Module 2.

05
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 6-10

NAME: _________________________________________
SECTION: ______________________________________ WW Score PT Score
INCLUSIVE DATES: _____________________________

What I Need to Know (Face-to-Face 1)

THE ARRIVAL
Week 1: Traditions & Predictions

Bible: Genesis 3:15, Genesis 12:3, Genesis 17:9, Genesis 28:4, Genesis 49:10, 2 Samuel 7:12-13, Isaiah 7:14,
Micah
5: 2, Hosea 11:1

Bottom Line: Like the people of the Old Testament, we too wait for Christ to come and do a new work in us
during the Advent season.

Christmas time is “the most wonderful time of the year.” It’s a time to celebrate the birth of our Savior with
family and friends. Many churches celebrate more than just Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. There is a rich
tradition of celebrating the season of Advent, a 40-day time of anticipation and preparation for the coming of
the Christ Child.

Have you noticed that stores are putting out Christmas stuff earlier and earlier each year?

It seems like they haven’t even put the Halloween candy on clearance, but they are already putting out
Christmas candy. I’m sure in the coming years, you will be able to buy a box of candy canes while shopping for
your Labor Day barbeque.

And have you noticed that Black Friday is no longer just the Friday after Thanksgiving?

While many—both in and out of the church—look forward to things like family gatherings, exchanging gifts, and
decorating a Christmas tree, we Christians remember the true reason for the season: celebrating the birth of our
Savior, Jesus Christ.

This idea of anticipating and preparing for the coming of the Christ Child dates back about 1,500 years in the
tradition known as Advent. Experts don’t really known when it started exactly, but there are references to the
season of Advent dating back to the 5th Century.

The term, “Advent,” comes from the Latin word, “adventus,” which is a translation of the Greek word,
“parousia,” which means, “coming.” According to Christian tradition, we look forward to Christ’s coming in three
ways during the four-week season of Advent: Christ’s first coming as a baby in the Nativity story, Christ coming
into our hearts on a daily basis, and Christ’s eventual second coming to repair the mess we have made of this
planet and to restore the Kingdom of God.

Over the next four weeks, we will learn about this season of Advent.

We will begin by looking back through history at some of the traditions of Advent to see what meaning they can
hold for us today. We will also go way back and explore some of the Old Testament prophecies about the
coming of the Messiah to better understand what the Jews of that day were anticipating. We will then consider
the story of the Holy Family, Mary and Joseph, perhaps in ways we haven’t before. We will look not just at what
they anticipated in the birth of Jesus, but how they behaved during those nine months of waiting.
In our third lesson, we will explore the story of some minor characters in the Nativity story: the Magi and King
Herod. Both were anticipating a newborn king, but each were looking for two very different things in that king
and responded very differently to the news of Christ’s birth. In our final lesson, we will turn our attention to
ourselves and what we look forward to in Christ’s coming. What does Christ’s birth mean for each of us?
Let’s begin by turning our attention to some of the traditions of the Advent season. The first one we will consider
is the color of Advent.

Churches who follow the liturgical calendar—typically more traditional denominations—will decorate their
sanctuaries in the color of each liturgical season.

The color of Advent is purple. What do you think purple might represent? Traditionally, the color purple
represents royalty. Back in the day, different colored fabrics had different prices depending on how expensive
the dye was to color the fabric.

Purple dye was very expensive, so only the wealthy and royal could afford to buy purple fabrics to make their
clothing. Jesus is often referred to as the “King of Kings” and “Lord of Lords.” The Magi came looking for a
newborn king. As God’s only Son, Jesus is the King above all others. So many churches celebrate the Advent
season by decorating in purple in anticipation of the coming King.

In America, we are not really used to the idea of royalty, so it might be hard to relate to this concept. But,
imagine if your favorite athlete or celebrity was coming to your house. You’d probably want to clean up your
house and decorate in their honor, right? So, in the same way, we ought to clean up and decorate for the
celebration of Christ’s coming. Not just our houses or our church’s sanctuary, but our hearts as well.

We need to be sure we are prepared for His arrival.

A second tradition is the lighting of Advent candles.

There are a total of five Advent candles that are placed in an Advent wreath. Four candles go around the outside,
with one candle—the Christ candle—in the middle. During the four weeks of Advent leading up to Christmas, a
new candle is lit each week (in addition to the candles lit in previous weeks). Typically, a special prayer is said
during the lighting of the candles each week.

And then the Christ candle is lit on Christmas Eve. Different churches and different denominations have different
ideas about what each of these candles represents.

