Guestling Bradshaw CE Primary School

Going to see Father Christmas? Presents around the tree? Lots of good things to eat? It's all of these of course, but it means so much more. You could say that Christmas is about a really big present that God gave the world around 2000 years ago - Jesus! One of the best known Bible verses (John 3:16) says: "God loved the world so much, that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life."

Read the story of the very first Christmas, taken from the Children's Illustrated Bible.

In the village of Nazareth in Galilee, the angel Gabriel appeared to a young woman named Mary. Mary was promised in marriage to Joseph, who was descended from the family of David.

“The Lord be with you!” said Gabriel. “You are the most fortunate of women!”

Mary was troubled by the angel’s greeting, and wondered why he had come to see her. “Do not be afraid, Mary,” Gabriel reassured her. God has chosen you to be the mother of a child, a son, who shall be called Jesus. He will be great, and his kingdom will never end.”

“But how is this possible?” Mary asked. “I am still a girl, and not yet married.”

“The Holy Spirit will come to you, and God’s grace will be with you, for your child will be known as the Son of God.”

At these words, Mary knelt before Gabriel, and with head bowed, replied: “I am obedient to God’s will, and shall be prepared for whatever you wish me to do.”

She looked up, but the angel had gone.

Joseph was an honourable man, and when he saw that Mary was expecting a baby, his first thought was to protect her from scandal and quietly release her from her betrothal. But an angel came to him and said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary for your wife. She has conceived this child by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, whose name shall be Jesus.”

Soon after, Mary and Joseph were married. The Emperor Augustus passed a law that a count be made of every person in the empire, so everyone returned to their home town to be registered. Joseph went with Mary, who was soon to give birth, to Bethlehem in Judea.

In the fields near Bethlehem, there were shepherds tending their flocks. Suddenly a bright light blazed through the darkness, and an angel appeared. The shepherds, terrified, hid their eyes, but the angel reassured them. “I bring you good news: today in Bethlehem a child has been born, who will be the saviour of the people. You will find him in a manger.” Then the night sky was filled with heavenly beings, and the angels sang in praise of God. They spoke of peace on earth and friendship between everyone.

“We must go at once to see the child,” the shepherds said. They hurried to the town, where they soon found Mary, Joseph and the baby. Excitedly, they described what they had seen and heard, and went away praising God. Only Mary was silent, thinking quietly to herself of all that had happened.

News of the birth of Jesus spread far and wide. A group of wise men travelled from the east to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they asked everyone, “Where is the child? Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We have seen his star and have come to worship him.”

Now Herod was King of Judea, and stories soon reached his ears of the coming of a child born to rule. Deeply troubled, and determined to put to death any rival, he summoned together all the priests and lawyers of the Jewish people, and asked them in which city the child was to be born.

“In Bethlehem,” they told him.

Then in private, Herod sent for the wise men, and pretending to be as religious as they, questioned them closely about the star: where they had seen it, what time it had appeared. “Go to Bethlehem,” he said. “Make a thorough search for the child, and when you have found him, come and tell me, for I too wish to go and worship him.”

So the wise men left Jerusalem and took the road that led to Bethlehem. The star guided them all the way, until, as they drew near to the walls of the little town, it shone even brighter and stopped quite still over the place where Jesus was.

As they entered the house, they saw Mary and her small child, and falling to their knees, they worshipped him. Then they opened the heavy caskets they had carried with them, and spread out on the floor the magnificent gifts they had brought. They gave the baby Jesus precious gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Then, having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own countries by another route.