Luke 2:39-52

Setup:

1. In the middle of the teaching area, prop the mirror up horizontally using the chairs.

Lesson

1. Using the papers generated during small group time, read the children's instructions on how to make a peanut butter sandwich. Explain the following:

    You created some good instructions on how to create a peanut butter sandwich. If someone followed these rules, they'd have a pretty good sandwich to eat. Just like we created instructions on how to make a sandwich, God created some instructions for us on how we should live. The problem is, no one follows his instructions exactly. We all mess up at one time or another. Well, all of us except one person, that is. And that's who we're going to talk about today.

2. As you are instructed to draw various items, refer the various diagrams at the end of this lesson. Explain the following:

    Today, we're going to talk about Jesus. The New Testament, the second half of God's message to us, the Bible, is all about Jesus: about how he's God's Son, how he came to earth live with us, teach us, and save us. It tells a whole bunch of stories of what he did when he was a grown-up. But it only tells one story about when he was a kid, just a little bit older than most of you. And that's the story we're going to tell today. It's from the book of Luke.

    We've talked about how Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in the country of Israel. But that's not where his parents, Mary and Joseph, were originally from. They were from a place called Nazareth, which was about 75 miles away from Bethlehem. And after they took care of everything that needed to be taken care of after he was born, Joseph, Mary and Jesus headed back to Nazareth. (In large letters, write "NAZARETH" on the left hand side of the mirror using the dry erase marker. Draw a box around "NAZARETH", and write the words "Mary", "Joseph", and "Jesus" below it.)

3. Explain the following:

    As we've said before, Jesus was no ordinary kid. Even though Joseph was his dad on earth, his real father was God. Jesus was God inside of a human body. He was completely human like us, but he was also completely God.

    Since he was human like us, he grew up just like we did. He ate, drank, slept, and played just like we did. The Bible says that Jesus "grew and became strong." (Below "Jesus" on the mirror, draw Fig. 1) But Jesus didn't just grow muscles. The Bible also says he was full of wisdom, which meant he was learning a lot. (Below Fig. 1, draw Fig. 2). So, he was a lot like us.

    But Jesus wasn't just completely human. He was also completely God. The Bible says "the grace of God was upon him." Jesus was perfect. He always followed God's instructions, every single minute of every single day of his life. He never punched his brothers in the nose or pulled his sisters' hair. He always did whatever chores his mom gave him. And when his dad gave him a job to do, he always did it without complaining. So, he was also a lot different from us because we're not perfect!

4. Explain the following:

    At the time of our story, the Bible says that Jesus was twelve years old. (Write "12" on the mirror below Fig. 2). Each year, Jesus and his family traveled to another city to celebrate a festival called Passover, where the people of Israel remembered how God had rescued them when they were slaves in Egypt. This festival was in the city of Jerusalem, the capital of the country of Israel. (In large letters, write "JERUSALEM" on the right hand side of the mirror. Draw a box around "JERUSALEM".)

    Jesus would travel with his whole family: his mom and dad, his brothers and sisters, and probably his aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas and grandpas that lived nearby. And just like when you and I go on a trip, they probably had to make a list in their minds to make sure they remembered to pack everything thing they needed. (In large letters, write "Check List" in the top middle of the mirror. Draw a large rectangle around it, with "Check List" at the top of the rectangle, leaving room to write a few more words inside of it.)

    They needed to pack clothes to wear. (In the "Check List" rectangle, write "Clothes" with a small check box to the left of it.)

    They needed to pack food for the journey. (In the "Check List" rectangle, write "Food" with a small check box to the left of it.)

    And they needed to make sure all the family was with them. (In the "Check List" rectangle, write "Family" with a small check box to the left of it.)

    And so, as they got ready to leave for Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph might have gone through the checklist in their heads. Clothes? Check! (Check the box next to "Clothes." Food? Check! (Check the box next to "Food.) Family? Check! (Check the box next to "Family.") And since everything was packed and ready to go, they headed off to Jerusalem. (Draw a meandering dotted line from "NAZARETH" to "JERUSALEM". Erase the names below "NAZARETH" and write them below "JERUSALEM".)

