This week we are hearing the last part of our Christmas story, the visit of the Magi. These wise men saw a star and knew that it was a sign of a very important birth. Assuming it was the birth of a king, they gathered expensive gifts – gold, frankincense and myrrh, - and set out on a long journey to find this newborn king and pay him homage.
This story is familiar to us as part of the pageants and readings we do at Christmas. It is only told in the book of Matthew. We combine it with Luke’s stories of angels and shepherds and of the young family staying in a stable to make the beautiful story that we tell of the birth of Jesus.
Discussion Questions
What do you think of the gifts that these men offered to the child?
What gifts would you give to a baby?
Jesus isn’t a baby anymore but we can still give Him gifts. When we use our skills, our talents, and our treasures to help others, we are giving gifts to Jesus. What gifts can you give to Jesus? (kindness, love, caring for the earth, being happy…)
And some more things for Intermediate & UP to think about:
In this story, the author of Matthew wanted to show the people that the birth of Jesus was important to the whole world, not just to the Jewish people - so important that wise men from far away were told about it by signs in the night sky. Notice that the reading doesn’t say that they found the baby in a stable but that they found the child in a house with his mother. It also doesn’t say there were just three of them! Many scholars believe that it would have taken the visitors a long time to travel there and that Jesus could have been two years old before they arrived. Isn’t it interesting how we have changed the story over the last 2000 years? No matter what, it is still a beautiful and important story in our faith.
Although the birth of Jesus was seen as good news by the wise men, the shepherds, and the people of the time, King Herod was not so pleased to hear about it! The text tells us that he was terrified and so were many of the people in Jerusalem. What were they so afraid of?
Response Activity Ideas
Gifts for Jesus
Materials – envelope, tape/glue, strips of paper
Make a treasure chest of your own gifts for Jesus. Print out the Magi colouring page. At the bottom of the page, glue or tape on the envelope face down (flap facing up so it can still open). Decorate the envelope to look like a fancy chest or box or present and write “My Gifts for Jesus” on it. Write or draw your ideas for things you could do to be a gift for Jesus on slips of paper and tuck them inside the fancy envelope. Finish by colouring the Magi!
Click to print PDF
The Three Wise Women
Listen to this story and take note of the special gifts the women bring. How are they related to Jesus’ work and ministry when he grows up? Draw an example of how he used each of those imagined three gifts as an adult.
Art Appreciation
(from Advent Unwrapped: Story and Activity Cards, available https://united-church.ca/sites/default/files/story_and_activity_cards.pdf)
Search online for images of the “Adoration of the Magi” and discover paintings by European masters, such as Botticelli, Da Vinci, De Bray, Durer, Giotto, and Rubens. Look carefully at these famous paintings and discuss the following questions.
How would you describe each of the Magi? What are they doing in each painting and how do their appearances (nationality, expressions, clothing, head covering, stances) differ from one painting to the next?
How is the Christ child portrayed in each painting? What is he doing?
How many other characters are included in each painting? Can you identify them? What are their facial expressions? What do you think they are feeling or thinking?
What symbols do you notice in each painting (e.g. lily, lamb, chalice, star)?
If you have time, create your own painting of the nativity scene, including yourself in the picture. Where would you be? What would you be doing? What facial expressions would you and the other characters have?