“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen
his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from
the Father full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
Read John 1:1-18
Unless you were a student of Ms. Frizzle on the Magic School Bus, you probably spent much of your school age Decembers counting down the days until Christmas Break. After all, Christmas break meant no more boring class rooms. “The Frizz”, however, brought lessons, and buses, to life with fieldtrips beyond your wildest imagination. Her great adventures allowed her students to learn not just from books, work sheets and memorizations but through experience. They lived the lesson as they were learning about it.
All teachers, even the amazing Ms. Frizzle, receive their information from someone else. At some point they sat under another teacher and learned what they needed to know to be able to teach us. Our teachers learn what to teach and how to teach from other teachers. That’s how we all learn. We listen to stories. We read from books. We watch and we learn. What Ms. Frizzle did though, was take her class directly to the source.
And that’s the great thing about the teaching of Jesus. The bible says Jesus is “The Word.” He was with God in the beginning and all things are made through him. God sent Jesus to be his messenger of truth and to tell the world about himself. We can rest assured that every word Jesus ever spoke and every lesson he ever taught was truth not because he learned it from someone else but because he, being fully God, is the source of truth.
Not only does Jesus teach with divine authority, but he also teaches from experience. Have you ever sat under a teacher who was so brilliant that they had a difficult time bringing it down a notch or two to help you understand? It comes so easily to them that they can’t understand what it is you don’t understand! But Jesus, being fully man, experienced all the same trials and temptations that we face. He felt the same range of emotions that we feel. He did it all and he did it with grace, mercy and humility. His actions taught a profound lesson that speak volumes to us without him even having to say a word.
We model ourselves after Jesus because He is the ultimate teacher. His life, his ministry and his teachings have given us everything we need to know about how to live as children of God – holy and set apart. There is nothing we will encounter in this world that Jesus hasn’t already conquered. He is the personification of all wisdom, the testimony of God to all humanity. And he came to show us the way.
Family Activity: Leave all but one cell phone at home (make sure it’s fully charged and place it in the glove box!) and take a ride around the block to look at neighborhood Christmas lights.