Leader Notes Luke 19:38 - Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Matthew 21:9 - Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Psalm 24:9-10 - Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.
All four Gospels record the Palm Sunday account, which tells us something of its importance. We find here a fulfillment of two Old Testament prophesies: Psalm 24:7-10 and Zechariah 9:9.
Jesus went to Jerusalem knowing that there He would have to pay for the sins of the world – a punishment that made physical crucifixion seem easy.
When the Jews received Jesus as their king, they shouted the word, "Hosanna!" This word means "Save now." The people saw Jesus as a Savior, but most of them thought of Him as some sort of earthly savior – a "bread king." When they shouted "Hosanna," they might well have been thinking of Jesus as a king that would deliver them from Roman oppression.
Palm Sunday can be seen as the day on which the Jews picked Jesus to be their king. This happened on the 10th of Nisan. It is no mere coincidence that this was the day on which the Jews annually selected their Passover lamb, which was then sacrificed five days later (after sunset on Thursday and therefore technically regarded as Friday by the Jews). Jesus was the Passover Lamb of God, sacrificed on Good Friday for the sins of the world.
Dear Jesus, on Palm Sunday You demonstrated to me just what kind of Savior-King You are. Although as true God You possessed all the power of heaven and earth, You set aside the full use of that power and became my humble servant-Savior. Thank You for coming to earth to take away my sins. Because You humbled Yourself and willingly went to Jerusalem to die for my sins, now I never have to fear death or hell. Please give me the same kind of humble, loving spirit that You had while on earth. I look forward to the day when You return again with all Your divine power clearly seen by all. Please keep me safe until that day, and please come quickly. Amen.
Bible Story Mark 11:1-11 Palm Sunday
Read from your Bible. Ask students to find it in a Bible too. Those that can read can follow along. Choose the passages you would like to read aloud. Use visuals to help tell the story.
Jesus and the disciples drew near to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, when He came near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her on which no one has ever sat. Loose them and bring them here. And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing them?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of them’ and immediately he will send them here.”
All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, the colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
So those who were sent departed and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, just as He had said to them. But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?”
And they said, “The Lord has need of him.” And they let them go.
Then they brought them to Jesus. And they threw their own garments on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as He went, a very great multitude came out to meet Him, spread their garments on the road; others cut down leafy branches from the palm trees and spread them on the road.
Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude came out to meet him, spread their garments on the road; others cut down leafy branches from the palm trees and spread them on the road.
Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! The King of Israel! Hosanna in the highest!”
And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher rebuke Your disciples.” But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”
And Jesus went into the temple. So when He had looked around at all the things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Review Questions 1. What did Jesus tell two of His disciples to do? (Go to a village and get a colt.) 2. What did the people lay down in Jesus’ path? (coats and palm branches) 3. What did the people shout as Jesus passed by? (“Hosanna! Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”) 4. Did the people understand that Jesus was going to die on a cross? (No.)
God’s Word In My Heart Read this passage from your Bible. Ask students to locate it in a Bible too. Help them learn this verse. Luke 19:38 - Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!
Matthew 21:9 - Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Psalm 24:9-10 - Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.
Discussion Time It is easy to praise God when we are at Bible study or church. Everyone else is doing it, so we feel comfortable. But it isn’t as easy to praise God when we are at school or around people who aren’t living for Christ. But that is when we need to be an example to those around us. We don’t need to follow the crowd and forget about God.
What are some ways you can praise God when you’re not in church? Maybe you could start a prayer group with your friends. Or you could listen to Christian music and encourage those around you to listen, too. There are lots of ways you can lift up Christ throughout the week—not just when you’re at church.
We can be a leader of the crowd and help others to follow Christ. That is what God wants us to do!
Conveyor Coat Covering This crazy game will help play out part of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
You'll need: Old Shirts (1 per student) Please share supplies for this game – supplies will be in the hallway on a cart OR bring old shirts from home to play the game
Play: Choose one child to be the donkey. The donkey will walk on all fours. The rest of your class will use the shirts to lay in front of the donkey. Once the donkey has walked over your shirt, you should pick up your shirt and rush to put it back in front of the donkey.
Donkey – if the class can’t get shirts in front of you fast enough, you should sit down and start braying.
Frequently switch donkeys.
After the game: 1. Was it easy or hard to keep shirts in front of the donkey? 2. Do you think it was easy for the people to give Jesus a parade? 3. How much effort do you think we should put into worshiping Jesus?
Jesus is God’s son. He is amazing. He loves us and wants to be our friend. We can let Jesus know how much we love him by giving him our attention and praise during worship. We can be happy to worship Jesus even when it takes energy!
Relay Race 1. Before class print out leaf shapes onto green paper and cut them out. Make a set of leaves for every four to five children. 2. In class break your children up into teams and give the first person in line a set of leaves that are arranged in random order. 3. Write the verse on a board so that all the teams can see it. Tell your children that they will pretend to be donkeys and that they can only move by stepping on the leaves. 4. The first person in line must set the leaves on the floor in order of the verse and use them as stepping stones. 5. The rest of the children follow the leader. When the leader steps forward on the newly placed leaves the children behind him can step on the leaves the leader left behind. 6. When the leader gets to the other side of the room he continues the path with a U-turn that leads back to the start line. 7. The first team to get all the children on the other side of the room and back wins. If one set of leaves does not reach all the way to the other side and back, the child at the end of the line must pick up the leaves off the floor and pass the leaves back up the line to the leader. The leader can then place those leaves on the floor and continue the path. 8. When the whole team reaches the starting line they must then say the verse together to win. Tell your children to sit down and then ask them how they think Jesus might have felt on that day and then how the people might have felt.
Closing Activity
Blessing:May God, who is all around you, Beginning at the bottom of the circle, slowly pour his love upon you.make a large circle with your hands. Finish by bringing your hands down and wiggling the fingers to resemble rain.) And Jesus, his life a sacrifice,Slowly make a large sign of the cross. Then walk right there beside you.move your hands out to the sides. And may God’s Holy Spirit, Cross your hands over the heart. the one who lives inside you, keep you strong, Move to a “strong man” position. Then comfort, lead and guide you!cross your arms with the hands on corresponding upper arms to communicate comfort. Bring one hand forward with “lead” and the other with “guide” to complete the blessing.)
