Curriculum
Baptism of Jesus
Memory Verse:
“And a voice spoke from heaven. The voice said, ‘This is my Son and I love him. I am very pleased with him.’” Matthew 3:17
Bible Background
What Kids Will Learn
Jesus was perfect, so He didn’t need to repent or be baptized. But Jesus was baptized in order to accomplish God’s mission and to begin His ministry on earth.
Scripture Summary
Not only was the prophesied Messiah really here, but He was also asking to be baptized by the very messenger announcing His arrival.
There are other reasons that Jesus was baptized besides beginning His earthly ministry. Jesus was not confessing His own sins but the sins of the country, like Nehemiah did. He was also identifying with the common people who recognized their sin and need for God.
Jesus reinforced John’s ministry, the fulfillment of prophecies, and the message of repentance.
John the Baptist was puzzled by Jesus’ request to be baptized. John recognized his role in the ministry, to proclaim the coming Messiah and need for repentance. John felt terribly inadequate to baptize Jesus. John felt he was the one who needed to be baptized by Jesus. But John did as he was asked and baptized Jesus, the Messiah, with water.
And it was a beautiful scene, for sure. As soon as Jesus was baptized, the Trinity was all active at the same time. God spoke. Jesus was baptized. The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus as a dove. The Trinity is one of the greatest mysteries requiring faith to believe. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit are all God and all separate at the same time.
Why Is This Important
Though John had a great following, he continued to be an arrow pointing to Jesus. When John baptized Jesus, the incredible earthly ministry of the Messiah officially began.
Teacher Devotion
Scripture
But, LORD!
“Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’” (John 13:7)
Jesus was nearing the end of His earthly ministry–the ministry where He turned nearly everything upside-down. The last shall be first, love your enemies, the only true Way is through a relationship with
Jesus (not in simply obeying the law). As Jesus and His disciples were preparing the Passover Feast, He, yet again, confused the disciples. Jesus took on the act of a servant and washed their feet. As Peter argued with Jesus offering to wash His feet, Jesus kindly replied, “You don’t understand...not quite yet.”
We find a similar situation when Jesus asks John the Baptist to baptize Him. John replies, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Matthew 3:13) Jesus must have it backwards, right? Or was it, again, a lack of understanding?
Jesus came to set us free: to take upon Himself all of our sins, to die, and to rise again in freedom. In the process of turning from our own sinful ways and accepting Jesus, we die to ourselves and are free. It’s a beautiful journey that requires us to trust in the One who saves us... even when we don’t understand.
Jesus might ask us to take a bigger leap of faith in ministry. He might not be acting quite as quickly as we would like. We might not understand the situation or what He’s asking of us, but we can fully trust Jesus.
So what do you do when you don’t understand what Jesus is doing or saying? I have to admit, I’ve cried out, “But, Lord!” in argument. And He often responds with kind reassurance, “You don’t understand...not quite yet.”
Prayer
Dear Jesus, thank You for being trustworthy. You always love me, and You always know what’s best for me. Please help me trust You today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Bible Memory Verse
Children can do a simple “patty cake” motion with the following chant. Have kids sit across from a partner and do this patty cake:
Clap
Put right hands together Clap
Put left hands together Repeat
As they patty cake, help children learn the Bible memory verse with this chant:
This is my Son And I love him. I am very
Pleased with him. Matthew 3:17
Interactive Bible Experience
You’ll Need:
“The Baptism of Jesus Craft” for each child, Crayons, Scissors, Hole punch, Yarn
Have children color the dove’s body and wings. Help children with these steps:
- Cut out the dove and wings along the outer lines.
- Slit the dotted line in the dove.
- Insert wings.
- Hole punch the small circle.
- Insert a piece of yarn through the hole and tie off.
SAY: The Holy Spirit came down from heaven as a dove and landed on Jesus. Let’s pretend that Jesus has been baptized and the dove is coming down.
ASK: What did God say when the dove landed on Jesus?
SAY: Let’s say that as our doves fly around the room and land on each other.
Have kids fly their doves, land on others and SAY: This is my Son and I love him. I am very pleased with him.
Encourage kids to take their doves home and tell their families what happened when Jesus was baptized.
Snack
Baptism Snack
You’ll Need: Graham crackers, White frosting, Blue food coloring, Teddy Graham cookies, Plastic knives, Paper plates, Napkins
Get Ready: Use the blue food coloring to make the frosting blue.
To make this Baptism Snack, help children follow these steps:
- Spread the blue frosting on the graham cracker to represent water.
- Place two Teddy Grahams in the water to represent Jesus and John the Baptist.
- Enjoy.
As children eat, talk with them about what baptism means to you.
Game
Follow the Leader
Choose a leader and have children follow the leader by doing everything the leader does. After a few minutes, choose another leader and play again. Keep playing until children tire of the game.
Afterward, ASK:
- What was it like to follow the leader?
- What was easy or hard?
SAY: Jesus followed John by getting baptized. And Jesus wants us to follow Him too. We can follow Jesus by getting baptized.
ASK:
- What are some other ways we can follow Jesus?
- What is easy or hard about following Jesus?
Craft
Footprint Bird Craft
You’ll Need: Tempera washable paint, Paint brushes, Light colored card stock, Paper towels, Markers, Baptism of Jesus How-to Video
Tell children that they’re going to make a dove painting to remind them that Jesus wants us to follow in His footsteps to be baptized too.
Help children follow these steps:
- Take off one shoe.
- Have an adult paint the bottom of the child’s foot.
- Place your footprint in the center of the paper.
- Wipe the paint off the child’s foot.
- While the paint is drying, help the child draw the dove’s beak, breast, and feet.
- When the paint is dry, add a small dot for the dove’s eye.
Encourage children to take their dove painting home and tell what happened when John the Baptist baptized Jesus.
Prayer
Pleased With You Prayer
Have kids stand in a circle.
PRAY: God, thank You for being pleased with us.
Go around the circle and say for each child quickly: God is pleased with you.
Then PRAY: God, thank You for loving us.
Go around the circle and say for each child quickly: God loves you.
Finish with a big Amen.
