Wise Men Came
Matthew 2
Dec. 21, 2014
The children will understand
 The story of the wise men.
 That the wise men took a journey of faith, worship and change.
 That our journey with God is one of faith, worship and change.
Game
Supplies:
3 wrapped boxes
You will need 3 wrapped boxes of similar size. Choose 3 kids to go at a time. All of the kids will
get on their hands and knees behind a start line at one end of the room. The object will be to see
who can crawl on all fours to the other end of the room and then come back. But, each one will
have a wrapped gift on his/her back that they can’t let fall off. Once they crawl with the box on
their backs to the other end of the room, they can take the box off, leave it there, and then run
back to their starting place. You can play as many rounds as you like by choosing 5 new players.
Today, we’re going to learn about some guys who delivered gifts. Once they delivered their
gifts, they went back to the places where they had come from, but they went back a different
way. Each one of you carried your gift box to the other end of the room. When you left it
there, you came back running instead of on all fours. You came back a different way!
Bible Account
Supplies:
king costume
throne
remote control
The speaker is King Herod. He will be sulking and steaming on his throne in front of the
children. The king will speak dramatically and come off totally self-centered.
I am just soooooo jealous! I, King Herod, the king over Israel and Judah, the king set over the
Jews, am jealous of an infant? What a bunch of bologna! I sit here on my throne and I can’t
stop thinking about A BABY! Why, you ask? It all started with a visit from some wise men.
After a baby boy named Jesus was born in Bethlehem, wise men from the east came to
Jerusalem, and they said, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” And I thought,
“Well, I’m the king over the Jews! What are these crazy men talking about?” These wise men
studied the sky, of all things, and said that they saw a special star when it rose and that they
came to worship the one the star was shining for. Well, right then and there, my feathers got
all ruffled, because I don’t want people worshipping anyone other than me!
There was all this chatter around the entire city of Jerusalem, because of what the wise men
shared. So, I gathered together all of my chief priests and scribes and asked them what the
Scriptures said about the Savior of the world and where he was supposed to be born. They told
me that the Scriptures say that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem.
I called these wise men, who were totally stressing me out, to my throne and asked them
approximately what time the star had appeared in the sky. When they told me, I started to
devise a rather sneaky plan … if I do say so myself … to get rid of this so-called ruler and king
of the Jews! I told these wise men to go find this baby king. And when they had found him, I
told them to specifically come tell me where he was staying so I could go and worship him as
well! I, of course, had no intention of worshipping this young lad, but it sounded brilliant to
me, and my acting was so superb that I deserved an Academy Award for it!
Well, I was sitting here bummed out, because the wise men never returned to me. I waited and
waited! I guess the star they saw burning brightly in the sky guided them to the home of the
Christ. I have to admit, I am in awe of that stunt! The star miraculously led them to the spot,
and then it rested over the place where the child was! The wise men entered the home, saw the
child with his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him … or at least that’s what I heard.
They even brought the boy presents! (whining) I want people to bring me presents! I want
someone to bring me some gold, frankincense, and myrrh! (wipes a tear away, and sticks out
his lower pouty lip)
I am furious that those men did not come back to me to report this king’s location! I heard
later that they were warned in a dream not to return to me, and that they returned home by a
DISGUISED route! Drats! So I sit here fuming with jealously, trying to plan a way to get rid
of this saving king, because I want everyone to love me!
Well, let’s see what’s on TV. Maybe that will cheer me up. (King Herod points a remote control
at the screen and the following video is played.)
Activity
Supplies:
YouTube video
Beforehand, download this YouTube video called “Christmas Sand Drawing – Luk 1:1-25 –
Sand Bible” submitted by LifetoneMedia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5JFWwCDlPU
When King Herod points his television remote control at the screen, play the video to reinforce
the story to the children.
Game
Supplies:
costume like Jeff Foxworthy of the show “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?”
2 music stands
paper
pencils
The leader should wear a sports coat, mustache, and a hairpiece to look like the game show host
Jeff Foxworthy. Create a game show environment with podiums or music stands for the
contestants to stand behind. The game show the children are going to participate in will be called
“Are You WISER Than a Fifth Grader?” The host of the show will start the game with a little
stand-up comedy and plenty of enthusiasm.
If you think that the movie just played cheered up King Herod … you might not be wiser than
a fifth grader! (pause) If you think that Christmas really can come in July … you might not be
wiser than a fifth grader! (pause) If you think that Christmas is more about shopping for
presents than the birth of Jesus Christ … you might not be wiser than a fifth grader! (pause)
If you think that Jesus Christ was born in a high-rise motel in (your town and state) … you
may not be wiser than a fifth grader! (pause) And if you think that the star that led the wise
men was just a giant firefly hovering in the sky … you might not be wiser than a fifth grader!
Welcome to the game show “Are You Wiser Than A Fifth Grade?” I’m your host, Jeff
Starworthy! (or some other name you’ve come up with)
Divide the children into two teams. One team will be all of the fifth graders. The other children
will be on the second team. One fifth grader will stand behind a music stand. A volunteer from
the other team will stand behind the other music stand. The leader will ask a game question
pertaining to the Bible account. The fifth grade contestant will secretly write down his answer on
paper. Then, the contestant from the second team will verbally answer the question. The host will
confirm if the contestant from the second team was correct, and then check to see if the fifth
grader wrote down the correct answer. When a contestant answers correctly, that team receives a
point, and the leader will determine if the second team is wiser than a fifth grader! After each
question, the leader will choose another fifth grader to come to the podium and another
contestant from the second team. The game show host will add phrases like, “You are smarter
than a fifth grader” when appropriate. Choose a question from the following:
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
From the category of First Grade Spelling – How do you spell wise?
From the category of Second Grade History – Who was the jealous king in the Bible
Account? (King Herod)
From the category of Third Grade Geography – While looking for the King of the Jews,
the wise men came from the east to what city? (Jerusalem)


