BIG IDEA: Jesus is the promised King.
This free Bible lesson, Jesus’s Family Tree, will teach preschool and elementary students about how Jesus Christ was born into the tribe of Judah as the promised King who will rule and reign forever. Both Mary and Joseph were descendants of King David. Jesus fulfilled the Davidic covenant. This is a great lesson for Christmas time.
FOCUS BIBLE PASSAGE: Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38
All of the printable activities and digital slides needed for the lesson, as well as a full printable lesson plan for both elementary and preschool are available.
Below is the outline of the free elementary Bible lesson.
PREP & SUPPLIES
- large construction paper (18 x 24″) – any colors
- printed “Jesus’s Family Tree” (optional: precut pieces)
- scissors
- glue
- crayons/markers
LESSON HOOK ACTIVITY
(SLIDE) Can anyone tell me what this is a picture of? (a family tree)
We discussed family trees when we learned about a woman named Ruth. Can anyone tell me what a “Family Tree” is? (allow responses and discussion)
A family tree is a visual chart or picture that we can use to show how our families trace back in time and are connected by births over time.
(SLIDE) If am this little girl on the bottom left of the tree. Who does that mean the two kids beside me are? (my siblings; my brother and sister)
(SLIDE) That is my brother and sister, or my siblings. Who are the two people above us? (our mom and dad; our parents)
(SLIDE) That is our Mom and Dad, or our parents. Who are the two older people at the top of the tree? (our grandparents)
(SLIDE) That is our Grandmother and Grandfather, or our grandparents. Maybe this set of grandparents are my Mom’s parents.
So who could the other man be on the other side of the tree? (my mom’s brother; my uncle)
(SLIDE)
Then his wife, is my aunt. And his kids are my cousins.
Does everyone see how that works? (allow for questions)
In today’s true story from The Bible, we are going to learn about a very important family tree.
BIBLE LESSON
(SLIDE) We learned about a man named David who God named as the 2nd king of Israel.
God made a promise to David that his royal family line would rule and reign forever. How long is forever? (allow responses)
Forever means never-ending and into eternity. God promised King David that someone from David’s family line would be king forever and into eternity.
The covenant God made with David is found in The Book of 2 Samuel:
(SLIDE) 2 Samuel 7:16 NIrV
[“Your royal house and your kingdom will last forever in my sight. Your throne will last forever.”]
The Gospel Books of Matthew and Luke tell us a special genealogy. Does anyone know what a genealogy is? (allow responses)
A genealogy is a record of family history. It is a list of all of the people that are in a family and how they are related.
LEADER NOTE: If students ask about the genealogy only including men, you can explain to them that family lines in those days were tracked through the male. This does not mean that the women were not important.
Who remembers the name of the very first man? (allow responses)
(SLIDE) The very first man that God created was named Adam.
Genesis 2:7 NIrV
[Then the LORD God formed a man. He made him out of the dust of the ground. God breathed the breath of life into him. And the man became a living person.]
God created Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden. Who remembers what happened in the Garden of Eden? (allow responses)
Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit. This is when sin entered the world. From that point on, all people were born into sin.
What is sin? (when we do things our own way instead of God’s way; anything we think, do, or say that is against what God wants)
Who does sin separate us from? (God)
We were born into sin and that is why we need a Savior to take our sin away so that we don’t have to be separated from God any longer. We can have a relationship with God if we accept Jesus as our Savior.
God told Adam and Eve to have children and fill the earth. (Genesis 1:28)
Adam and Eve had children and one of them was named Seth. Seth had children, and those children had children, and those children had children, and on and on.
(SLIDE) Many years into this family multiplying and filling the earth, a man named Noah was born into the family.
Genesis 6:9 NIrV
[Noah was a godly man. He was without blame among the people of his time. He walked faithfully with God.]
A time came when the whole world was filled with sin and evil. Noah was faithful to God and he obeyed God in everything that he did. Who remembers what happened in the time of Noah? (allow responses)
God told Noah to build a big boat, called an ark, because He was going to send a flood to the entire earth to judge the sin that had become so terrible on the earth. That’s exactly what happened.
Noah built an ark as God commanded him. God told Noah to take his wife, his sons, and his sons’ wives onto the boat with him. God also told Noah to take every kind of animal onto the boat with him so that they could survive and fill the earth after the flood. God sent a flood that covered the earth and killed every person and animal that was not on the ark with Noah.
After the flood, Noah and his family came out of the ark and began to repopulate the earth.
One of Noah’s sons who was on the ark was named Shem. Shem had children, and those children had children, and those children had children, and on and on.
(SLIDE) Many years later a man named Abraham was born into this family. What do you remember about Abraham? (allow responses)
Abraham was chosen by God to be the father of many nations, which means he would have a large family of important descendants, including Jesus.
