph. They journey annually to Jerusalem for the Passover. They go up, they return but Jesus stayed behind. Then, this Jesus at age 12 is found sitting in the temple with the Elders. The Elders have been astonished at His understanding. Mary complains that Jesus has done something wrong, but He reminds everyone of His mission, and nobody gets it. Not a single one of them understands what Jesus is talking about. Instead of being upset, Jesus is obedient to God's Law for children and honors his parents.
STUDY SHEET
My middle sister is a repeat single woman with three grown sons. She owns her own home -- a rather large home -- which is always in need of some little bit of handyman type work. Without a man handy in her life, she waits for our father to visit. Sometimes she hands him a list of the things she would like him to look at. Sometimes she simply implies that they need fixing.
Not that my father wouldn't find things to do on his own. He gets a little stir crazy on visits, so getting to do things makes him rather happy. Still visits to Carol's house are a working vacation at best.
Jesus came into the world, born as a Child to work. He didn't come to visit, He didn't come to gather information, Jesus came to work, to live a perfect life, and then take that perfect life and lay it down for us and for our Salvation. Jesus came not to be served but to serve us with His very life. The image of the cross is very clearly fixed as a shadow over the manger.
1. Why was it necessary for Jesus to become human?
2. What did Christ endure to make us holy?
3. What is the significance of Jesus encountering the problems and the struggles we accomplish?
4. How does Jesus staying behind in the temple emphasize His mission on earth?
5. What does the description of Jesus' growth as a boy tell us about His human nature?
6. How was Jesus' life much the same as our life?
7. How was Jesus' life very different from our life?
8. When did Christmas end for the people of the world?
9. When does Christmas end for a Christian?
10. What do the people of the world miss when the end Christmas on Christmas Day, instead of with the empty tomb?
11. What sort of joy do we feel as we are gathered as a family each Sunday?
12. Every day is Christmas, Every Sunday is Easter