In one tradition, each candle represents a different player in the Christmas story; the first candle represents the
prophets who foretold Christ’s coming, the second represents the angels who brought the first news of Christ’s
birth, the third represents the shepherds who were the first to visit the newborn King, and the last represents
the Magi who came from the east in search of the Christ child.

In another tradition, the candles represent hope, peace, joy, and love, respectively. Christ’s birth brings us hope
that through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we will be saved from sin and death. Christ’s birth brings us
peace in knowing that we are reconciled to God through Christ. Christ’s birth brings us joy in knowing that we
are God’s adopted children.

And Christ’s birth brings us love that we need to share with the world. The reason I bring these things up is to
encourage you to explore some of these rich traditions, some of which go back hundreds of years. There are
many more than we have time to discuss here. A simple Google search will give you a lot to read and consider.

But our society pushes forward at a breakneck pace. We are always looking ahead to the next thing—the next
event, the next device, the next new thing. But, sometimes we need to pause, slow down, and reflect. There is
so much meaning and richness to be found in these traditions, prayers, litanies, and rituals.

As you enter the Advent season this year, I encourage you to find one of these traditions and incorporate it into
your experiences. Pray that God would open your mind and your heart to see what you can learn through
observing that tradition. We are going to change directions now and go back in history a few thousand years.

If you think about it, Christians in the 21 st century experience the season of Advent and the birth of Christ in a
rather interesting fashion. We spend four weeks in anticipation and preparation for an event that happened
2,000 years ago. But let’s go back to the Old Testament times and consider some of the words that prophesied
the birth of Christ. The first prophecy about Christ’s coming is all the way back in Genesis.
After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and after God dished out His punishments, God offered hope in the
form of a prophetic promise. God said in Genesis 3:15 that a Descendent of Eve (Jesus) would be bruised by the
serpent (Satan), but the Descendent (Jesus) would crush the serpent’s (Satan’s) head.
In other words, Satan may have won the battle between Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit—and will likely
win other battles—but Jesus will win the war. This was the first of many prophecies of the eventual coming of
the Messiah who would bring us victory over sin and death. Many of the details of Christ’s birth, life, ministry,
death, and resurrection were predicted by various writers of the Old Testament.

In fact, there are over 60 prophecies Jesus fulfilled, such as:

• The Messiah would be a descendent of Abraham (Genesis 12:3), Isaac (Genesis 17:9), and Jacob (Genesis
28:4)
• The Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10)
• The Messiah would come from the line of David (2 Samuel 7:12-13)
• The Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)
• The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
• And the Messiah would go to Egypt as a child (Hosea 11:1)

These are just a few of the many prophecies He fulfilled—ones that relate specifically to Jesus’ birth. I think
there are two things we can take away from this discussion of prophecy. The first is how incredible it is that
Jesus fulfilled over sixty specific prophecies during His lifetime—a number of them being prophecies that no
normal human would have control over.

A person cannot choose their lineage, or their place of birth, or where their parents take them when they are a
toddler. And yet, one Man (Jesus) fulfilled all these prophecies. Not only that, but there are not any prophecies
that Jesus failed to fulfill. It’s not like He scored a 95% and got almost all of them.

He fulfilled every prophecy about the first coming of the Messiah. To put this into perspective, a guy named Les
Krantz did the mathematical equations to determine the likelihood that one Man could fulfill all the prophecies
that Jesus did—over sixty.

The probability that one person could do this is 1 in 10 17. That’s a 1 with 17 zeros after it!
Our God is truly an awesome God. But what does all this have to do with Advent?

Remember that Advent is a time of waiting and preparation. It is a time of expectancy.

For thousands of years, the nation of Israel waited for the coming of the Messiah. They waited for this Savior to
come to earth and restore their often-broken relationship with God. And yet, in the midst of all that waiting, God
would send a message through one of the prophets about what to expect when the Messiah arrives.

These were not just hints or clues of what to look for—they were reminders that God hadn’t forgotten about
them. God still loved them and there were better things to come. As we continue to talk about this season of
Advent in the coming weeks, may these traditions we discussed and the numerous Old Testament prophecies be
a reminder that God has not forgotten about us.

Our circumstances and surroundings may paint a pretty bleak picture at times. It may seem that God has left the
building. But, every year during Advent, we remember Jesus came to this earth to dwell among us, to heal the
sick and the broken, and to restore our relationship with God. God stayed true to His word the first time, and He
will stay true to His word again.

Even in the darkest hour, we can have hope.

