Jesus is born in Bethlehem

Teacher background

Luke tells the birth of Jesus in seven short verses (Luke 2:1–7). The emperor Caesar Augustus ordered everyone to be registered, so Joseph went from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the town of his ancestor King David. Mary went with him, and she was expecting a child. While they were there, Mary gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a feeding trough, “because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).

Luke’s word for “inn” can also mean a guest room. Many scholars, following Kenneth Bailey, think Mary and Joseph stayed with relatives in a crowded village house, where the animals were brought inside at night. Children may picture a stable. The telling below says “the place where the animals slept,” which fits both pictures. Either way, Jesus’ first bed was a manger, a feeding box for animals.

The main idea for children is that God came close to us in Jesus, born as a baby in an ordinary, crowded place. With Jesus, there is room for everyone. Some children in your group may have moved often, stayed with relatives, or shared a room with many people. Speak warmly of Mary and Joseph as a family far from home, and avoid making the people of Bethlehem into villains.

For more background, read The Christmas story.

Welcome activity

Pack for a long trip (5 minutes). Before class, put a few travel things in a backpack: a water bottle, a snack, a small blanket, a map, and a toothbrush. When the children arrive, gather in a circle and pull out one thing at a time. Ask:

• Where do you think I am going?
• What would you pack for a long trip?
• Have you ever slept somewhere crowded, or somewhere new?

Say: “Today’s story is about a long trip. Mary and Joseph had to walk all the way to Bethlehem. Let’s find out what happened when they got there.”

Telling the story

10 minutes. Open your Bible to Luke 2 and show the children where the story is. Then read this version aloud, or tell it in your own words. Pause where the notes in italics suggest.

Long ago, a young woman named Mary lived in a town called Nazareth. She was going to marry a man named Joseph. Joseph was a carpenter. (Pretend to hammer.)

Mary was going to have a baby. An angel had told her that her baby would be very special. He would be God’s own Son.

Far away, in the great city of Rome, lived a powerful ruler. He was the emperor, Caesar Augustus. One day the emperor made a new rule. Everyone must be counted! Each family had to go to its hometown and write their names on a list.

Joseph’s family came from Bethlehem. Bethlehem was the town of King David, from long ago. So Mary and Joseph had to go to Bethlehem.

It was a long, long trip. It took many days. (Walk in place.) They walked up hills and down hills. Maybe Mary rode a donkey part of the way. The Bible does not tell us. Mary was very tired. Her baby was coming soon.

At last they saw Bethlehem. (Shade your eyes and look far away.) The town was full of people. Everyone had come to be counted! Mary and Joseph looked for a place to stay. The guest room was already full. There was no room for them.

So they stayed in the place where the animals slept at night. It smelled like hay. (Sniff the air.) Maybe a donkey was there. Maybe a cow or some sheep. (Let the children make animal sounds.)

That night, Mary’s baby was born. It was a boy! Mary wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth. People kept new babies warm and safe that way. (Rock a baby in your arms.)

Then the baby needed a bed. There was no cradle. So Mary laid him in a manger. A manger is a feeding box for animals. The animals ate their dinner from it. Mary filled it with soft, clean hay. (Lay the baby down gently.)

They named the baby Jesus.

Think about that. God’s own Son was born in a little, crowded town. His first bed was a feeding box. He came as a tiny baby who needed someone to hold him. Jesus came to be close to everyone. He came for rich people and poor people. He came for grown-ups and children. He came for people far from home.

There was no room in the guest room that night. But Mary and Joseph made room for Jesus. And with Jesus, there is room for everyone. There is room for you!

Wondering questions

5 minutes. Wondering questions have no wrong answers. Ask one at a time, wait in silence, and welcome every answer without correcting it. Repeat back what a child says so they know you heard them.

• I wonder which part of this story you like best.
• I wonder how Mary and Joseph felt on the long walk.
• I wonder what it was like to sleep where the animals sleep.
• I wonder why God’s Son came as a tiny baby.
• I wonder how you could make room for someone this Christmas.
• I wonder where you are in this story.

