Lesson Two “The Coming of Jesus” (Winter Quarter year two) First Grade sunday School

Mary was just a girl, a teenager really, who loved God with all her heart. That is probably one of the reasons that Joseph had his father ask Mary’s father permission for their betrothal. Do you know it means for them to be betrothed? It means that Mary and Joseph were promised to marry each other, and that they both were getting ready to make a home together. Joseph was probably building a room for them to live in, and making any changes to his work to add enough income to allow him to take care of a wife, and, if God wanted it, a baby.

Mary was busy at home finishing any projects her parents needed from her and preparing her own things to make her new home with Joseph a special place to have a family. Mary didn’t let her mind dwell on the worry, but in the back of her mind she wasn’t really sure that she and Joseph would be raising a child. Didn’t her cousin Elizabeth live almost her entire life as a wife without ever having a baby of her own to hold? Mary could count easily enough women to cover both hands who never were able to have a baby.

Mary also knew that the Messiah would be born to a woman from her family, the family of the great King David of long ago. God had promised it! As a girl Mary had heard that proclamation many times from her father. He was sure that one of his daughters would be the mother of the Messiah. Wasn’t it about time? Everyone was talking about it. The horrible Romans were making life miserable, and many of the Jews were getting stronger in their obedience to God’s laws in hopes that they would bring the mighty Messiah to raise an army which would defeat the Romans and establish an Israel like the one King David ruled so many years ago. Mary just wanted to be a mother even if it meant that she wasn’t going to be the mother to the Savior of Israel.

It was to this woman that the angel Gabriel was bound, but when he showed up she wasn’t the least prepared for his entrance. Not one for useless gab Gabriel simply spoke his message- “Greetings oh favored one, the Lord is with you!” What do you think Mary thought when she heard this from the angel? What could the angel be there to say?
Was the angel coming to give her a secret message about her marriage to Joseph? Or was she in trouble for something big enough that required an angel to give her a message?

The angel tried to calm her and share his message- “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And pay careful attention, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary did not really know what all this meant at the moment. She had a clue that the angel meant that she was going to be the mother of the Messiah, but how could this happen to her now?

Everyone she knew that had a baby after God said they would were already married. Think of Hannah, the prophet Samuel’s mother, and Sarah, the wife of Abraham who was told she was going to bear a child in her old age. Mary didn’t understand how God would want a woman who was not married to have a baby. This meant that people would think that she didn’t want to obey God and wait to have a baby until she was married. Mary didn’t think God goofed, but she did need to make sure she understood so she asked- “How will this happen since I am unmarried?”

Her question did not bother the angel- “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And guess what? Your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Then the angel left.

How do you think that Mary felt? This was an incredible moment for Mary because now she knew that she would not have to worry about bearing a child to Joseph, but she also realized that no one would believe her. Joseph may not even believe her when she told him how she came to be a mother without being married to him. Why did God make sure she became pregnant before she married her husband? So that it will be clear that the child was the Son of God, and not a man marred by sin. The Bible tells us that Mary spent a great deal of time studying what God was doing, and I honestly think that she understood what was going on. She didn’t understand it all, it was a big plan, but she did know that the baby was God’s Son. She probably even understood that Jesus was God Himself.

Can you imagine being Mary now? She had every sign of a coming baby in her body. She was tired, and probably felt sick quite often, especially in the morning. She probably worried about how well she would do in teaching her coming baby everything he needed to learn. I hope she understood that if God could give her and her cousin Elizabeth a baby, He could make it possible for her to raise His Son right. Mary went to her cousin to visit for a few months. I think it was so she could rest and figure out what was going on. I am sure that Mary couldn’t tell anyone about her coming baby so she was probably happy when Elizabeth realized that Mary was carrying her holy child.
Listen to her song-

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;for he w ho is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thronesand exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things,and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel,in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Do you see that Mary’s praise focuses on God’s plan and how He kept his promise to His people? Did you know that Jesus came not only to Mary, but to us? Jesus was God’s promise from the very first moment of our need for a Savoir way back in the Garden of Eden! It is His power in keeping His promises, and His love for the World that made Jesus come to earth to save us from our sins. Mary was picked to be part of God’s plan, not because she was the most righteous woman ever, but because she was the one God planned to do this special ministry for her God. Did you know that you have a special part of God’s plan? When Mary was born God had already decided to protect her and capture her heart so that she was able to be the mother of our Savior, and when you were born God already a special plan in mind for you. When you hear His spirit calling to your heart, obey like Mary did with a heart of praise.