A. Write a reflection of the Bible verse in your reflection notebook.

Rubric (WW)
Criteria UnsatisfactoryBeginni Developing Accomplished Exemplary
ng
Content 1 2 3 4
Reflection Reflection lacks critical Reflection demonstrates Reflection demonstrates Reflection demonstrates a
thinking. Superficial limited critical thinking in some degree of critical high degree of critical
connections are made applying, analyzing, and/or thinking in applying, thinking in applying,
with passage. evaluating the passage. analyzing, and/or analyzing, and evaluating
 Minimal connections made
through explanations,
inferences, and/or
examples.
evaluating the reading
passage. Connections
made through
explanations, inferences,
and/or examples.
key
the reading passage
Insightful and relevant
connections made
through contextual
explanations, inferences,
and examples.

Personal 1 2 3 4
Growth Conveys inadequate Conveys limited evidence of Conveys evidence of Conveys strong evidence of
evidence of reflection on reflection on own work in reflection on own work with reflection on own work with
own work in response to response to the a personal response to the a personal response to the
the self-assessment selfassessment questions self-assessment questions self-assessment questions
questions posed. Personal posed. Demonstrates less posed. Demonstrates posed. Demonstrates
growth and awareness are than adequate personal satisfactory personal growth significant personal growth
not evident and/or growth and awareness and awareness through and awareness of deeper
demonstrates a neutral through few or simplistic some inferences made, meaning through inferences
experience with negligible inferences made, examples, examples, insights, and made, examples, well
personal impact. Lacks insights, and/or challenges challenges. Some thought of developed insights, and
enough inferences, that are not well developed. the future implications of substantial depth in
examples, personal Minimal thought of the current experience. perceptions and challenges.
insights and challenges, future implications of Synthesizes current
and/or future implications current experience. experience into future
are overlooked. implications.
Writing 0.5 1 1.5 2
Quality Poor writing style lacking Average and/or casual Above average writing style Well written and clearly
in standard English, writing style that is and logically organized with organized free from
clarity, language used, sometimes unclear and/or minor errors in grammar, grammar, punctuation,
and/or frequent errors in with some errors in punctuation, usage, and usage, and spelling errors.
grammar, punctuation, grammar, punctuation, spelling.
usage, and spelling. Needs usage, and spelling.
work.
Timelines Deduct 5 points-overall Deduct 3-4 points Deduct 1-2 points 0 points deducted
s failing
Journal reflection is Journal reflection is Journal reflection is Journal reflection is
submitted 2-3 days (49-72 submitted 1-2 days (25-48 submitted within 1 day (24 submitted on or before
hours) after the deadline. hours) after the deadline. hours) after the deadline. deadline.
TOTAL POINTS: 10

B. Choose five (5) among these questions to answer in your reflection

notebook.
1. What are some things you do to prepare your
house for Christmas time?
3. Before we began this lesson, what did you
know about Advent?
5. Why do you think some churches and/or
Christians steer away from some of these old
traditions?
7. How can these traditions make Christmas
more meaningful for you?
9. How does learning about these prophecies
give you hope?
2. What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?
4. What is one thing you learned about Advent
today/tonight?
6. What do you like or find interesting about these
traditions?
8. Did any of the prophecies about Christ’s birth
surprise you? Why?
10. What are some things you can do to prepare your
heart for Christmas time?

Performance Task 1
Post a picture, submit a video or write a journal of how you have applied this week’s lesson to your
life.
Send it to Google
Classroom.

Performance Task Rubrics

Criteria 4 3 2

Purpose Has a clear picture of what Has a fairly clear picture of what Unclear on the goals and how
student is trying to achieve. student is trying to achieve. the project objectives will be
met.
 Concept Adequate description of what Can describe what student is Little effort has been spent on
student is trying to do and trying to do overall but has brainstorming and refining a
generally how his/her work trouble describing how his/her concept.
applies to the CE lesson. work applies to the CE lesson.
6 4 2

Commitment to There is strong evidence of a There is evidence of a generally There is evidence of a

Process consistent commitment to the high but occasionally inconsistent generally satisfactory and/or
accomplishment of purpose. or variable level of commitment variable level of commitment
to the purpose. to the purpose.

Module 2.06
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 6-10

NAME: _________________________________________
SECTION: ______________________________________ WW Score PT Score
INCLUSIVE DATES: _____________________________

What I Need to Know (Face-to-Face 1)

THE ARRIVAL
Week 2: The Holy Family

Bible: Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:18-25; Leviticus 20:10

Bottom Line: When God interrupts our lives unexpectedly, we can be ready.

LESSON OBJECTIVE
Mary and Joseph were just an average, working-class engaged couple minding their own business when their
lives were flipped upside down by the news that Mary would be the mother of the Messiah.
In this lesson, you put yourself into the story as these members of the Holy Family and to learn from the
example they set for when God interrupts our lives unexpectedly.

