One of my original aims in creating this advent calendar was to help show children the relevance of Christmas to the wider Gospel narrative, and to our lives today. I always therefore intended to end with Pentecost, as a way of saying, “it’s over to you now.”

Imagine you're Mary Magdalene, walking to the tomb of her closest friend on the first day of the week. You're accompanied by Mary the mother of James, who also saw this place where Jesus's body was lain, and Salome, who witnessed Jesus dying on the cross. You've brought spices with you, to anoint his body, because there was no time to do so when his body was placed in the tomb.

It was tricky to know how to portray Jesus's Crucifixion on one of my stockings. It's such a monumental scene I just don't think I could have done it justice. I opted therefore to show the moment Jesus's body was carried away to be buried. You can of course use the templates to portray this scene however you would like, according to what you read in the Bible.

The scene portrayed in John 13:1-30 always invokes a sense of wonder in me. Jesus, God himself, the King of kings, kneels down to wash the grimy feet of his disciples, including the one who is about to betray him. It is almost impossible for me to fathom such humility from the one through whom the world was made. On the very night when his suffering is about to begin, Jesus does not demand worship or praise, but stoops to serve.

Jesus presents himself as God's true king, riding on a colt, signalling humility, not military might. Some in the crowd may have rejoiced to see Jesus coming as their Messiah, the one who would liberate them from their sins. A great many of the crowd however thought and hoped Jesus would be the one to liberate Israel from the grasp of Rome. Others may have just been caught up in the excitement!

Can you imagine worshipping someone so deeply that you would give up your most expensive possession, and do so in a way that risks public shame? That is precisely what Mary does in John 12:1-8. She takes a pound of costly ointment, pours it on Jesus’s feet, and wipes them with her hair - an act of extraordinary humility and devotion.

In my opinion, John 11:1-44 is one of the passages where we see most clearly the dual fully-God and fully-man nature of Christ. We see his humanity in his earthly relationships and his genuine friendships. Martha and Mary knew they could rely on Jesus, and so they sent for him when Lazarus became unwell. Scripture tells us, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." Jesus did not just minister to people; he lived among them, shared life with them, and truly loved them.

Oh, what generosity and grace from God we see in Luke 9:10–17. First, we’re told that Jesus welcomed the crowds. He didn’t view them as an interruption or an inconvenience, but as people to be taught, loved, and healed.

I had a lot of fun designing this stocking, and it makes a wonderful hands-on lesson for Sunday school too. I’ve even used an old cardboard box to create the house, with play figurines for the characters, and let the children lift off the “roof tiles” so they can lower the paralysed man down to Jesus.

Imagine you're at work, doing the same old thing you do every day, trying to make a living to support your family, when a stranger who you've kind of seen around the place and heard a little bit about, comes up to you and says to you, "Follow me, and I will make you become [insert your occupation here] of men."