Mark 11:1-11, NIRV

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

11 As they all approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent out two of his disciples.b²He said to them, “Go to the village ahead of you. Just as you enter it, you will find a donkey’s colt tied there. No one has ever ridden it. Untie it and bring it here.b³Someone may ask you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ If so, say, ‘The Lord needs it. But he will send it back here soon.’ ”

⁴So they left. They found a colt out in the street. It was tied at a doorway. They untied it.b⁵Some people standing there asked, “What are you doing? Why are you untying that colt?”b⁶They answered as Jesus had told them to. So the people let them go. ⁷They brought the colt to Jesus. They threw their coats over it. Then he sat on it. ⁸Many people spread their coats on the road. Others spread branches they had cut in the fields. ⁹Those in front and those in back shouted,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Psalm 118:25,26)

¹⁰“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

¹¹Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courtyard. He looked around at everything. But it was already late. So he went out to Bethany with the 12 disciples.

Objects:

Easter basket, plastic egg large enough to hold a Monopoly game piece of a house.

Message:

Have you ever seen someone famous come to visit your town? Have you ever seen an award show on television, as all the celebrities enter the building? (Allow children to respond.) When someone very important comes to visit, people may show respect by rolling out a red carpet for the famous person to walk on.

Today is Palm Sunday. On this day, Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey. When Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem, he came through the Golden Gate, which is also called the Lord’s Gate. This is important because Jewish culture stated that the Messiah would enter the city of Jerusalem through this gate. The Messiah is the expected king of the Jewish people. The Jewish people honored Jesus by spreading clothes and leafy branches on the road. They welcomed him and sang praises to God. They shouted “Hosanna!,” which means “save us!” They were rejoicing because they believed that God had sent Jesus to help them. They believed Jesus was the king for whom they had been waiting.

Remember each week during Lent, I have with me this large Easter basket. So far, there are six eggs inside. Today, we will place our last egg in the basket. Let’s look and remember all the objects in the eggs.

(Open them one at a time to reveal the following:)

Tealight candle.
Glow bracelet.
Goldfish crackers.
Small pair of socks.
Video game cartridge
Thermometer

In church each year on the Sunday before Easter, which we call Palm Sunday, we remember how the people honored Jesus by waving palm branches and shouting with praise near the Golden Gate, as Jesus arrived. They were singing Psalm 118: “This is the Lord’s gate.’ It is a time to be glad, for God’s servant has come!”

Each week during Lent, I have brought with me a plastic Easter egg with something inside to help us remember our Bible lesson throughout the week. Let’s see what is in this last egg today. (Create some excitement as you open the plastic egg.)

Inside this egg is a game piece in the shape of a house. The house represents our own home. There are two reasons that there is a game piece in the shape of a home in this egg.

The first reason is to encourage you and your family to use the 2024 Holy Week House Party activity devotional. Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week. The Holy Week House Party is created for families to have conversations around the events that led up to Easter morning. Take this opportunity to share the stories of Holy Week and Easter with your family and grow together in your faith. This game piece of a home will remind you of a Holy Week House Party.

Second, today when you get home, go to the “gate” of your home (the door) and lay down a palm branch if you have one; then say this prayer: “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” Today is a day for all of us to rejoice because we believe, like those at the Golden Gate, that God sent Jesus to help us. We believe Jesus is the king for whom we have been waiting!

Today is that day! Let’s shout “Hosanna” and wave our branches!

Prayer:

Hosanna, King Jesus! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! I praise God for you! Help me always to welcome and honor you. Help me to always greet you and welcome you at the gate of my home. Amen.