Blessed is the One

DOWNLOAD 'Depths of Love' Small Group Resources (PDF)

Fellowship – Snacks or a Meal (10 minutes with snacks; longer, obviously, if there is a meal).

Gathering Time (5-10 minutes). In pairs or groups of three, have participants think of examples of when someone was extremely popular and then folks turned against them. (A winning football quarterback who throws an interception causing his team to lose to their biggest rival; an international soccer star who goes into a slump, can’t seem to score a goal, and starts getting death threats; a male pop singer who starts regularly dating a woman and then the woman starts getting death threats, etc.)

Group Dialogue (Approximately 30 minutes). Read Mark 11:1-11.

• Today’s passage is rich in connections to the Old Testament. In Mark 11:1-2, as Jesus and his disciples are approaching Jerusalem, Jesus instructs a couple of them to go ahead and find a colt that has never been ridden and bring it back to him. Look back at the prophetic Old Testament book of Zechariah 9:9. How does this passage relate to what is going on in Mark 11?
• Mark 11:8 indicates many people threw their cloaks on the road for Jesus (riding on the colt) to pass over. Check out 2 Kings 9:13. According to this passage, throwing cloaks and palm branches on the road is a traditional way to welcome a new king. Do you think the Palm Sunday crowd was welcoming Jesus as a king? If so, what do you imagine were their expectations for their new king?
• According to Mark 11:9-10, those following Jesus into Jerusalem are shouting, “Hosanna” – a Hebrew word that means “save us.” Why might the people have been shouting “save us” to Jesus? Do you think they wanted to be saved from their sins or saved from the Roman oppression they were living under?
• If you are familiar with the story of Jesus, you know that while “Holy Week” starts with the crowd in Jerusalem welcoming Jesus as a king, it ends with Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. Do you think the people who shouted “Hosanna” to Jesus early in the week were the same people who were shouting, “Crucify him,” later in the week? If so, what caused them to change their feelings about Jesus? Or do you think these crowds might have been made up of different people? Why might different groups of people have had such different reactions to him? How has your understanding of and relationship with Jesus changed over time?
• How does our church help people grow in their understanding of and relationship to Jesus? Are there new approaches we might take to help people grow in their understanding of and relationship with Jesus?

Prayer (10 minutes). Share prayer requests and respond appropriately.

Sending Forth (2 minutes). End with the following prayer, a similar prayer, or the Lord’s Prayer:

Lord Jesus, may we welcome you anew as king of our lives. May we continue to grow in our understanding of and commitment to you. When following you gets difficult, give us the strength to stay the course.

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Rev. Alecia Curtis Glaize is a United Methodist minister specializing in Christian education. She was educated at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama, and Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, California. She currently serves as Interim Director of Field Education at Claremont School of Theology and is a volunteer adult Bible study teacher at her church.