Winter Quarter Year Two Lesson One “Getting Ready For the Son Of God”

Zacharias trembled as he entered the temple. It was just a little before that his name was chosen by a drawing to represent his part of the family in presenting the incense offering this time. Zacharias knew that this was probably the only time in his entire life that he would be able do this special task. Most priests only dream of this moment when Zacharias the priest would enter the holy place, approach the incense altar, and perform the offering. Zacharias’ joy was tempered, however, as he stepped through the doorway into the temple. If only he and his elderly wife Elizabeth had a child with whom to to share this. If only they weren’t so old as to be without hope of ever bearing a child. It seemed that God had rewarded their obedience and faith only with heartache. How the Priest and his wife dreamed of enjoying a grandchildren in these final years of their lives, but now, as Zacharias gathered the items he needed for the offering, he knew that Elizabeth would be the only one sitting at home later listening to his delighted voice tell of his special act of worship that day. The tired body reverently crossed the final threshold into the Holy Place where the altar of incense stood, but suddenly Zacharias stiffened. Fear filled his body, and seemed to scream chills into every fingertip. There in the room where he was to have been alone stood a creature he had never seen before. Even though Zacharias had never seen one he knew that this individual before him, standing to the right of the altar of incense, was an angel of God. Why? Was God expecting someone else to come in? Is this what happened right before you died, an angel came to get you? The priest’s fear did not go away for as he stood there focused on the heavenly being, the angel directed his gaze directly at Zacharias and spoke to him. “Do not be afraid Zacharias for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before them in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

Zacharias knew what the angel meant. He knew God’s promise that the Messiah would come and save his people, and he knew that someone with the spirit of Elijah would come to prepare the way. This promise is found in our verse for today. Malachi 3:1a “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me”
There had been 400 years from the last revelation from God to this moment when the angel gave God’s message to the priest. Zacharias knew better however.

He answered the angel- “How can I be sure? I am an old man and my wife is fairly old too!” The angel did not flinch. He simply answered- “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And pay attention, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their time.” True to the angel’s word when Zacharias left the room after offering the incense offering he spoke not a word and quietly returned home to his wife. Zacharias did not keep his mouth shut because he was frightened of what might happen should he speak. He simply could not talk. He could not make a sound. It seems that everyone assumed that he had a stroke and lost his ability to speak and hear for when the baby was born, as God had promised, Zacharias was not consulted as to the name of the child. When Zacharias finally convinced them to bring him something to right on he wrote that the child was to be named John according to the instructions given to him by the angel. At that moment Zacharias was again able to speak, and he praised God telling anyone who would listen that his precious son was an important part of God’s plan.

John was important. Remember our verse- Malachi 3:1a “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me” John was that messenger. He grew trained well by his godly mother and father, and when it was time to start his work he went into the desert dressed in camel hair and eating locusts, a bug like a grasshopper. He didn’t simply enter the desert to find weird food, he went there to preach. People from all over came to hear him preach repentance from sin, and people’s heart were changed.

I once had a man tell me that God would never tell him something that didn’t seem right to him. I guess that is how Zacharias felt when the angel told him that there was going to be a baby born to his family. Yet God’s promise was right, even if it didn’t seem right to Zacharias. God’s plan seemed impossible, but He promised, and God always, always keeps His promises. Our verse, Malachi 3:1a probably seemed like an impossible promise to those who heard it and studied it later. The world at the time was going crazy, and it seemed that no one could make any plans for the future. Not even God seemed strong enough to be that in charge. But God promised, and God always keeps his promise.

How did Zacharias know what God meant? He knew God’s Word. You don’t have to be a Jewish priest to know God’s Word. Chances are that you already have a Bible nearby and you are ready to begin reading it. When you read it you will find that God has made promises that are made for you. One of my many favorite promises of God is found in first John chapter one verse nine “If we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us of all our unrighteousness.” I like the promises because they are nice, but I trust them because God made them. I can make promises, but you can’t always trust them because sometimes things happen that I cannot control. God is not like that. He can keep His promises and He will. Remember John the Baptist, son of Zacharias and Elizabeth? He was a promise of God come true, and God will keep the promises He makes to you!