Last week, we began our four-week study of the season of Advent. Advent consists of the four weeks leading up
to Christmas, and many churches use this as a time of anticipation and preparation as they wait for the
celebration of Jesus’ birth.

The many traditions of Advent can make this season much more meaningful as we celebrate Christmas. We are
going to shift our focus from the traditions of Advent to the primary players of the Christmas story. This week,
we will talk about the Holy Family and how they spent their time waiting for and preparing for the birth of Christ.

Let’s read both of their stories—first Mary’s and then Joseph’s.

Read Luke 1:26-38.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin
pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel
went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled
at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give
birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord
God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom
will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come
on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of
God.

Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive
is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Read Matthew 1:18-25.

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph,
but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her
husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce
her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph
son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy
Spirit.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their
sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give
birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did
what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate
their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

That’s a lot to take in, so let me do a little recap:

Joseph and Mary are betrothed—or engaged—to be married, which means they have completely committed
themselves to marriage; they just haven’t yet had the ceremony to make it official. In biblical times, breaking off
a betrothal was a lot more complicated than breaking off an engagement today—but more about that later.

And, remember that Mary and Joseph were probably very young. Girls were given away as brides shortly after
reaching a childbearing age, and young men were married in their late teens. So, the mother and earthly father
of Jesus were probably about your age! One day, Mary is just minding her own business when all of a sudden
there’s this angel standing in front of her.

Mary freaks out, as most people do when faced with an angel. The angel says, “You’re going to have a baby, and
that baby is going to be the Son of God who will save humankind from sin and death.” She doesn’t understand
how that can be since she has never…well, you know. But the angel reassures her that God Himself will be the
Father, and that this child will be very special.

Then, Matthew picks up the story where Mary breaks the news to Joseph. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have been
a fly on the wall during that conversation.

Unfortunately, the Bible is very sparse on those details. What we do know is that Joseph wanted to end the
betrothal quietly so as to not bring any more shame on his fiancé. But before he went through with it, he had a
dream in which an angel confirmed Mary’s story. So, Joseph decided to do right by Mary and marry her. The
story resumes some nine months later. Mary and Joseph are in Bethlehem to register in a census when Mary
goes into labor, and you know the rest.

For our lesson today, I want to focus on what is not said in the story rather than on what is said. Like I said, the
Gospels are rather sparse on details. But there is so much for us to learn if we read between the lines. Let’s
begin with Mary’s response to the angel’s news of her pregnancy. We are told that she goes quickly from fear,
shock, and disbelief, to belief, acceptance, and faithful obedience.

The story we read fast forwards to Jesus’ birth nine months later, with just a few short stops along the way. But
Mary had to live through all 24 hours of every one of those roughly 280 days of her pregnancy. Not only did she
have to tell Joseph (we will talk about that in a moment), but she had to tell her parents and family. On top of
that, Nazareth was a small town—people talked. Mary was likely the subject of all kind of rumors and sideways
glances, which would likely explain why she went to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, who was also expecting a miracle
baby.
And, yet, she remained faithful. Mary trusted what the angel had told her. She endured all the ridicule and
humiliation that she likely faced. And she endured all the aches, pains, and weight gain that come with a
pregnancy. Through it all, Mary remained faithful and obedient. Now let’s spend a few minutes looking at
Joseph’s story.

We are told he finds out Mary is pregnant by the Holy Spirit, but unfortunately we don’t have the details of that
conversation. We can presume Mary was the one who told him. I wonder how he responded. I wonder what was
going through his head at that moment.
There are so many questions I want to ask him when I get to heaven. It would appear that he was upset by the
situation, but still very much in love with Mary and still wanting to do the right thing. Now, according to Jewish
Law, a woman found to have committed adultery or to have had premarital sex could be dragged before a judge
to be sentenced to death (Leviticus 20:10). So Joseph would have been within his rights to “change his
relationship status” in a very permanent way.

But what does Matthew tell us he did?

Our story says, “because he was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace,” he
sought to end the betrothal quietly. He was likely hurt to find out his betrothed was pregnant, but he didn’t
want to hurt her in any way, and he wanted to do the right thing. But an angel visited him in a dream to confirm
Mary’s story and to tell him to not be afraid to take her as his bride. This would make it seem that he still had a
choice in the matter. He could have left. He could have said, “I can’t even,” and just left town, and left Mary all
alone.
But he didn’t. Joseph remained faithful to God and to his bride. The faith and the faithfulness displayed by this
young couple is amazing, and that is what I want to focus the rest of our time on. The first thing we can learn
from this is that obedience to God doesn’t always make our lives easier.