Genesis 12:2-3 NIrV
[“I will make you into a great nation. And I will bless you. I will make your name great. You will be a blessing to others…All nations on earth will be blessed because of you.”]
God made a promise to Abraham that Abraham’s family would be blessed. What do we know about God’s promises? (allow responses)
When God makes a promise, we can trust Him because He always keeps His promises.
Where can we read and learn about the promises that God has made to us? (The Bible)
Abraham had a son named Isaac, who had a son named Jacob. This means that Abraham was Jacob’s . (grandfather)
(SLIDE) Jacob’s name was changed to “Israel”, so Jacob became the father of the Twelve Tribes of Israel through his sons. (Genesis 29:31-30:24)
One of Jacob’s sons was named Judah.
LEADER NOTE REGARDING THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL LIST: Pictured are the original 12 sons of Jacob. In some lists you will see that Levi is not included because the men of his tribe were the priests and they did not receive land as an inheritance. When Levi is not included, Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh take the place of both Levi and Joseph to equal 12 tribes.
(SLIDE) A special blessing was given to the tribe of Judah by Jacob before he died.
Genesis 49:10 NIrV
[The right to rule will not leave Judah. The ruler’s scepter will not be taken from between his feet. It will be his until the king it belongs to will come. The nations will obey that king.]
God’s plan for the nation of Israel was for the tribe of Judah to be the royal line, or the family that the kings would be born into.
Judah had many children, and those children had children, and those children had children, and on and on.
(SLIDE) Many years later a man named David was born into this family. We talked about David at the very beginning of the lesson today.
2 Samuel 7:16 NIrV
[“Your royal house and your kingdom will last forever in my sight. Your throne will last forever.”]
What promise did God make to David about his family? (allow responses)
God made a promise to David that his royal family line would rule and reign forever.
King David ruled over Israel for 40 years. In that time he also had many children.
(SLIDE) One of King David’s sons was named Nathan, and one of King David’s sons was named Solomon. Solomon became King after his father David.
(SLIDE) The most exciting part of this story from The Bible is the special person who was born into the family of David about 1,000 years after David ruled as king of Israel.
Who do you think that special person is? (allow responses)
(SLIDE) Jesus! Jesus was born into the family of David. Jesus is part of the royal family chosen by God to rule as King.
God promised that someone in David’s family would rule forever as King!
(SLIDE) Big Idea: Jesus is the promised King!
The Bible Story Lesson and Large Group Activity are combined for the remainder of this lesson.
HANDOUT: Each student should receive a large piece of construction paper, copies (2 pages) of “Jesus’s Family Tree” (not cut OR precut), scissors, and glue.
You may choose to precut the pieces for students in order to save time.
We are going to build Jesus’s Family Tree.
Instruct students to cut out the title “Jesus’s Family Tree” and glue it to the top center of their construction paper. The construction paper should be LANDSCAPE.
The list of Jesus’s family tree is found in The Gospel Books of Matthew and Luke. What do we learn about by reading The Gospel Books of The Bible? (Jesus’s birth, ministry, death, burial, and resurrection)
The Gospel of Matthew and Luke each give us the genealogy, or family tree, of Jesus. But the way that each of the writers lists Jesus’s family line is a little bit different.
Luke gives us Jesus’s genealogy all the way from Adam, and Matthew starts with Abraham.
We are going to start Jesus’s family tree with Adam.
Instruct students to cut out “ADAM” and glue it to the far left center. Be sure to look at the Leader’s Guide to help students with spacing.
Then, instruct students to cut out “NOAH”, “ABRAHAM”, “JUDAH”, AND “DAVID” and glue them each to the right of “ADAM”.
After the first 5 patriarchs are glued down, instruct students to cut out and glue down David’s two sons, “NATHAN” and “SOLOMON”.
What is the name of Jesus’s mother? (Mary)
Mary was born into Nathan’s family many years later.
Instruct students to cut out and glue down “MARY” to the right of “NATHAN”.
God is Jesus’s FATHER. What is the name of Jesus’s EARTHLY father? (Joseph)
Joseph was Jesus’s EARTHLY ADOPTIVE LEGAL father.
Joseph was born into King Solomon’s family many years later.
Instruct students to cut out and glue down “JOSEPH” to the right of “SOLOMON”.
This part of Jesus’s family tree can be a little bit confusing.
In The Book of Matthew, we find the family line of Joseph. Matthew 1:16 (NIrV) says: “Joseph was the husband of Mary. And Mary was the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah.”
Joseph was not related to Jesus by blood.
Joseph was Jesus’s earthly father because he was married to Jesus’s mother, Mary.
