Recognizing Jesus!
Children's sermon
Object: Seven silver coins to represent shekels. Silver dollars might work best because of their size.
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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! But before I tell you the story, I have a question for you. Can anyone tell me what holiday we just celebrated? (Let them respond.) That was kind of a trick question, wasn’t it? You remembered that we just celebrated Christmas, didn’t you? (Let them respond.) And we know about a lot of things that happened at Christmas, don’t we? (Let them respond.) But our story today is about something you might not know about that happened a few days after Christmas.
It is a story about a man named Simeon and a woman named Anna. Simeon and Anna believed that God was going to send someone to help everyone, and they spent every day at the temple in Jerusalem looking to see if they could find the person God was going to send. Every time someone came to the temple, Simeon and Anna would hurry over to look at them and see if they were the one God was going to send.
One day, Joseph and Mary had to take the baby Jesus to the temple to give two sacrifices to the temple priests. One sacrifice was to thank God for keeping Mary healthy, and the other sacrifice was to thank God for letting them have a new baby to raise. For the first sacrifice, they were supposed to give the priests a one-year-old lamb, and for the second sacrifice they were supposed to give the priests a young pigeon or dove.
Since they were away from home, Joseph had to buy the animals at the temple. But the sellers in the temple cheated and made people pay more than they were supposed to, so the animals were pretty expensive. The one-year-old lamb and pigeon cost about two shekels, which would be about three hundred and fifty dollars today. (Show two coins.) And then they had to pay the priests to make the sacrifices, and that cost about seven shekels, which would be about nine hundred dollars today. (Show all seven coins.) So, all together, it was going to cost Mary and Joeseph about twelve hundred and fifty dollars to make the sacrifices they had to make. But Joseph was a carpenter, and he only made about one-half of a shekel every day. (Hold one coin and just show half of it.) That means the sacrifice was going to cost more money than Joseph could earn in over two weeks.
Our story says that when Mary and Joseph went to the temple, they didn’t give the priests a lamb and a pigeon. Instead, they gave the priests either two pigeons or two doves, we aren’t sure which. That’s what people sacrificed who could not afford to buy the other animals. So, when Joseph and Mary went to the temple, everyone saw what they bought and knew they were really poor.
And who remembers what Mary and Joseph’s hometown was? (Let them respond.) They were from Nazareth, weren’t they? (Let them respond.) Nazareth was a small town in a land called Galilee and was a long way from the temple in Jerusalem. Nazareth was so small and far away that people made fun of it and thought that anyone from Nazareth was not as smart as other people, and they did not want them around. Even later when Jesus was older, one of his friends whose name was Andrew told his brother Nathaniel about Jesus of Nazareth, and Nathaniel laughed and said, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
So, when Simeon and Anna ran to see Joseph and Mary when they came to the temple, they could see that they were not only poor, but they were poor foreigners from that silly place called Nazareth. Simeon and Anna were expecting God to send someone to help them, but nobody would ever expect God to send someone from a place like Nazareth. So, when Simeon and Anna saw who Joseph and Mary were, what do you think they did? (Let them respond.) Did they just shake their heads and go look for someone else instead? (Let them respond.) Nope. Joseph and Mary weren’t what Simeon and Anna had expected, but when they looked at the baby Jesus, they knew he was the one that God had sent. They recognized Jesus when they saw him.
Sometimes we see people and we think we know what they are like, don’t we? (Let them respond.) They might not have things we have or might be from someplace different than our place, and we expect them to behave in certain ways, don’t we? (Let them respond.) We think we know who they are, so we don’t really look at them. What would have happened if Simeon and Anna had done that when they saw Joseph and Mary? (Let them respond.) They would have missed Jesus, wouldn’t they? (Let them respond.)
I hope our story will remind us that, sometimes when we see people our expectations are wrong. They might look like a poor, foreigner from a silly place but they might be someone God is sending to help us.
Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! But before I tell you the story, I have a question for you. Can anyone tell me what holiday we just celebrated? (Let them respond.) That was kind of a trick question, wasn’t it? You remembered that we just celebrated Christmas, didn’t you? (Let them respond.) And we know about a lot of things that happened at Christmas, don’t we? (Let them respond.) But our story today is about something you might not know about that happened a few days after Christmas.
It is a story about a man named Simeon and a woman named Anna. Simeon and Anna believed that God was going to send someone to help everyone, and they spent every day at the temple in Jerusalem looking to see if they could find the person God was going to send. Every time someone came to the temple, Simeon and Anna would hurry over to look at them and see if they were the one God was going to send.
One day, Joseph and Mary had to take the baby Jesus to the temple to give two sacrifices to the temple priests. One sacrifice was to thank God for keeping Mary healthy, and the other sacrifice was to thank God for letting them have a new baby to raise. For the first sacrifice, they were supposed to give the priests a one-year-old lamb, and for the second sacrifice they were supposed to give the priests a young pigeon or dove.
Since they were away from home, Joseph had to buy the animals at the temple. But the sellers in the temple cheated and made people pay more than they were supposed to, so the animals were pretty expensive. The one-year-old lamb and pigeon cost about two shekels, which would be about three hundred and fifty dollars today. (Show two coins.) And then they had to pay the priests to make the sacrifices, and that cost about seven shekels, which would be about nine hundred dollars today. (Show all seven coins.) So, all together, it was going to cost Mary and Joeseph about twelve hundred and fifty dollars to make the sacrifices they had to make. But Joseph was a carpenter, and he only made about one-half of a shekel every day. (Hold one coin and just show half of it.) That means the sacrifice was going to cost more money than Joseph could earn in over two weeks.
Our story says that when Mary and Joseph went to the temple, they didn’t give the priests a lamb and a pigeon. Instead, they gave the priests either two pigeons or two doves, we aren’t sure which. That’s what people sacrificed who could not afford to buy the other animals. So, when Joseph and Mary went to the temple, everyone saw what they bought and knew they were really poor.
And who remembers what Mary and Joseph’s hometown was? (Let them respond.) They were from Nazareth, weren’t they? (Let them respond.) Nazareth was a small town in a land called Galilee and was a long way from the temple in Jerusalem. Nazareth was so small and far away that people made fun of it and thought that anyone from Nazareth was not as smart as other people, and they did not want them around. Even later when Jesus was older, one of his friends whose name was Andrew told his brother Nathaniel about Jesus of Nazareth, and Nathaniel laughed and said, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
So, when Simeon and Anna ran to see Joseph and Mary when they came to the temple, they could see that they were not only poor, but they were poor foreigners from that silly place called Nazareth. Simeon and Anna were expecting God to send someone to help them, but nobody would ever expect God to send someone from a place like Nazareth. So, when Simeon and Anna saw who Joseph and Mary were, what do you think they did? (Let them respond.) Did they just shake their heads and go look for someone else instead? (Let them respond.) Nope. Joseph and Mary weren’t what Simeon and Anna had expected, but when they looked at the baby Jesus, they knew he was the one that God had sent. They recognized Jesus when they saw him.
Sometimes we see people and we think we know what they are like, don’t we? (Let them respond.) They might not have things we have or might be from someplace different than our place, and we expect them to behave in certain ways, don’t we? (Let them respond.) We think we know who they are, so we don’t really look at them. What would have happened if Simeon and Anna had done that when they saw Joseph and Mary? (Let them respond.) They would have missed Jesus, wouldn’t they? (Let them respond.)
I hope our story will remind us that, sometimes when we see people our expectations are wrong. They might look like a poor, foreigner from a silly place but they might be someone God is sending to help us.
Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