Like I mentioned before, they had to endure those nine long months of pregnancy. They had to endure possible
shame and humiliation. Imagine how their parents would have taken the news! Obeying God can put us into
difficult situations. We may lose friends. We may lose our reputation. People may gossip about us and talk
behind our backs. But we have a God who is faithful to us, and we have this amazing example of faithfulness and
obedience in the Holy Family. Along with this, we can learn to stand firm in our obedience and faithfulness.

Like I said, Mary and Joseph stayed obedient to God not only through the pregnancy, but after Jesus was born as
well. When an angel instructed them to flee to Egypt to avoid King Herod’s wrath (remember, King Herod felt
threatened when he heard about the birth of a new king from the Magi, so he ordered the murder of all the
baby boys in the region), they obeyed without question.

And after Herod died and the angel said it’s safe to go home, they obeyed. I’m sure none of this went according
to their plans. Mary and Joseph were probably planning to have the baby at their home in Nazareth, and to raise
Jesus there, close to friends and family. But they had to travel to Bethlehem for the census, and they had the
baby there in a stable.

Then they had to travel to Egypt and hide out there until it was safe to return home. None of this was what they
wanted, I’m sure. But they remained obedient and faithful to what God wanted them to do. So, what about us?
How can we apply these lessons to the here and now?
Well, just as Mary and Joseph were anxiously waiting for Jesus’ birth, so we wait for His second coming. And it’s
a long wait, and a difficult wait. In fact, in Romans, the Apostle Paul says all of creation is groaning like a woman
in labor as it waits for Christ to return and restore it to its original state.

The natural world is waiting along with us for the glorious return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It has been
waiting for two thousand years since Christ promised He would return, but we will have to wait awhile longer. So
what do we do while we wait? We follow the lead of the Holy Family—two teenagers who were minding their
own business until God came along and turned their world upside down. They remained faithful, and they
remained obedient. If they could do it, so can you.

B. Write a reflection of the Bible verse in your reflection notebook.

Rubric (WW)
Criteria UnsatisfactoryBeginnin Developing Accomplished Exemplary
g
 Content 1 2
Reflection Reflection lacks critical
thinking. Superficial
connections are made
with passage.
Personal 1 2
Growth Conveys inadequate
evidence of reflection on
own work in response to
the self-assessment
questions posed.
Personal growth and
awareness are not
evident and/or
demonstrates a neutral
experience with
negligible personal
impact. Lacks enough
inferences, examples,
personal insights and
challenges, and/or future
implications are
overlooked.
Reflection demonstrates
limited critical thinking in
applying, analyzing,
and/or evaluating the
passage. Minimal
connections made
through explanations,
inferences, and/or
examples.
Conveys limited evidence
of reflection on own
work in response to the
selfassessment questions
posed. Demonstrates
less than adequate
personal growth and
awareness through few
or simplistic inferences
made, examples,
insights, and/or
challenges that are not
well developed. Minimal
thought of the future
implications of current
experience.
3 4
Reflection demonstrates Reflection demonstrates a high
some degree of critical degree of critical thinking in
thinking in applying, applying, analyzing, and evaluating
analyzing, and/or key
evaluating the reading the reading passage Insightful and
passage. Connections relevant connections made
made through through contextual explanations,
explanations, inferences, inferences, and examples.
and/or examples.
3 4
Conveys evidence of Conveys strong evidence of
reflection on own work reflection on own work with a
with a personal response personal response to the self-
to the self-assessment assessment questions posed.
questions posed. Demonstrates significant personal
Demonstrates growth and awareness of deeper
meaning through inferences made,
satisfactory personal
examples, well developed insights,
growth and awareness
and substantial depth in
through some inferences perceptions and challenges.
made, examples, Synthesizes current experience
insights, and challenges. into future implications.
Some thought of the
future implications of
current experience.

Writing 0.5 1 1.5 2

Quality Poor writing style lacking in
standard English, clarity,
language used, and/or
frequent errors in
grammar, punctuation,
usage, and spelling. Needs
work.
Timelines Deduct 5 points-overall
s failing
Journal reflection is
submitted 2-3 days (49-72
hours) after the deadline.
Average and/or casual
writing style that is
sometimes unclear and/or
with some errors in
grammar, punctuation,
usage, and spelling.
Deduct 3-4 points
Journal reflection is
submitted 1-2 days (25-48
hours) after the deadline.
Above average writing style Well written and clearly organized
and logically organized with free from grammar, punctuation,
minor errors in grammar, usage, and spelling errors.
punctuation, usage, and
spelling.
Deduct 1-2 points 0 points deducted
Journal reflection is Journal reflection is submitted on or
submitted within 1 day (24 before deadline.
hours) after the deadline.
TOTAL POINTS: 10

