What did God say about Jesus?
John was baptizing people in the Jordan River, telling them to turn their lives around. Then Jesus came to be baptized too. John said, “I need to be baptized by you!” Jesus said, “Let it be so, for now.” As he came up out of the water, the Spirit came down like a dove, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love. With him I am well pleased.”
John was baptizing people in the Jordan River, telling them to turn their lives around. Then Jesus came to be baptized too. John said, “I need to be baptized by you!” Jesus said, “Let it be so, for now.” As he came up out of the water, the Spirit came down like a dove, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love. With him I am well pleased.”
About 5 minutes: 3 choices and 2 ways-of-knowing stops. Kids play someone in the crowd deciding whether to step into the river, John the Baptist, and a child on the bank who hears the voice. Jesus is a soft light, never a person. It’s the story churches read at Epiphany, and the one to play before a baptism.
Ages 4–9
Jesus said it was the right thing to do, without explaining much. You can say: he went into the water to stand with everyone else, not above them. From the start, he chose to be with people where they were. And God answered by saying out loud what was true: this is my Son.
Matthew 3:13–17, Mark 1:9–11, Luke 3:21–22 (John 1:29–34 has John’s account). John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, preaches repentance and baptizes crowds in the Jordan. Jesus asks to be baptized; John objects; Jesus says it is right “to fulfill all righteousness.” As he comes up, the heavens open, the Spirit descends like a dove, and a voice says, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:7–12, John’s sharp words to the Pharisees and Sadducees, is left out of our story. The event is remembered on the first Sunday after Epiphany in many churches.