Joseph and the Angel is from Matthew 1:18-25. In Luke’s Gospel we hear about the Angel visiting Mary and in Matthew’s Gospel we find out how Joseph knew that the baby was from God. In this story we have the special name – Immanuel, a name that only appears a couple of times in the Bible, here in Matthew and Isaiah 7:14. Matthew is telling us that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise.
We also read that Joseph is to name the baby Jesus.
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
Matthew 1: 21
In Luke’s account we read that Mary has also been told to name the child Jesus.
..you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
Luke 1: 31b-33
To tell the story – if you are tellling a series of Christmas stories you will probably want to focus on the message the angel gave to Joseph.
In the story bag – Joseph doll or puppet, some carpenters tools, Mary puppet, an angel,
Actions to include – sleeping!
Joseph and the Angel story
Mary (take her from the story bag) knew that she was going to have a very special baby. An angel had been sent from God to tell her!
But someone was very sad that she was having a baby. He didn’t really understand. He didn’t really know what to do. His name is Joseph. Are you ready to say hello to Joseph – ‘Hello Joseph’ (take him out of the story bag)
Joseph was all ready to marry Mary but then he found out she was having a baby. He wasn’t the father. He didn’t know what had happened but he decided that he couldn’t marry Mary. He was sad. Oh dear!
Joseph was a carpenter – he spent the day making things with wood, hammering, sawing.. and then he went home and went to bed. Soon he was fast asleep. (Pretend to be sleeping)
Now that was when something extraordinary happened. An angel appeared in his dream (this isn’t something that happens when you or I go to sleep). But it happened to Joseph. The angel had a really important message from God.
‘Joseph, you can marry Mary. Her baby is sent from God. He will be Immanuel, which means God with us. He is the one that God promised to send. When he is born you must name him Jesus because he is the Saviour’.
The next morning Joseph woke up. He got up. What was he going to do? He did what God had told him to do. He believed that this baby was God with us, the one who is the only Saviour. He married Mary and he cared for her.
You could finish with a question for the adults – ‘who do you believe Jesus is?’
angel craft
Make a rocking angel.
All you need
- Paper plate folded in half
- Circles for faces
- Wool for hair
- Shiny paper to decorate
- Paper doilies cut into 1/8’s (depending on size). They just need to be a right fit for wings.
- Glue
- Crayons to decorate faces of angels
Here’s a link to the Bible story – The Angel visits Mary