B. Choose five (5) among these questions to answer in your reflection

notebook.
1. To girls in the group) How would you respond
if you were in Mary’s place and an angel told
you that you were going to have a baby who
would be the Son of God?
3. How do you think their parents and families
responded?
5. Do you think they ever had doubts or wanted
out of this situation
7. How did you handle that difficult situation?
9. Are there lessons other than the ones talked
about here that you learned from this story?
2. To the boys in the group) How would you respond if
your fiancé told you she was pregnant with the Son
of God?
4. How do you think Mary and Joseph dealt with any
gossip or shame they experienced?
6. Have you ever found yourself in a difficult situation
because you were being obedient to God?
8. Putting aside the gender of the two characters, which
one do you relate to most?
10. How can you remain faithful and obedient in the
midst of difficult situations?

Performance Task 1
Post a picture, submit a video or write a journal of how you have applied this week’s lesson to your
life.
Send it to Google
Classroom.

Performance Task Rubrics

 Criteria 4 3 2

Purpose Has a clear picture of what Has a fairly clear picture of Unclear on the goals and
student is trying to achieve. what student is trying to how the project objectives
achieve. will be met.
Concept Adequate description of what Can describe what student is Little effort has been
student is trying to do and trying to do overall but has spent on brainstorming
generally how his/her work trouble describing how and refining a concept.
applies to the CE lesson. his/her work applies to the
CE lesson.
6 4 2

Commitment to There is strong evidence of a There is evidence of a There is evidence of a

Process consistent commitment to generally high but generally satisfactory
the accomplishment of occasionally inconsistent or and/or variable level of
purpose. variable level of commitment commitment to the
to the purpose. purpose.

Module 2.07
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 6-10

NAME: _________________________________________
SECTION: ______________________________________ WW Score PT Score
INCLUSIVE DATES: _____________________________

What I Need to Know (Face-to-Face 1)

THE ARRIVAL Week 3: The King and Kingmakers

Bible: Matthew 2:1-16

Bottom Line: We can trust that God will take care of us no matter how difficult the road of following
Him may be.

LESSON OBJECTIVE
The Gospel of Matthew tells the story of a group of foreigners—the Magi—who came to Israel to worship a
newborn king. Their arrival set off a panic in Jerusalem that led to King Herod taking drastic measures to secure
his place as king.
Both the Magi and King Herod believed the Christ child to be a new king, but they reacted in dramatically
different ways. You will learn how these very different responses can make their celebration of Advent more
meaningful.

Let’s turn to Matthew 2 to read their story:

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to
Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and
have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he
had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was
to be born.

“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land
of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent
them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that
I too may go and worship him.”
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of
them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.
Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been
warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. When they had
gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and
escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of
Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” When
Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in
Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from
the Magi.

This week, we are going to talk first about the Magi and their response to the birth of Christ, and then we are
going to talk about King Herod and his response to the birth of Christ.

Let’s look first at the Magi, or as they are sometimes called, the Wise Men. So who were the Magi, exactly?
Well, the answer to that question isn’t easy. In fact, historians, scholars, and theologians have discussed and
debated the answer to that question for centuries. And even still, the answer is not entirely clear. What we do
know is they are from the east, most likely coming from the region of Babylonia, and their history goes back
hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. Remember the book of Daniel?

The Israelites had been taken captive by the Babylonians, who took the best and the brightest back to Babylon to
serve the king. Among these exiles were Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
These Israelites, along with some others, joined the ranks of the king’s advisers who were essentially the Magi.
These Magi were advisers to the king and other important people, and they consulted stars, dreams, and omens
to offer their advice. Since the Babylonians were polytheistic (worshipping many gods), they wouldn’t have
thought twice about bringing in some Israelites who prayed to their own God.

In addition to this mystical advisory role in the east, it is also thought by some that they played an important role
in the coronation of a new king. Remember how the prophet Samuel anointed Saul to be king, and then later
anointed David to replace him? And you know how in England and other countries, a priest or bishop will
coronate a new king?

That is similar to what many think the Magi did. They would be called upon to install a new king, like when the
old king dies and his son takes over the throne. They might have seen some sign in the stars, or one of them
might have had a dream to tell them that a new king had been born, and then they would go to that new king to
announce his birth. It would seem that this is what happened in Matthew’s account. There was a new star over
Bethlehem (astronomers have made a variety of guesses as to what that might have been, but we won’t go into
it right now) that told these Magi a new King had been born. They ventured from some eastern land to Israel to
find this newborn King, to bring Him gifts, and to proclaim Him as King.
The problem is that Israel already had a king, but not a Jewish king. Israel was under the rule of the Roman
Empire, and the Romans installed their own king of that region—King Herod. Herod was not a Jew, and
therefore used force and violence to assert his authority over the nation of Israel. It would seem, based on the
several stories in the Gospels about King Herod, that he was rather insecure about himself and his position as
ruler of Israel.

