Lent III (March 23rd)

Season of the Church Year: Lent (Liturgical Color: purple) 

Story in Scripture: Matthew 3: 13-17

Throughout the Season on Lent, these Family Pages will consist of sharing the short story lesson that your child participated in, as well as the image that was used to convey the meaning of this day of preparation. Please hold on to all of the Lent summaries so that you can reflect on them again and again as we prepare for Easter and Jesus’ resurrection. 

“This is the 3^rd Sunday in the Season of Lent. Remember, Jesus was born as a little baby to his Mother Mary and Father Joseph. When he was a little boy, his parents lost him in the big city of Jerusalem, but they found him in the Temple, teaching. Today, we will talk about a time when Jesus was a grown up man. When he as about thirty years old, he went to the River Jordan, where his cousin, John, was baptizing people. 

Do you see John? You can see the back of his head. He was a wild man! Jesus waded into the river until he was face to face with John. He said, ‘Baptize me.’ John looked at Jesus as if for the first time. Now he saw who his cousin really was. ‘How can I baptize you? You are the Messiah, the one we have been waiting for. You must baptize me.’ 
‘No,’ said Jesus, ‘It is written that you will come before me and prepare the way. Baptize me.’ Jesus went down into the darkness and chaos of the water. When John lifted back into the light, a dove came down from heaven and came close to him. A voice came from heaven that said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’ 

After Jesus was baptized, he went on across the River Jordan into the desert to learn more about what God planned for him to do.”