Luke 1:5-25
Preparation 1. INTRODUCTION TO ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS This year, on the four Sundays before Christmas and on Christmas morning, we will read the story of Jesus birth from Luke s gospel (Luke 1:5-2:21). It s about: - how John s and Jesus births are announced - how people respond to that - the special births of John and Jesus. Time and time again, Luke s stories show how God loves giving people a new beginning. And time and time again, there are connections to older stories and promises. 2. INTRODUCTION TO LUKE S CHRISTMAS STORY Luke begins his gospel with the story of John the Baptist, the prophet who will prepare people for Jesus arrival. Luke has the most elaborate story about Jesus birth. The story has a beautiful structure, with repeated parallels between John and Jesus: - First John s birth is announced (Luke 1:5-25), then Jesus (Luke 1:26-38). - First John is born (Luke 1:57-66), then Jesus (Luke 2:1-21). - Zechariah sings a song to thank God (Luke 1:46-55), and Mary, too, uses a song to thank God (Luke 1:68-79). - About both boys, it is said that God is with them and gives them strength (Luke 1:80 and Luke 2:40). 3. INTRODUCTION TO THIS SUNDAY This Sunday s story is about the priest Zechariah, who receives a very special message: he and his wife Elizabeth may be very old, but still, they will have a child. That child will prepare people for the arrival of the Lord. For the 4-8-year-old children we will focus on the joy surrounding John s birth. For the 8-12-year-old children we will focus on John s important task: he prepares people for the arrival of God s Son. 4. CONTEXT OF THE BIBLE PASSAGE Zechariah, the honest and faithful priest, is visited by the angel Gabriel as he serves in the temple. Later, that same angel will announce Jesus birth. The way in which the angel Gabriel announces John s birth brings to mind several stories from the Old Testament. - The fact that Zechariah are old (Luke 1:7) calls to mind the story about Abraham and Sarah. In both cases, God gives them a child late in life (Genesis 17:1-18:15). - The words Don t be afraid (Luke 1:13) stand out as well: with this greeting, God often introduces himself to people (For example in Genesis 15:1; Genesis 26:24; Isaiah 41:10, but also Luke 1:30). - The angel Gabriel s words about how John will not drink wine or strong drink (Luke 1:15) are similar to those the angel speaks in Samson s story: Samson won t drink wine or beer either. And Samson, too, will serve God in a special way (Judges 13). - The angel compares John to the prophet Elijah (Luke 1:17). This prophet tried to turn the Israelites back to God when they were worshiping the god Baal. 5. EXPLANATION OF THE BIBLE PASSAGE Zechariah is in the temple to burn incense as a sacrifice in the holy room. This room is the front part of the temple. The holy of holies is the rear part of the temple. Only the high priest could enter that room on the Day of Atonement. Gabriel has a surprising message: Zechariah and his wife may be old, but they will have a child, a son. They should call him John. That name means: God is gracious. He is good to us. John is going to be a prophet with a special task: he has to prepare people for the moment the Lord will come to them. A few verses later, it becomes clear that this means Jesus. The story says that John will make people happy. Not just his parents, but other people, too. Because through him, people will learn how to live good lives and obey God. Zechariah does not immediately believe what Gabriel says, and he asks for a sign. Because Zechariah does not believe God can do this miracle, he cannot talk until after John is born. When it turns out Elizabeth is indeed pregnant, she stays inside for five months. Only after Mary visits her does she show herself to other people again. 2
Preparation 6. FROM THE BIBLE For the youngest group, we focus on Luke 1:14. How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born! For the oldest children, part of Luke 1:16-17 is on the handout. John will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ( ) he will get the Lord s people ready for him. 7. WHAT WILL YOU NEED? That smells nice! - For each child one patch of fabric (not too thick), at least 20 x 20 cm - Ribbon or tape to tie the fabric into a pouch - Different fragrant substances (dried flowers, herbs, tea leaves, slivers of soap et cetera) Bible passage - a bible Talking without words - folded up notes with on them different parts of the angel s message: Elizabeth will become pregnant. John will make many people happy. John will be great in the Lord s sight. John will be filled with the Holy Spirit. John must not drink any wine or strong drink. John will bring fathers and children together again. John will bring back many people to the Lord. John will get people ready for God s Son. 3
