PALM SUNDAY

Today we’ll learn about a time a crowd of people praised Jesus and treated him like a king. We’ll see that Jesus is the King—even if he wasn’t what they were expecting a king to be like. In our Bible story, the crowd gave Jesus a parade.
 

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SUNDAY SCHOOL WORSHIP

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Today we’re learning about the time Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. People praised Jesus because they realized that Jesus is the King!
          • Close your eyes and imagine the scene of Jesus riding into Jerusalem. What do you see?
            • What do you hear?
Let’s watch a video where a couple of kids re-create the scene. We’ll see how they picture it.

How did this production compare to what you pictured?
           
​There probably weren’t rubber chickens on Palm Sunday. And I’m pretty sure a giant dog…er…colt…didn’t try to eat Jesus! But people did praise Jesus and put their coats on the road to treat him like a king. And we can do the same because Jesus is the King!

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BIBLE LESSON

Today we’ll learn that Jesus is the King. Let’s think about what kings are like.
            • How do you picture a king?
            • If a king was going to be in a parade right near your house, what would you do?
            • Think about famous people you’ve seen on TV or in real life, like the president or movie stars. How have you seen them travel?
             The president travels in a long line of fancy cars called limousines, with people all around protecting him. Movie stars often show up to fancy events in limousines, and then they walk on a special red carpet.
            Jesus is the King, but he didn’t travel like that. He walked from one place to another, and his feet probably got dirty with no red carpet to walk on. But in today’s Bible story, we’ll see a time Jesus was treated just like the King he really is.
 
Travel in Style
     Let’s draw a fancy way for Jesus to travel. Which one of these ways do you think would be best for Jesus? Or do you have a different idea? Draw your favorite idea for how Jesus should travel.

• limousine
• bicycle
• chariot
• airplane
• wagon
• yacht

 
            Allow time for everyone to draw and have them hold up your pictures.
        Great pictures! Of course, a lot of these kinds of transportation didn’t exist yet when Jesus was alive. But there was a specific way Jesus wanted to travel.

Luke 19:28-31  Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples. As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

There’s a very specific reason Jesus wanted to travel on a baby donkey. You see, way back before Jesus lived on earth, God had given a prophet a special message about who Jesus would be. 
Zechariah 9:9  Rejoice, O people of Zion!
    Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem!
Look, your king is coming to you.
    He is righteous and victorious,
yet he is humble, riding on a donkey--
    riding on a donkey’s colt. 
When Jesus told his disciples to find him a young donkey to ride on, he was showing that Jesus is the King God had told people about a long time ago! ​

Colour a donkey picture, and read Luke 19:32-34.
So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said. And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?”
And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs it.”

​Have a Parade
            Read Luke 19:35-36. Have children lay a path of clothing in front of the donkey picture.
So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.
As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him.

            Read Mark 11:8. Have everyone draw or colour leaves and spread their leaf pictures on the floor to continue a path all the way across the room.

Mark 11:8  Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields.

With this nice path for Jesus in place, people started cheering for Jesus! It was like a parade where Jesus was the star because Jesus is the King!

          Luke 19:37-38  When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.
    “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
             Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”

         We’ve heard what the people shouted to praise Jesus. And we’ve heard they praised him for the miracles they’d seen him do.
            What about you? Jesus is the King today, just as he was back then. What words would you use to praise Jesus if he were riding by today? What wonderful things has he done that you’d praise him for? Let’s praise Jesus now! On the count of three, everyone start cheering for Jesus and praising him. As you do, move your donkey picture down the path. Ready? 1, 2, 3!


           What an awesome way to praise Jesus, the King! But not everyone wanted to praise Jesus. Not everyone thought he should be called the King!

 Luke 19:39  But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!”
 
Make Stones Cry Out
          Jesus had a great response to those Pharisees.
 Luke 19:40  He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”

           What would it look like for a stone to praise Jesus?
           We’re going to make some stones to praise Jesus. First, draw the outline of a stone on a piece of paper. Allow time. Now, in your stone, write or draw a picture that helps praise Jesus for who he is. You might write “King,” “loving,” or “amazing.” 
            Have family members stand along the side of the path, holding their stones with their arms out. Then do a “wave” of praise. Family members will take turns lifting their arms and shouting out the words on their rocks, just like doing a wave at a sporting event (but with shouting). Do the wave back and forth a few times.
          Jesus is the King. He deserves our praise! And if people didn’t praise Jesus, he’s so worthy of praise that the rocks would! But we don’t need to let rocks praise Jesus because we can always praise him for being our King!

Let's praise Jesus with another song!

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PRAYER

King Jesus, thank you that you are our King! We praise you because you deserve it! You’re the King of the world; please be the King of our lives. In your name we pray, amen.

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