5. Explain the following:

    While they were in Jerusalem, Jesus' family celebrated the Passover. They had a great feast of food, and celebrated how God had rescued their country so many years ago. (Draw Fig. 3 to the right of the names below "JERUSALEM".) And when the feast was over, they got ready to return home, to Nazareth. (Erase the check marks in the Check List rectangle.) And so they probably went through their checklist again, to make sure they didn't leave anything behind.

    Clothes? Check! (Check the box next to "Clothes." Food? Check! (Check the box next to "Food.) Family? Check! (Check the box next to "Family.") And with that, they headed out on the road back to Nazareth. (Erase Mary, Joseph, and Brothers/Sisters from below "JERUSALEM", but leave Jesus. Draw another meandering dotted line form "JERUSALEM" to "NAZARETH", stopping halfway. Write "Mary" and "Joseph" near where this line stops.)

    After they had traveled for a day, Mary and Joseph noticed that they hadn't seen or heard from Jesus in a little while. Maybe because Jesus was perfect and always obeyed him, they didn't have to worry about him as much as they did his brothers and sisters. Maybe since he had grown big, strong, and smart, they had taught him to take care of himself, and didn't have to check in on him as much as the other kids. Regardless of exactly what happened, they began looking around for Jesus. But they didn't find him.

6. Explain the following:

    Some of  you may have noticed that I didn't erase "Jesus" from the mirror when the rest of the family left Jerusalem. That's because Jesus never left Jerusalem. Instead, he went to the temple, the large building in Jerusalem where the people of Israel went to worship God. Even though God doesn't need to live in a house because God is everywhere, you can think of the temple as God's special house here on Earth. Often outside of the temple, people would teach and talk about God and the Bible. (Draw Fig. 4 below "Jesus".)

    Since Jesus was God's Son, and since he was perfect, he loved learning about God and his Word, the Bible. So, while he was all alone in Jerusalem, he listened to the Bible teachers at the temple and asked them questions about God. (Write a large question mark next to Fig. 4).

    The teachers taught Jesus, and asked him questions about what they had just taught him. When Jesus answered them, all the people there were amazed. The reason they were amazed was because Jesus learned really quickly and understood all of what they had just told him. And this wasn't easy stuff that Jesus was learning. This was stuff that grown-ups had trouble understanding. They were amazed that a twelve year old kid could understand the Bible as good as they did, if not even better! (Draw Fig. 2 again next to the question mark.)

7. Explain the following:

    When they couldn't find Jesus anywhere, Mary and Joseph headed back to Jerusalem. (From where the previous dotted line ended halfway, draw a dotted line back to "JERUSALEM". Erase the names of "Mary" and "Joseph" and write them underneath "JERUSALEM".) They searched the city for three days. (Write "3" near "Jesus.") Finally, they found Jesus. He was still near the temple, listening to and talking with the Bible teachers.

    Now that they had found their missing son, Mary decided to give Jesus a little lecture. "Son," she said, "why did you do this to us? Your father and I have been worried sick looking for you!" Mary had thought Jesus had disobeyed her.

    But, our big idea for today is that "Nobody's perfect, except Jesus." How can Jesus be perfect if his mom yelled at him for getting in trouble? (Write "Not perfect?" next to Jesus). Well, let's hear what Jesus had to say to his mom.

    Jesus said, "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you realize that I needed to be in my Father's house?" Jesus was God's Son, and even though Mary and Joseph were his mom and dad on Earth, his true Father was God. God wanted Jesus to spend some time at the temple, learning and talking about God. That's why Jesus had stayed behind.

    Mary and Joseph really didn't understand this. They didn't think a twelve year-old kid should be off on his own. Then again, this twelve year-old wasn't your ordinary, run-of-the-mill kid, either. He was God's Son. And if God had told him to stay behind at the temple, well then, God would take care of him. (Erase the "Not" and "?" near the word "perfect.")

    The Bible then says that they all traveled back to Nazareth, and this time everyone was with them. (Erase "Mary", "Joseph", and "Jesus" from underneath "JERUSALEM". Draw a dotted line from "JERUSAELM" to "NAZARETH" and write "Mary", "Joseph", and "Jesus" underneath "NAZARETH".)

    The Bible says one more thing about Jesus as a kid. Talking about his parents, it says Jesus "was obedient to them." He continued to listen to them. Jesus wasn't just a perfect grown-up, he was a perfect kid, too. He always did the right thing. And he's the only one. Nobody's perfect, except Jesus.

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