Building Blocks of the Sunday During the Children s Service 8. TO START OFF Happy! Ask the children to think of something that makes them happy. Pick one child at a time; the other children ask questions to find out what makes this child happy. Answers should be yes or no only. A task Ask the children to think of a job in which you help other people. Let the children take turns asking questions to one of the group members in order to guess what that job is. This child can only answer by saying yes or no. 9. PRAYER AT THE START OF THE CHILDREN S SERVICE Good God, Today is the start of advent. Together, we are looking forward to Christmas. We are looking forward to a new beginning. We will hear the story Of Zechariah. They will have a baby, although they are very old Such happy news! Will you help us be happy with what you do? Amen. Tip Sit down in a circle for this prayer. You could light a candle. 10. BIBLE STORY Luke 1:5-25 A son for Zechariah Zechariah is an old man. He has been married to Elizabeth for a very long time. Zechariah are very kind. They are honest. They always keep God s laws very precisely. Zechariah live far outside the city, in the hills. But this week, Zechariah is in Jerusalem to work in the temple. That is very special. There are so many priests that Zechariah almost never gets to help. Today will be an extra special day. Zechariah is chosen to burn incense for God. He can enter the temple, the place where most people cannot go. Zechariah carefully opens the door to the temple room. He steps inside with a bowl of incense in his hands. The bowl smells like wonderful perfume! The room is very quiet. Zechariah is all alone. But what s that? There, to the right of the altar, there is someone after all. A man. No, it s not a man. Zechariah is startled. He is very afraid. Because beside the altar, there is an angel. It is an angel of God. His name is Gabriel. Don t be afraid, Zechariah, the angel says. I have very good news for you. God has heard what you have asked him. You want to have a baby, don t you? Zechariah closes his eyes firmly. Then he opens them again. Is he dreaming? That angel how does he know what Zechariah has asked God so often? Yes, it is true. Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth have always wanted to have a baby. But they have been married for a very long time now. Elizabeth 4
Building Blocks of the Sunday is as old as a grandmother. And Zechariah is as old as a grandfather. And they have never had a baby. But what is the angel saying? God will make a new beginning in your life. You and your wife will have a baby. A boy. And do you know what you have to name him? John. That name means: God is good to us. He will make you very happy. And your baby boy will grow up to be a very special man. He will make very many people happy. Zechariah puts the bowl with incense on a table. He tries to think carefully, but he does not understand. A baby? A son? And your son, the angel says, will do great work. He will tell people about God. Because the Lord is coming, Zechariah. And your son John will make sure people in Israel are ready for him. Zechariah slowly shakes his head. But that is impossible, isn t it? he says. You can t have a baby when you re this old? How can I tell whether it s true? The angel is a little angry. But Zechariah, he says. God has sent me. I am not here to tell tall tales! Do you want to be certain that this is true? All right. From now on you can t talk anymore. Until your son is born. Zechariah wants to say: Sorry, I didn t mean it like that. But his mouth makes no sound. Wow. Is it true? Will Zechariah really have a baby who will make people happy? It s hard to believe such wonderful news! Luke 1:5-25 The Birth of John the Baptist Is Announced During the time when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife s name was Elizabeth; she also belonged to a priestly family. They both lived good lives in God s sight and obeyed fully all the Lord s laws and commands. They had no children because Elizabeth could not have any, and she and Zechariah were both very old. One day Zechariah was doing his work as a priest in the Temple, taking his turn in the daily service. According to the custom followed by the priests, he was chosen by lot to burn incense on the altar. So he went into the Temple of the Lord, while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was burned. An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar where the incense was burned. When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid. But the angel said to him, Don t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John. How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born! John will be great in the Lord s sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord s people ready for him. Zechariah said to the angel, How shall I know if this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is old also. I am Gabriel, the angel answered. I stand in the presence of God, who sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news. But you have not believed my message, which will come true at the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak; you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true. In the meantime the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he was spending such a long time in the Temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they knew that he had seen a vision in the Temple. Unable to say a word, he made signs to them with his hands. When his period of service in the Temple was over, Zechariah went back home. Some time later his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and did not leave the house for five months. Now at last the Lord has helped me, she said. He has taken away my public disgrace! 5
