Remember The Jesse tree

This is used in Advent as a way of preparing for Christmas On the tree are symbols of the ancestors of Jesus. These people were mainly prophets A prophet is someone who sees the problems in the world around them. They recognise that people are behaving in the wrong way and try to tell people how God wants them to behave Most importantly prophets don’t just speak they show people how to behave by doing the right thing themselves One of the prophets we talk about is Isaiah

Isaiah Isaiah was a prophet who lived over 700 years before Jesus was born He saw that people around him didn’t live in the right way They might go to the temple, they might seem to say prayers but they never tried to help the poor or those in trouble

Isaiah told people that wasn’t what God wanted and tried to show them what they should do He also told them that when the Messiah came he would be on the side of the poor The people had Isaiah killed because they didn’t want to change

In Advent many of the readings in church are from the Prophet Isaiah. With a partner from the Bible look up Isaiah Ch2 v1-5. This is often read in Church. Isaiah describes the kind of world that would come about when everybody followed the Messiah.

Who do you think is the Messiah Who do you think is the Messiah? (The word by the way means anointed one ) What is this world Isaiah describes like? How does everyone in this world try to behave? Is it a good place to be? Give some reasons for your thoughts. Imagine Isaiah looking at the world today what do you think he would say or feel? Why?

Another prophet on the Jesse tree One of the last prophets to go on the tree is John the Baptist. He lived many years after Isaiah He was the cousin of Jesus born just before Jesus. Because of the things John said and did in his life his story is not just recorded in the Bible but in the books of writers who wrote at or about the time he lived. Like Isaiah John upset a lot of people.

John the Baptist What do you know about him? The pictures give some clues. Honey

John was Jewish. There is one person in these scene you might not have expected to see. Who is it and why?