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From the category of Fourth Grade Astrology – What did the wise men see when they
were studying the sky? (a star)
From the category of Fifth Grade Religion – What did the wise men come to Jerusalem to
do? (worship the king of the Jews)
From the category of First Grade Geography – In what city did the Old Testament say
that Jesus would be born? (Bethlehem)
From the category of Second Grade History – What was King Herod’s sneaky plan to
find out the location of the Christ? (to have the wise men find him and report the location
of the child back to King Herod)
From the category of Third Grade Astrology – Where did the star lead the wise men? (to
the home of the Christ)
From the category of Fourth Grade Gift Giving – What presents did the wise men present
to the Christ? (gold, frankincense, myrrh)
For 50 points from the category of Fifth Grade Spelling – How do you spell the word
frankincense?
The last question comes from the category of First Grade Religion – How were the wise
men warned to take a DISGUISED route home? (in a dream)
Message
Supplies:
PowerPoint slides
globe
wrapped box
dollar bill, any denomination
(show slide #2) The JOURNEY of the Wise Men
Let’s listen to two verses that are part of the story about the wise men seeking the baby Jesus.
The first verse is Matthew 2:1, “About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in
Jerusalem …” Eastern lands? Where are eastern lands? More than likely, this is talking about
the Orient, what we call China today. There were no cars or planes in that day and it was far,
far away. Show the kids on the globe (or a map) how far China is from Bethlehem. Also, show
them how far New York City is from Los Angeles, so they can get an idea of the actual distance.
It took them a really, really, really, really long time to get there.
The other verse I want to look at is Matthew 2:11, “They entered the house and saw the child
with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their
treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Where did the wise men
find the baby Jesus? In a house! When we set up our nativity scene, many times we put the
wise men right there at the stable, along with the shepherds, but the wise men actually found
Jesus later than that first night. Mary and Joseph were now in a HOUSE in Bethlehem.
Let’s talk about that journey—that long, long journey. What kind of a journey was it? And,
can we take the kind of journey the wise men took?
(show slide #3) A JOURNEY of Faith
Hold up a wrapped box that you have put a $5 bill inside. Tell the kids that there is a $5 bill in
the box. (It can be any denomination … the bigger, the better.) Does anyone believe there is a $5
bill in the box? Choose someone to hold the box. Can you feel it in there? Shake the box. Can
you hear it rattling around in there? Then, why do you believe there is a $5 bill in the box?
For those of you who don’t believe the $5 bill is in the box, tell me what it would take to get
you to believe it. They will probably respond that they would have to actually see the $5 bill to
believe it. Which person acted on faith?
The wise men were on a journey of faith. When they saw the star, they left their homes. They
didn’t know where they were going or how long it would take. But, they were going to follow
wherever that star took them! They believed they would find the Messiah. Some of you
couldn’t feel the weight of the $5 in the box and you couldn’t hear it when you shook the box,
but you believed it was in there. Faith is when you believe even though you don’t have the
answers to all your questions. They believed that this strange star was God’s way of leading
them to the Messiah. I’m sure the wise men had plenty of questions, but their faith was bigger
than their questions.
God wants you to take a journey of faith. He wants you to believe even though you don’t know
the answers to all the “why” questions, and the “where” questions, or the “when” questions.
More than anything, God wants you to follow Him in faith. You can be wise also if you follow
God with a faith that is bigger than your questions.
(show slide #4) A JOURNEY of Worship
Before the wise men left their country, they prepared themselves for worship by gathering
their gifts. They were already worshipping through their preparation. Just a quick question:
Do you spend any time preparing yourself to worship before you come to church?
They worshipped through sacrifice. What did they sacrifice? They left their families for such a
long time to make this trip. That was a sacrifice. They put themselves in a position to be
laughed at by the people they knew—Who follows a star halfway across the world? That was a
sacrifice. They were safe and respected at home, and they left all of that. That sounds like a
sacrifice to me. When have you spoken up for God to your friends, even though there was a
chance that they would laugh at you? That’s sacrifice. That’s giving of yourself. That’s
worshiping.
They worshipped physically. They bowed down. They got on the ground. As soon as they saw
the baby, they bowed. When you bow down, that’s a physical way of telling the other person
that you think higher of them than you do of yourself … that they’re more important than
you. When you pray, do you ever get on your knees? When you sing, do you ever stretch out
your arms or raise your hands or just throw back your head? That’s worshipping physically.
And, they worshipped by bringing gifts. Now, these gifts were pretty special and they were
pretty unusual gifts to give a baby … but this wasn’t any ordinary baby! What were the gifts?
The wise men gave gold. When I think of gold, I think of royalty—kings and queens. Giving
the baby Jesus a gift of gold was a way of recognizing Him as a different kind of king.
Another gift was frankincense. Frankincense is sap that comes out of a tree. They let it dry
and harden, and then it’s made into an incense that is burned during worship. To give the
baby a gift of frankincense was to say that He is worthy of their worship. The last gift we know
about was myrrh. And this one is really, really odd. Myrrh was actually a perfume used to
embalm people—it’s what you put on a dead body! This gift represented that this new king
would someday die for His people.
How much thought have you put into what kind of gift you give God? He’s already put on His
list what He’d like to have for Christmas. He wants you to go on a very special JOURNEY
with Him. It’s a JOURNEY of change and we’ll come back to that after this next activity.
Activity