Building Blocks of the Sunday 11. FACT FILE Burning incense Zechariah gets to burn incense. Every morning and every evening, a priest had to make an incense offering. It was done on a special small altar, which was completely covered in gold, in the front room of the temple. The incense offering consisted of incense mixed with special herbs and salt. According to Exodus 30:7, it smelled wonderful. Some churches still burn incense on special occasions. The angel Gabriel Zechariah hears the news about John from an angel. Our word angel comes from the Greek word angelos. That word is a translation of the Hebrew word mal ach. Both words mean messenger. There are several stories in the Bible about angels who give messages from God to people. The angel in this story has a special name: Gabriel. It means: hero of God. The angel Gabriel also shows up in the book of Daniel. There, he explains Daniel s dream (Daniel 8:15-16). Gabriel goes to Mary as well, and tells her that she will have a very special child: Jesus, the Son of God (Luke 2:26-38). 12. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Below, there are two kinds of questions you can discuss: knowledge questions and thinking questions. You can look up the answers to the knowledge questions, for example in the story. But the thinking questions can keep your group thinking. There are no wrong answers in those! - What does the angel promise to Zechariah? Why does Zechariah find it difficult to believe it? - What s special about the baby Zechariah will get? - Do you think Zechariah is happy with the news? Why do you think that? - Is there anything you really wish for? - Do you always immediately get it? - God makes Zechariah happy with something he really wants to have. How could God make you happy? - Do you have a special task at home, in school or in church? Tell us a little more about it. - What task does Zechariah s baby get? How do you think he should do it? - Do you think God still gives people a task? What task does he give to you? - The name John means: God is good to us. Do you think the name suits him? Why? 13. DOING That smells nice! Zechariah brings an offering of incense. Tell the children we don t know how the offering smelled. But we know that it smelled wonderful it was a smell that made people happy! And that ties in with the happiness which John will bring. Let the children make their own wonderful smell. Let them smell the different fragrances. If they like something, they can put a little of it in the middle of their patch of fabric. Do they think the mixture is just right? Then the patch can be tied into a pouch. What do you need? - For each child one patch of fabric (not too thick), at least 20 x 20 cm - Ribbon or tape to tie the fabric into a pouch - Different fragrant substances (dried flowers, herbs, tea leaves, slivers of soap et cetera) Tip Instead of a patch of fabric, you could use a paper tissue. If you have time, the children can decorate their pouches. 6
Building Blocks of the Sunday Talking without words Zechariah cannot talk anymore. But he does have to let his wife know what the angel has said! How do you think he did this? Let one child play Elizabeth. In turn, the others take a note with one sentence from the story and they act it out. Of course, they are not allowed to talk! But they can bring over other children and use them as marionettes. When Elizabeth has guessed what sentence it is, it is the next child s turn. If you have time, evaluate: was it easy to act out the message? What was almost impossible? Why was it easy or hard? What do you need? - folded up notes with on them different parts of het angel s message: Elizabeth will become pregnant. John will make many people happy. John will be great in the Lord s sight. John will be filled with the Holy Spirit. John must not drink any wine or strong drink. John will bring fathers and children together again. John will bring back many people to the Lord. John will get people ready for God s Son. 14. BLESSING In the Bible, there is a blessing for all people. It is a wish that we often hear at the end of a church service. And we say this blessing to each other: May the Lord bless you and take care of you; May the Lord be kind and gracious to you; May the Lord look on you with favor and give you peace. (Numeri 6:24-26) Tips - Stand in a circle and hold hands. - Let three children say one sentence each, or say the entire blessing together. When I grow up Let the children make the puzzle to discover what John said to people when he was older. Solution: Turn away from your sins (Luke 3:3) What did John say to the people? S I U R Y A F M R T N O Y R O W U A S N COPYRIGHT Text: Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap Bible passages: Good News Bible Retelling Bible story : NBG/Corien Oranje Translation: NBG/Erica Kramer Illustration : NBG/ De Boer illustraties Illustration Christmas project: NBG/De Boer illustraties 7
Luke 1:5-25 The angel said to Zechariah: How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born!. Luke 1:14
Handout () John will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ( ) He will get the Lord s people ready for him. Luke 1:16-17 BURNING INCENSE Zechariah gets to burn incense. Every morning and every evening, a priest had to make an incense offering. It was done on a special small altar, which was completely covered in gold, in the front room of the temple. The incense offering consisted of incense mixed with special herbs and salt. According to Exodus 30:7, it smelled wonderful. Some churches still burn incense on special occasions. THE ANGEL GABRIEL Zechariah hears the news about John from an angel. Our word angel comes from the Greek word angelos. That word is a translation of the Hebrew word mal ach. Both words mean messenger. There are several stories in the Bible about angels who give messages from God to people. The angel in this story has a special name: Gabriel. It means: hero of God. The angel Gabriel also shows up in the book of Daniel. There, he explains Daniel s dream (Daniel 8:15-16). Gabriel goes to Mary as well, and tells her that she will have a very special child: Jesus, the son of God (Luke 2:26-38). WHEN I GROW UP... Do you know what John will say to people when he is older? Solve the puzzle to find out! What did John say to the people? S I U R Y A F M R T N O Y R O W U A S N