A Review of Unwrapping the Greatest Gift
A Review of Unwrapping the Greatest Gift: A Family Celebration of Christmas
by Ann Voskamp. Illustrations by Jacqueline I Nunez; Paula Doherty, and Martina Peluso. Published by Tyndale House, 2014
Review by Cynthia S. Fischer
The Jesse Tree has become a popular way to celebrate family advent. The name originated from Isaiah 11:1: “A shoot shall come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” The shoot and the branch refer to God’s promise to one day send a Savior to the world. This Savior would become a great-great-great and many more greats, grandson of Jesse, the father of King David.
This tradition began in Medieval Europe where churches illustrated the story of God’s gift of a Savior from the beginning of Scripture. The Chartes Cathedral in France boasts stained windows depicting the Jesse tree. Jesse appears at the bottom, lying down, with a tree growing vertically from him to others in Jesus’ lineage. Infant Jesus and his mother, Mary, are at the top of the tree. This rendition appears in Medieval paintings, weavings, and carvings as well.
Voskamp’s book traces God’s story of Creation, Rebellion, the Incarnation, and Christ’s resurrection. She writes the daily stories in ways similar to Sally Lloyd-Jones, the author of The Jesus Storybook Bible, in which she weaves in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection from the very beginning of her book. For example, she hints at Jesus’ crucifixion in the story of the Fall. “At one wooden tree in the Garden of Eden, we fell for the lie that God didn’t love us . . . . At one wooden cross at the Garden of Gethsamane, God found us ….” In the same text, she writes that the very first question God asked the man when he was hiding after eating the forbidden fruit was “Where are You?” The very first question in the New Testament was the wise men asking “Where is He?”
The author’s metaphors link the acts of God in the Old Testament to those in the New Testament and cause us to reflect on the “old, old story” in new and powerful ways. For children who are familiar with the scope of Scripture, who know God’s stories well, this is a beautiful way to connect God’s acts throughout biblical history.
However, this has an important drawback. The first hearers of the Old Testament did not know Jesus. They knew of a promised Savior and they knew of God’s covenant promise of redemption from sin. But it would be 2,000 years before they learned that the final atonement for all sin would be made by the shedding of blood by God’s only Son, Jesus Christ who lived on earth as one of us. You may ask, “Why would that matter to us? We already know Jesus came and he was the Messiah.” That’s true. But in many ways, we can overlook the longing and the challenge of Old Testament characters hoping against hope that God’s promise would be fulfilled when, for example, the Israelites are wandering in the desert or exiled in Babylon. To get in the “skin” of these people, to see a bit more clearly why they rebelled or lacked faith, it is beneficial to suspend what we know of what happens next. Otherwise, it’s easy to negate the emotions and the behavior of the characters because we know that in the end Jesus does come and fulfills God’s Words.
Today families use the Jesse Tree as an Advent Calendar with corresponding ornaments reflecting each day’s story. Families can create ornaments for their Jesse tree. These may be less attractive, but by hand making them, children can more deeply experience the story and it allows time for reflection as parents and children work together. You can hang them anywhere such as your refrigerator, mantel, or your Christmas tree. If that’s more than you want to tackle, there are also templates for decorating the ornaments, and you can purchase ornaments themselves on the internet and Etsy. Each lesson concludes with discussion questions and prompts for family activities.
This resource can be used year after year for family advent and could easily become a tradition in your home.
For older children, I suggest you end the reading with some wondering questions that are easy to create from almost any story in the book. I wonder why Jesus is called the Son-King? I wonder why He is called the Rescuer? I wonder what part you liked the best in today’s story?
By simplifying some of the stories, the book is highly appealing for young children. It holds deep meaning for upper elementary and middle school children and most anyone who wants a fresh way to walk expectantly through Advent.