The kings brought three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Each one represented who
Jesus was and was going to be to the world. Gold was because He would be a new kind of
king. Frankincense was to represent that He was worthy of worship, because He was God.
Myrrh represented that He would die to take the punishment for our sins, instead of us having
to pay for them.
Here are some other names for Jesus. Post these on a board or a poster in large letters that the
kids can see easily. Then, the kids will get in groups of 3 or 4 and come up with an item that they
could present Jesus as a gift, or see how many they can come up with. This item would describe
one of the names.
 Shepherd
 Healer
 Light of the World
 Friend
 Potter
 Prince of Peace
 Creator
 Bread of Life
 Teacher
 Wonderful Counselor
 Morning Star
 Suffering Servant
After the time is up, go through each name and see what different groups came up with for each
one. It’s important that the kids have a chance to share what they’ve listed.
Message – Part 2
(show slide #5) A JOURNEY of Change
When the wise men found the baby and were ready to leave, the Bible tells us that they went
back a different way. Their journey was taking a different route. They were changed by this
baby, and they took a different route to avoid Herod.
When you admit your sin—how you’ve disobeyed God—and ask Him to forgive you, then your
life is different. You place your faith in Jesus, that He took the punishment for your sin, and
you no longer are separated from God. You start on a new JOURNEY, a JOURNEY of faith,
and worship, and change. Your life will be changed. You’ll go a different direction after
accepting Jesus as your Savior. You can be a “wise man” today, if that’s what you choose.
Science Experiment
Supplies:
5 toothpicks
drinking straw
flat plate
cup of water
Always test and practice science experiments before presenting them. Snap the 5 toothpicks in
half, but don’t break them all the way through (into 2 pieces). Bend them at the broken place and
lay them on a flat plate so that all the broken places are at a central point in the middle of the
plate. What you should have is something that looks like a stick star.
Put the straw down in the cup of water and seal the end with your thumb, so that there is water in
the straw. Hold the straw over the place where the bends in the toothpicks come together on the
plate. Release the water gently at this point. Watch what happens.
The toothpicks will move out and open up the star. The star has changed its direction and now it
looks much more like a star!
If you need to see an instructional video of this experiment, go to stevespanglerscience.com and
search for Toothpick Star Table Trick.
What happened to the toothpicks when they had the water dropped on them? They moved,
didn’t they? They changed direction. The wise men, after following the star to find the baby
Jesus, changed their direction also. They went back a different way. How do you think the
direction of their lives changed? We don’t really know, but I’ve got to think that they weren’t
the same after that.
If you have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, how has your life changed direction?
Activity
Supplies:
person with a change testimony
Invite someone to come share how becoming a Christian changed the direction of their life.
Maybe that change came immediately, or maybe it was something that occurred over time, like
being called into a ministry. Don’t discount how impactful this can be for your kids.
If your guest isn’t sure exactly what to share, give them these few questions to answer.
 What was your life like BEFORE you became a Christian?
 How is your life different now?
 What would you say your direction was before? And what is your direction now?
Prayer
Supplies:
manger
doll wrapped in blanket
star
paper
pencils
Hang a star on the wall at the front of the room and place the manger with a baby Jesus doll
under the star.
The Bible tells us that the wise men went into Jesus’ house, saw the child with Mary his
mother, and fell down and worshipped him. Then, they offered him gifts. For prayer time
today, we’re going to worship Jesus as we offer Him our lives. Jesus came to earth to die on
the cross to take away our sins. We have great reasons to fall down and worship our Savior!
We have great reasons to celebrate this Christmas season! We want to go on a journey of
faith, worship, and change. We want God to take us in a new direction … how exciting!
Give each child a small piece of paper and a pencil. Across the top of the paper they will write,
“I worship YOU …” Then, everyone should complete that sentence. This will be the child’s
prayer. Encourage them to just praise God in the words they write. When each child finishes
writing, he will follow the star to the manger, place the paper at the foot of it, and kneel down in
quiet prayer to worship the Christ.
Alternative: bring all the kids up at once to gather around the manger to kneel in prayer.
Craft
Supplies:
sandpaper
star cookie cutter
pencil
cinnamon sticks
hole punch
red yarn
scissors
PowerPoint slide
Give each child a piece of sandpaper, big enough that the cookie cutter will fit on it. Here are the
step-by-step instructions for making a Cinnamon Star Ornament. These same instructions are on
a PowerPoint slide.
1. Turn the sandpaper over. Put the star cookie cutter in place on the smooth side of the
sandpaper and draw around it.
2. Cut out the star.
3. Scratch a cinnamon stick against the sandpaper by dragging it from the middle out to
each point. Do NOT scratch back and forth.
4. Punch a hole in one point, far enough in so it won’t tear out.
5. Make a hanger by running a piece of yarn through the hole and tying a knot.
6. Put your name on your star.
Blessing
May you enjoy your journey with Jesus!
EXTRA OPTIONS
Game
Supplies:
4 stars
marker
tape
Beforehand, make 4 large stars and label them 1, 2, 3, and 4. Hang one in each corner of the
room.
We’re going to play a game to see how well you know the Christmas story! You’re all going to
be wise men and wise women, and you must follow the correct star! The children will take a
multiple choice Christmas quiz! Start by having everyone stand in the middle of the lesson area
with the leader. The leader will read a question with 4 answers to choose from. After the
question is read, the leader will tell the wise men to follow the star they think is the correct
answer. For example, the children who think the correct answer is #2 will run and stand under
the star with #2 on it. Everyone returns to the center of the lesson area for the next question.
Continue playing until all questions have been answered.