Joseph was heir to the royal throne through King Solomon.
Even though Jesus was not related to Joseph by blood, He was still the heir to the royal throne through Joseph.
Instruct students to cut out “Matthew 1:16” and glue it beneath “JOSEPH”.
In the Book of Luke, we find the family line of Mary. Luke 3:23 (NIrV) says: “Joseph was the son of Heli.”
This seems confusing because Heli was actually Mary’s father.
Joseph was Heli’s son-in-law, or his son through marriage.
Heli did not have any sons so he is listed here as Joseph’s father.
Instruct students to cut out “Luke 3:23” and glue it beneath “Matthew 1:16”.
If Joseph wasn’t related to Jesus by blood, then who is Jesus’s father? (allow responses)
The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and placed Jesus inside her womb. Jesus is God, but He is also fully human because He was born to a woman.
Instruct students to cut out “Luke 1:35” and glue it to the left of “Luke 3:23”.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem but He grew up and lived in a town called Nazareth. At the time right before Jesus was born, the ruler of the nation was named Caesar Augustus. Caesar made a law that required all families to return to the town they were from to be counted in a census.
Joseph was from Bethlehem but had moved to Nazareth. Following the law, Joseph returned to
Bethlehem to be counted in the census. He took Mary with him and that is where Jesus was born. (Luke 2:1-7)
Instruct students to cut out and glue down “JESUS” to the right of “MARY” and “JOSEPH”.
(SLIDE) The entire Bible points to Jesus! From Adam to Noah to Abraham to Judah to David over many generations, Jesus was born into a family as the promised King Who will rule forever.
Jesus is the promised King and Savior Who takes away the sins of the world.
When we believe in Him and accept His free gift, we can be saved from our sins and live forever with Him when He rules as King.
Dear God,
Thank You for the Bible and the Truths about Jesus that we can learn by reading It. Thank You for Your plan to send Jesus to save us from our sins. We praise You for Your amazing plan to rescue us and make a way for us to have a friendship with You and live with You forever when Jesus reigns as King just like You promised.
We love you and we pray all of these things in Jesus’ sweet name, Amen.
SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY
Allow students to complete their “Jesus’s Family Tree” pictures and color while you are discussing the lesson using the prompts below.
BREAK INTO SMALL GROUPS TO COMPLETE THE ACTIVITY.
Discussion Prompts for Leaders:
- What promise did God make to King David? (Someone from David’s family line will rule and reign forever as King)
- Who is the One from David’s family line Who will rule and reign forever? (Jesus)
- Which two Gospel Books tell us about Jesus’s family line? (Matthew: Joseph’s line and Luke: Mary’s line)
- How far back in human history does Jesus’s family history go? (all the way back to Adam)
- Why did sin enter the world through Adam? (Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit – all people are born into sin)
- What is sin? (anything that we say, do, or think that is not what God wants for us; doing things our own way instead of God’s way)
- Why does sin separate us from God? (God is perfect, sin is imperfect; God cannot be in the presence of sin)
- How can we have a relationship with God if sin separates us from Him? (accept Jesus’s free gift of salvation – Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life, took our place by dying on the cross to take away our sin, then rose back to life; Jesus offers salvation from our sins if we choose to accept Him as God, ask Him to save us, and turn from our sins and follow Him)
- Who can you tell about Jesus this week?
- Who can you teach about Jesus’s family tree?
- Does anyone have any questions about today’s lesson?
- Use any extra time to discuss the lesson and/or the memory verse.
CLOSING REFLECTION
We learned about Jesus’s family tree. Many generations after Adam, the first man, Jesus was born into the blessed family of Abraham. Many years after Adam, Noah was born. Many years after Noah, Abraham was born. God made a promise to Abraham that his family would be blessed and that all nations would be blessed through his family. Abraham’s grandson, Jacob became the father of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Judah, one of Jacob’s sons, was promised by God that a royal heir would always rule from his family line. Many years later, David was born into Judah’s family line and became the king of Israel. Many years later through two of King David’s sons, Nathan and Solomon, Jesus’s earthly parents were born. The Holy Spirit came over Mary and placed Jesus in her womb. Jesus was born as God’s promise to rescue humanity from sin and as the Savior and King Who will rule and reign forever.
Reflection Questions:
- God promised David that Someone from his family line would rule and reign forever. How will Jesus fulfill that promise? (Jesus was born into David’s family line through both Joseph and Mary – Jesus will rule and reign as King forever)
- How is Jesus our Savior? (Jesus came to earth to live a sinless life and to die in our place on the cross to take away our sin – then He rose back to life and offers us the free gift of salvation)
- Does anyone have any questions about today’s lesson?
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