Perhaps he was afraid of a rebellion—there were many Jews who wanted to fight for their freedom from Rome
— or perhaps he was afraid of being removed from power by the Romans. In either case, he did not appreciate
the news of a newborn King in his jurisdiction. It was because he felt threatened by the birth of the baby Jesus
that Herod ordered the death of all the toddlers and infants in the region.

Now that we have a better understanding of our principal players, let’s dig a little deeper into their stories to see
what we can learn from them. Let’s look first at the Magi. There are several important lessons to be learned
from the story of the Magi. The first is that God is in the business of attracting outsiders. The Magi were not
Jewish. They didn’t worship the God of Abraham, as far as we know.

They were mystics, essentially ancient astrologers, and political advisers. And yet, they saw the star and followed
it, looking for a newborn King. Two thousand years later, God is still trying to attract outsiders to Himself. God
may use something in nature, or some life circumstance, to bring those outsiders to Him. God may even use you.
The important thing to understand is that, like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son or like the Good
Shepherd, God is on the move to seek and save the lost. And if God is seeking out the lost and the outsiders,
shouldn’t we be doing the same? We need to keep our eyes peeled and our hearts open to see those who are
seeking.

They may be seeking purpose and meaning. They may be seeking hope. They may be seeking acceptance. But
what they may not realize is that all those things—and so much more—can be found in Christ. If they don’t know
what it is exactly they are looking for, then we need to be ready and available to show them. The second lesson
is that we need to look for God’s fingerprints everywhere, much like the Magi did. It has been said that all truth
is God’s truth, meaning we can learn God’s truth from many sources. Now, that doesn’t mean we should take up
astrology or other forms of mysticism, like the Magi. We need to measure anything we think is of God against
the counsel of Scripture.

But God did place a star over Bethlehem to guide them, and did later speak to them through a dream. So God
can use unorthodox means of getting our attention and getting through to us. A third lesson we can learn from
the Magi is to offer our best to Jesus. The text tells us that they offered Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and
myrrh. These are all very valuable items.

Gold, obviously, is one of the most precious and valuable metals on the planet.
Frankincense is an expensive oil that has medicinal properties and was often used in religious rituals. It was
something that only the rich and the royals could afford.
Myrrh is an expensive perfume that was used as an incense and also used as an embalming agent.
These gifts were not only very valuable and worthy of a King, but many see symbolic meaning in them too. They
see the different roles that Jesus would later play represented in those gifts. The gold represents Christ’s royalty
as the King of kings. The frankincense represents Christ’s priesthood; Jesus is often referred to as our Great High
Priest who tore down the curtain that separated us from the presence of God.

And the myrrh represents Christ’s sacrificial death to pay for our sins. As you can see, we have much to learn
from these rather mysterious characters in the Nativity story. We see that God is always looking to bring the
outsiders in, and we need to be there to welcome them. We see that God can use unusual and unorthodox
methods for getting our attention and pointing us in the right direction. And we see that we ought to offer our
best to God, just as the Magi did.

Now, let’s talk about King Herod.

As we said earlier, this surprise visit from the Magi asking about a newborn King was very upsetting to Herod. It
would be like finding out you might lose your job on Twitter or Snapchat. He felt that his job—and possibly his
life and family—were being threatened by a little baby. When a new king took power from an old king, the new
king often killed the old king and all the old king’s family.
Herod panicked. When he realized the Magi were not coming back to tell him the location and identity of this
newborn King, he went over the edge. He ordered the slaughter of all baby boys who were two years old and
younger. I think, even in this horrible part of the Christmas story, there is an important lesson.

That lesson is sometimes Jesus comes as a threat to us. Not a threat to our safety or to our person, but as a
threat to the status quo. Jesus often pulls us out of our comfort zone and asks us to accept things or do things
that are not in our plans. Consider our last lesson as an example of the way Jesus can disrupt our lives.

So, when Jesus does disrupt our lives and threatens the status quo, we have a choice to make: do we respond
like Herod, or do we respond like Mary and Joseph? Do we try to make a power grab and protect our way of
doing things? Do we do everything we can to protect what we consider normal?
Or do we say, “yes,” to Jesus and obey His call on our lives? Do we trust that He will take care of us no matter
how difficult the road of following Him may be?
The choice is ours.

