Jesus Got Baptized, What's Up With That?

Continuing in Luke, we are at the baptism of Jesus. What do kids need to know about the baptism of Jesus? Why did Jesus get baptized? Did he have sins to repent from? God had something to say about it. What did God say? What else happened and what did it mean? Just covering these basics will help kids begin to understand the baptism of a penitent believer. And let's face it, kids are curious about baptism!


This origami dove is pretty easy, only takes a couple minutes to fold. I didn't have paper lace doilies, so I used basket style coffee filters. Here is the link to the instructions: http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-dove.html. Good luck!


Hi Everybody! This is my puppet friend, Eli. What kind of animal is Eli? (call on a 2 or 3 year old) An elephant, very good! Is it true that elephants never forget? (heads shake or nod) Well I don't know about real elephants, but I do know that Eli has a great memory. It seems like he remembers everything! Especially Bible verses. Let me see if he gets this one right. (speaking to puppet) Eli, what is our Bible verse for today's lesson? (listen to puppet). Sure enough, he got it right! Luke 3: 21-22. "Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He prayed, heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus in the form of a dove, and a voice came out of heaven saying, 'You are My beloved Son, I am very pleased with You.'"


Remember our lesson last Sunday? Who was baptizing all the people? (John the Baptist) Right! So who baptized Jesus? (John the Baptist) Right again! John the Baptist told the people to do something before they got baptized. Eli, what was it? (repent from their sins) I know all people sin, but Jesus is the Son of ... who? (God!) Right, Jesus is the Son of God. (speaking to puppet) Eli, isn't there a Bible verse that tells if Jesus ever sinned? (listen to Eli) I knew you would remember! (speaking to kids) Eli said "in Jesus there is no sin." 1 John 3:5. Thanks, Eli. So the people had sins to repent from, but Jesus was like, perfect. So why did Jesus need to get baptized? What's up with that?


Well here's the thing, part of baptism is symbolic. Eli, do you know what symbolic means? (Eli shakes his head) Here's what symbolic means: a symbol looks like one thing, but means another thing. Give me a thumbs up. (they do) Good, what does thumbs up mean? (we like something, we agree with someone, this movie is good) Baptism looks like just getting dunked under water, right? (nods) But it means something else. It means the person is starting over to be different. It's like saying, "before I did things my way, not God's way, and that was sinning, but now I want to do things God's way."


Jesus getting baptized was really important. You know how I know that? (heads shake) Because all four gospels tell about it. Who can name the four gospels? (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) Excellent! They all tell the story about Jesus getting baptized. It is the beginning of His ministry, His work, the very first thing He does! And what does God think of Jesus getting started this way? Who remembers? Eli? (he was pleased) Yes, God was very pleased with Jesus, and He let everybody know it, didn't He? How did God let the people know He was pleased with Jesus? (speaking from heaven) Yeah, God spoke from heaven. That must have been awesome to hear! So even though Jesus' baptism was different from everyone else's baptism because Jesus didn't have to repent, still God wanted Jesus to be baptized, and God was very pleased with Jesus.


So, for all the rest of us, baptism is the start of a new life, a life with God. We repent from our sins, and God forgives us. One more thing happens when we get baptized, and it happened to Jesus when He got baptized. What was it? (the dove) Right, the dove! The dove was the Holy Spirit! Baptism is when we get God's gift of the Holy Spirit! Jesus said the Holy Spirit is our Helper. The Holy Spirit helps us live our new life with God!


Here is a paper dove for each of you. It is a symbol of Who? (the Holy Spirit) God's Holy Spirit, right!


Let's bow our heads, fold our hands, and close our eyes. Dear God, You spoke from heaven to everybody. How awesome! You said You are so pleased with Jesus. We want to please You, too. Thank you for forgiving our sins and giving us Your Holy Spirit to help us. In Jesus name we pray, amen.


If you ever have an opportunity to volunteer for nursery duty at your church, do it! This kind of paper project is so fun for kids, especially the 3 and 4 year olds, and you can tell a Bible story while you demonstrate the steps for them. There is nothing better than teaching kids about God, and how much He loves them!