The baby Jesus was laid in a
1) cave, 2) manger, 3) hurry, 4) barn.

What is a manger?
1) a barn, 2) a place for hay, 3) a feeding trough, 4) a Hebrew term for the church
nursery.

The baby Jesus was born in a
1) inn, 2) hospital, 3) field, 4) not sure. (The Bible never says what Jesus was born in.
We assume certain things because He was laid in a manger.)

For the journey to Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph
1) walked, 2) Joseph walked and Mary rode a donkey, 3) they both rode donkeys, 4) not
sure how they got to Bethlehem. (The Bible does not mention a donkey, even though we
often see a donkey in our Christmas programs.)

How many angels spoke to the shepherds?
1) one, 2) two – Gabriel and Michael, 3) a multitude, 4) a heavenly host. (One angel is
mentioned speaking to the shepherds in the Bible, and the multitude of angels were
singing.)

What sign were the shepherds to look for?
1) a star over the stable, 2) a baby in a manger, 3) an angel guiding them, 4) the mother
Mary singing.

How many wise men visited Jesus?
1) three, 2) a host, 3) 100, 4) not sure how many. (There were 3 presents given to Jesus,
but the number of wise men is never mentioned in the Bible.)

When the wise men brought their gifts to Jesus, they found Him in
1) a manger, 2) a castle, 3) a house, 4) a Comfort Inn.

In what book(s) of the Bible will you find the details of the birth of Jesus Christ? 1)
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, 2) Matthew and Luke, 3) only Matthew, 4) only Luke.
Scripture Memorization
Supplies:
candy canes
Hebrews 4:13
“There is nothing that can be hid from God; everything in all creation is exposed and lies open
before his eyes. And it is to him that we must all give an account of ourselves.”
You will need some regular size candy canes. Leave them in the tight wrapper, in case they get
dropped. Divide the kids into teams of 8-10. The kids will line up with about 2 feet between
them. The first kid on each team will hang a candy cane from his/her index finger. At the signal,
each kid with a candy cane will pass it to the next kid on their team, but they can only use one
index finger each to make the exchange. As soon as the candy cane has been passed successfully,
then it will be passed to the next team member. When the candy cane reaches the end of the team
line, the team will say the memory verse together. Do this as many times as you like, with each
team saying the verse every time the candy cane is passed all the way down the row.