Jesse Tree: God's Relationship with People from Adam to Jesus

The tradition of having a Jesse Tree is becoming more prominent amongst people I know. It is a unique "advent calendar" designed to help young children understand the significance of Jesus' birth. The name comes from Isaiah 11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, referring to the Messiah. Children who grow up in Christian families learn the story of Christmas at a young age. They know that Jesus is God's son come to earth as a baby. The older ones can even connect this story to the Easter story and realize that the miracle of the resurrection started with the birth. Not many children understand God's relationship with people for the the thousands of years before Jesus' birth. Recognizing man's sinful nature and the inability of humans to keep the covenant of the Law, helps children (and adults) come to a deeper understanding of this momentous occasion.

After reading the Torah (first five books of the Bible) in fifteen days as part of the reading the entire book is ninety days, I had a more complete picture of how the Old Testament and the New Testament told one united story. I wanted to share this with my children at their level. I also wanted to help them know and understand a few full Bible stories, rather than a cursory awareness of many. To this end, I planned weekly lessons starting with Creation and ending with Haggai. We focused on God's relationship with people through in depth studies of Creation, Adam and Eve, Abraham, Isaac and Rebekah, Moses, David, Hezekiah, and Haggai. In order to really understand these characters, we had to skip many of the big stories of the Old Testament. I was fine with this decision because the girls were already familiar with many of these stories, and we could study them in depth at a later time. Meriel and Eris truly seemed to gain a more profound understanding of God's character and how He reached out to man over the years. It was exciting to watch.

I came across the idea of the Jesse Tree through searching for ways to teach young children the Old Testament prophesies of Jesus' birth. I thought it would be a great way to reinforce the Bible lessons of the past months and emphasize God's plan of Jesus in the Old Testament. I found many different plans on the internet, including various stories and using different symbols for representation. I chose one that included the stories we had studied and others that resonated with me. We have changed some of the symbols to ones that were easier to make or the girls understood better. I had planned to get felt to make the ornaments and tree out of, but I couldn't find it here. Instead, I bought a few big pieces of foam, glue, glitter, and paperclips. I helped the girls cut ornaments out of foam; they colored and decorated them with glitter. Each day we attach a symbol to our foam tree with a paperclip. It's not fancy, but the girls are excited about the Jesse Tree every day. They are proud that they made the ornaments and enthusiastically announce who made which one. 

Each day we discuss a story. The girls are able to tell me the story and often times its significance related to Jesus. It is fun for me to hear how they remember these stories and are able to retell them. Sometimes they will even remember the Bible verse we memorized for the story! Hollis related Genesis 1:1 when we talked about Creation. Eris told the story of Abraham's Sacrifice of Isaac complete with the verse, "And in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed because you have obeyed My voice" and told me that this was talking about Jesus. I look forward to the remaining days of Advent and how Jesus is revealed to my children daily.