After the wondering questions, play the quiz on the slides, or ask the questions aloud and let the children call out the answers.

Craft: baby Jesus in a manger

10 minutes. Each child makes a tiny baby Jesus to take home, wrapped in cloth and laid in a paper-cup manger.

You will need a wooden clothespin for each child, a strip of soft cloth or felt about 2 by 8 inches for each child (strips cut from an old T-shirt work well), small paper cups, yellow or brown paper cut into thin strips, fine-tip markers, and glue sticks or tape.

1. Draw a small face on the round top of the clothespin. Jesus was born in the Middle East, so many children give him brown skin and dark hair.
2. Wrap the cloth strip around the clothespin, the way Mary wrapped baby Jesus. Tape or glue the end so it stays.
3. Fill a paper cup with paper-strip hay. This is the manger.
4. Lay the baby on the hay.
5. Write “There is room for you” on the cup, and decorate it.

Suggest that the children put their manger somewhere at home where the whole family will see it.

Game: room for everyone

7 minutes. Spread a large bedsheet or blanket on the floor. Tell the children it is the house in Bethlehem.

1. The children walk around the room like travelers while you play music or sing a carol.
2. When the music stops, call out, “Make room!” Everyone comes onto the sheet. A toe or a hand on the sheet counts.
3. When everyone is on, cheer together: “There’s room for everyone!”
4. Fold the sheet smaller and play again. Each round, the children work out how to help everyone fit.

Remind the children to be gentle, with no pushing or climbing on each other. Stop while everyone can still reach the sheet. The game has no winners; the goal is to make sure everyone belongs.

Memory verse

3 minutes. Long before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote a joyful poem about a child who would bring peace. Churches read it on Christmas Eve, and Christians hear in it the birth of Jesus.

For a child is born to us. A son is given to us.

Isaiah 9:6

• “For a child is born”: rock a baby in your arms.
• “to us”: point around the circle.
• “A son is given”: hold out your hands as if you are giving a gift.
• “to us”: hug yourself.

Say the verse together softly, then loudly, then in a whisper. The memory verse coloring page lets children color the words in bubble letters.

Snack idea

Optional. The name Bethlehem means “house of bread.” Share small rolls or crackers and talk about the little town where Jesus was born. Check for food allergies before class, and serve water or juice.

Closing prayer

Ask the children to fold their hands or open them on their laps. Read each line and let them repeat it after you.

Dear God,
thank you for sending Jesus.
Thank you that he came
as a tiny baby
to be close to us.
Help us make room
for Jesus
and for each other.
Amen.

Take-home note for families

Send this note home with the activity sheets. It also prints by itself on the printables page.

Today in Sunday school

Today your child heard how Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:1–7). Mary and Joseph traveled a long way to be counted, found no room in the guest room, and stayed where the animals slept. Mary laid her newborn son in a manger, a feeding box for animals. The children learned that God came close to us in Jesus, and that with Jesus there is room for everyone.

Talk about it

• What do you think Mary and Joseph packed for their trip?
• Why do you think God’s Son was born in such a simple place?
• Who could our family make room for this Christmas?

Try this at home

Read Luke 2:1–7 together. If you have a nativity set, let your child tell the story with the figures. Some families leave the manger empty until Christmas Eve and let a child place the baby in it that night.

Pray together

Dear God, thank you for coming close to us in Jesus. Help our family make room for you and for others this Christmas. Amen.

Adapting for younger or older children

Younger children (ages 4 to 6). Tell the story with a doll, a small blanket, and a box for the manger, and let the children take turns wrapping the baby. Skip the crossword and the word search, and use the maze and the coloring pages. Teach only the memory verse motions.

Older children (ages 10 to 12). Read Luke 2:1–7 from a Bible, then read Matthew 1:18–25 and talk about how the two Gospels tell the story differently. Talk about the emperor Augustus, the most powerful man in the world, and the baby in the manger: which one do Christians remember as the bringer of peace? Use the crossword without the word bank.