In these past two lessons, we have looked between the lines of the Nativity story at the story that is not explicitly
told to us. We have tried to see what the Bible is telling us in what it is not telling us. And in doing so, we have
seen some incredible examples of what it means to be faithful and obedient to God.
We have also seen a great example of how God moves in mysterious ways, along with an example of how NOT
to respond to God’s disruptive work in our lives.

In this time of anticipation and expectation, what are we waiting for and how can we prepare for the coming of
Christ?

C. Write a reflection of the Bible verse in your reflection notebook.

Rubric (WW)

Criteria UnsatisfactoryBeginnin Developing Accomplished Exemplary

g
Content 1 2 3 4
Reflectio Reflection lacks critical Reflection demonstrates Reflection demonstrates Reflection demonstrates a
n thinking. Superficial limited critical thinking in some degree of critical high degree of critical
connections are made with applying, analyzing, and/or thinking in applying, thinking in applying,
passage. evaluating the passage. analyzing, and/or analyzing, and evaluating
Minimal connections made evaluating the reading key the reading passage
through explanations, passage. Connections made Insightful and relevant
connections made through
inferences, and/or through explanations,
contextual explanations,
examples. inferences, and/or
inferences, and examples.
examples.

Personal 1 2
Growth Conveys inadequate
evidence of reflection on
own work in response to the
self-assessment questions
posed. Personal growth and
awareness are not evident
and/or demonstrates a
neutral experience with
negligible personal impact.
Lacks enough inferences,
examples, personal insights
and challenges, and/or
future implications are
overlooked.
Conveys limited evidence
of reflection on own work
in response to the
selfassessment questions
posed. Demonstrates less
than adequate personal
growth and awareness
through few or simplistic
inferences made,
examples, insights, and/or
challenges that are not
well developed. Minimal
thought of the future
implications of current
experience.
3 4
Conveys evidence of Conveys strong evidence
reflection on own work of reflection on own work
with a personal response with a personal response
to the self-assessment to the self-assessment
questions posed. questions posed.
Demonstrates satisfactory Demonstrates significant
personal growth and personal growth and
awareness through some awareness of deeper
inferences made, meaning through
examples, insights, and inferences made,
challenges. Some thought examples, well developed
of the future implications insights, and substantial
of current experience. depth in perceptions and
challenges. Synthesizes
current experience into
future implications.
 Writing 0.5
Quality Poor writing style lacking in
standard English, clarity,
language used, and/or
frequent errors in grammar,
punctuation, usage, and
spelling.
Needs work.
Timelines Deduct 5 pointsoverall
s failing
Journal reflection is
submitted 2-3 days (4972
hours) after the deadline.
1 1.5
Average and/or casual
writing style that is
sometimes unclear and/or
with some errors in
grammar, punctuation,
usage, and spelling.
Deduct 3-4 points
Journal reflection is
submitted 1-2 days (25-48
hours) after the deadline.
Above average writing style
and logically organized with
minor errors in grammar,
punctuation, usage, and
spelling.
Deduct 1-2 points
Journal reflection is
submitted within 1 day (24
hours) after the deadline.
2
Well written and clearly
organized free from
grammar, punctuation,
usage, and spelling errors.
0 points deducted
Journal reflection is
submitted on or
before deadline.

TOTAL POINTS: 10

B. Choose five (5) among these questions to answer in your reflection

notebook.
1. Before today, what did you know about 2. Did you learn anything new from our lesson?
the Magi?
3. Have you witnessed God at work in 4. How can you be more open to accepting
nature, or in other unusual ways? outsiders into God’s family?
5. Who are some “outsiders” that God has 6. What gift would you bring the newborn King?
placed on your heart?
7. Which role of Jesus represented in the 8. When God disrupts your life, how do you
gifts of the Magi is most meaningful to respond?
you?
9. Do you respond more like Mary and 10. As we look ahead to finishing this series next
Joseph, or more like Herod? week, what are you waiting for?

Performance Task 1
Post a picture, submit a video or write a journal of how you have applied this week’s lesson to your
life.
Send it to Google
Classroom.

Performance Task Rubrics

Criteria 4 3 2

Purpose Has a clear picture of what Has a fairly clear picture of what Unclear on the goals and how
student is trying to achieve. student is trying to achieve. the project objectives will be
met.
Concept Adequate description of what Can describe what student is Little effort has been spent on
student is trying to do and trying to do overall but has brainstorming and refining a
generally how his/her work trouble describing how his/her concept.
applies to the CE lesson. work applies to the CE lesson.
6 4 2

Commitment to There is strong evidence of a There is evidence of a generally There is evidence of a

Process consistent commitment to the high but occasionally inconsistent generally satisfactory and/or
accomplishment of purpose. or variable level of commitment variable level of commitment
to the purpose. to the purpose.