The Biblical Path of Life

Category: Year Three Quarter One

  • Lesson 3: John the Baptist Introduces Jesus: The Four Gospels

    Key Verse

    The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

    —Isaiah 40:3

    Key Verse Thought: After reading today’s Key Verse, remember the baby John that we learned of in our last lesson. In this lesson, we will learn that he was the one Isaiah wrote about hundreds of years earlier: the voice of one crying in the wilderness. We will begin to understand that he was sent by God to do a special job – to prepare the way for Jesus.

    Emphasis: God has a plan for each Christian’s life. We may not understand exactly why God has us do something (remember John baptizing), but we are to obey anyway – just as John did. Moreover, we have Jesus as our example of how to defeat temptations – by knowing God’s Word.

    Lesson Summary: In our last lesson, we looked at the births of John and Jesus. God sent angels to tell about both of these special births. We also learned about Jesus’ childhood. In this lesson, we will find out more about John that was born. 

    John grew up in the wilderness, and at about thirty years of age, he came out of that wilderness preaching, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2).  His job was to prepare the way for the Promised One. Although John did not know who the Promised One was, God instructed him to baptize, and He would reveal that One to him. And John obeyed. He became known as “John the Baptist.”  God revealed the Promised One to him with the Spirit of God in the form of a dove which lighted upon Jesus as he came up out of the water after baptism. Jesus, too, was about thirty years of age.  

    Immediately, Jesus was driven into the wilderness where Satan tempted him with three specific temptations. Jesus defeated each of those temptations by quoting God’s Word. When Satan left Jesus, angels ministered to Him. When John the Baptist saw Jesus again, He introduced Him to all as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). At this point, John’s ministry started to decrease, and Jesus’ ministry began.

    Jesus went to Galilee where his fame was spread abroad. He then returned to his home town of Nazareth where He went to the synagogue. Once there, Jesus stood to read. He was given the book of Isaiah. He read the Scripture that was a prophecy of the Messiah who was to come. When Jesus finished reading, He declared that those words had been fulfilled in their ears – in other words, Jesus was that One promised. This angered the people, and they tried to kill Jesus. “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

    Y3Q1 – Lesson 3 Questions

    Y3Q1 – Lesson 3 Children’s Worskheets

    If you are teaching this to younger children, this is an idea of a craft to help them remember this lesson.

  • Lesson 2: Jesus’ Birth and Childhood: The Four Gospels

    Key Verse

    “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.“

    —Job 42:5

    Key Verse Thought: Read today’s Key Verse. Have you ever heard of something that you have not yet seen (i.e.: the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, etc.)? After reading this lesson’s Key Verse, understand that all through the Old Testament the people had heard God’s promise of One who would come. Nevertheless, they never saw Him with their own eyes, they had only heard of Him. In our lesson today, we will find that God kept His promise, and many people recognized just who it was they saw – Jesus, the Promised One.

    Emphasis: Christians are to recognize that God kept His promises: He sent the “messenger” and gave Jesus to the world as a baby. Jew and Gentile alike recognized the Savior had been born.  Moreover, Jesus grew: He waxed strong and increased in wisdom. Jesus had to strive to be what God expected Him to be – and we must, too!

    Lesson Summary: After four hundred years, the silence from God ended. Angels began appearing to different people: Zacharias, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds. Jesus, the Savior, was born. 

    In this lesson, we begin by remembering the birth of John the Baptist. The angel of the Lord told Zacharias just whom this child would grow up to be – the one who would “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (see Luke 1:17). He was to be the “messenger” in the spirit of Elijah that would come to prepare the way for Jesus (see Malachi 3:1 and 4:5).  

    We then remember what we call the “Christmas Story.” But instead of just retelling it as we have done so many times before, we want to hear it anew in relation to our study of the Bible as a whole. We need to understand that it is not just another “Bible Story,” it is the fulfillment of the promise God made immediately after man sinned in the Garden (see Genesis 3:15). It is the same promise God consistently reminded His people in the Old Testament to watch and wait for. 

    God revealed the birth of Jesus, the Savior of the world, to more than just the people directly involved. The shepherds were watching their sheep when the angel of the Lord appeared to them in the night. God had promised Simeon that he would not see death until he witnessed the salvation of the Lord. Anna, too, waited at the temple for the promise from God. The wise men witnessed a new star in the sky and followed it until they met the new king. Although each of these saw Jesus, King Herod and the chief priests and scribes who heard the new king had been born did not take the time to go see for themselves.

    Even today, there are many who hear that Jesus has come and is the only way for salvation, yet fail to go and see for themselves.

    Y3Q1 – Lesson 2 Questions

    Y3Q1 – Lesson 2 Children’s Worksheets

    If you are teaching this to younger children, the following are a couple of craft ideas to help them remember this lesson:

  • Lesson 1: 400 Years of Silence and An Overview of the New Testament

    “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:”

    —John 17:1

    Key Verse Thought: Read today’s key verse. Glorify means “to render the divine character and attributes of God.” This verse was the beginning of Jesus’ prayer in the garden just before He was arrested to die on the cross for the sin of mankind. In our study of the Old Testament, we understood that God had promised to send One into the world to restore the relationship between God and man. In this lesson, we will begin to understand that this person was revealed in the New Testament. It is Jesus. Therefore, it is with this verse that we will begin our study of the New Testament and understand why it was written.

    Emphasis: It is important to understand how the New Testament fits and belongs with the rest of the Bible. The Old Testament is the just the beginning, and the completion is found in the New Testament. With the New Testament comes the fulfillment of the promise God made when man first sinned in the beginning.

    Lesson Summary: In completing our study of the Old Testament, we found many promises left unfulfilled, and the beginning of a story without the ending. In this lesson, as we begin our study of the New Testament, we will understand that this part of the Bible answers many questions, and fulfills the promises God made. 

    First in our study, we will remember what happened in the four-hundred years between the Old and New Testaments. Next, we will learn how the New Testament is arranged, so that we can understand it better. Understanding how the New Testament fits will help us as we learn about the life of Jesus and the establishment of the church. Since this is an overview, the information will be very limited. We will study each book deeper as we come to them. In this lesson, the idea is to just become somewhat familiar with each book, their order, and the connection they have with one another.     

    Especially begin to understand: the hope of the “Promised One to come” found throughout the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament as Jesus.

    Year Three Quarter One – Lesson 1 Questions

    Year Three Quarter One – Lesson 1 Children’s Worksheets

    We made a hanging with the verse John 17:1.