For several years now our family has been enjoying a special tradition to help us count down the days until Christmas. It is a Jesse Tree Tradition in which we hang an ornament every day in December. Each one represents a scripture pointing to the birth of Christ. Each evening for 25 days read a Bible passage in our family devotions and unwrap a corresponding ornament, following the journey that leads from Creation of the World to the Babe born in Bethlehem. Many people display their ornaments on a separate tree or branch of some type. Our family has a pine garland draped over a door in the main walkway of our home where we see the ornaments throughout the day, reinforcing the lessons learned.
Our Jesse Tree Ornaments are very special. They are a collection of handmade ornaments I received when participating in an ornament exchange. 25 friends each made 25 of one particular ornament. We all sent our ornaments to the coordinator, who put together a full set of all 25 ornaments for each one of us. As my family studies together, remember our Savior and learning His Story, we also remember sweet and talented friends who blessed us in years gone by.
Throughout the month of December I’ll be sharing with you each week our ornaments and the daily devotional that goes along with each. Maybe you’d like to follow along, maybe you’d like to create a set of our own. In any case, I hope you enjoy as my family shares this Christmas tradition with you.
Day 1: The Light in Creation
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
John 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Day 2: The First Sin
Genesis 3:1-10 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
Isaiah 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Day 3: Inside the Ark
Genesis 6:5-8 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Genesis 7:17-23 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.
Genesis 9:16 “The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Day 4: A Call to Abram
Genesis 12:1-7 Now the Lord had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh.And the Canaanites were then in the land.
Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Day 5: Isaac and the Lamb
Genesis 22:1-13 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”
And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
John 1:29b “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”
Day 6: Jacob’s Ladder
Genesis 28:10-17 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors
Genesis 37:3-36 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”
And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”
So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.”
So he said to him, “Here I am.”
Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.
Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”
So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”
And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”
But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.
So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes. And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?”
So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”
And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.
Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
Genesis 50:18-21 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”
Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
You might also like to see: Jesse Tree Tradition Week 2; Jesse Tree Tradition Week 3; Jesse Tree Tradition Week 4
We’ll be sharing Family Traditions of all types throughout the month of December. Click on the image above to see other posts on this topic.
Shannon says
We have a Jesse Tree, too. It’s one of my favorite traditions! Reading the Scripture passages each evening is such a great way to prepare our hearts for Christmas.
I love how you got your ornaments! I handmade all of ours (they’re pretty simple). How special that you can remember all of your friends as you hang the ornaments through the month.
Linda says
Thank you, Shannon, for admiring our tree! How special your handmade ornaments must be. They are always the children’s favorites, like personal friends with a story and relationship. It’s a wonderful tradition! How do you display yours? On a tree or a branch or some other way?
Judith at WholeHearted Home says
I love the Jesse Tree Advent study best of all that I have seen. We have been studying in church how to witness to someone starting in Genesis because without an understanding of Genesis, a person has little real understanding of why Jesus needed to come to earth. The verses from the Jesse Tree put in a nutshell all the key verses needed for this. Love it. Love the ornament exchange. Brilliant!! I just wish my children were still small so that I could do this with them.
Linda says
The Advent study sounds wonderful, Judith. You are so right, understanding Genesis helps us understand the Who and Why of Jesus. What a fantastic study to be doing with your church family.
Lisa says
Love this idea! I always wondered what a Jesse tree was.
Linda says
Hi Lisa 🙂 it seems I’ve been seeing a lot of Jesse Tree posts lately. It coincides nicely with Advent this year. When we did our ornament exchange it was a new idea to me, too. It has blessed our family ever since. I hope it blesses you as well. Merry Christmas!
Mary says
These are beautiful. Thank you for sharing this with the Collage Friday link up today. I’ve always wanted to do a Jesse Tree, and you are inspiring me. 🙂
Linda says
Thank you, Mary. I hope you get the chance to use and/or make a set for your family one day. Maybe next year? It’s exciting to see how much my children learn and remember from year to year. Thank you for hosting the link up every week. Merry Christmas!
Amanda says
I too have always wondered what a Jesse tree was. It sounds wonderful. I would love to do this with my youngest son and I want my step daughter to read this post. I think she may be very interested in starting this tradition with the grandbaby.
Linda says
Our Jesse Tree has become a special time with our children each December. A fun and meaningful way to get Bible Truths into their minds and hearts. It’s really a hands-on way of teaching Who Jesus is and Why He came to us. Good for all ages! And it doesn’t have to be fancy. When our daughter was overseas, I mailed a color-and-cut version to her so she could begin with her little ones. Christmas Blessings to you and your family!
Phyllis at All Things Beautiful says
I love your ornaments. I wish you could post about how you made them as I would like to make them, too.
Linda says
Thank you, Phyllis. And thank you for the suggestion for posting on the how-to. But the thing is, I only made a couple of them, the others were given to me by friends. I’ll keep it in mind, maybe have more details available before Christmas next year!
debra@ HOMESPUN says
This is really nice…we had an advent tree and calender for my boys, and that just repeated what occurred when i was young but I like this idea ! 🙂
Linda says
How nice that you could duplicate for your boys what you learned as a child. That’s what traditions are all about, whatever they are – passing who we are in different ways from one generation to another.
Sylvia says
What a great idea to celebrate our Savior’s birth! I absolutely love Joseph’s little coat!
Linda says
Thank you Sylvia! The little objects/ornaments make Christ’s story come to life. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Beth says
What a fun way to remember the real meaning of Christmas! Your tree is beautiful.
Thanks for linking up to TGIF! Have a GREAT weekend,
Beth =)
Linda says
thank you Beth, and Merry Christmas!