Palm Sunday Praise Jesus No Matter What The Crowd Does Overview Palm Sunday is a wonderful celebration! A giant parade in honor of a great King. However, have you ever stopped to consider where all of those worshippers were when Friday rolled around? Where were the 5,000 whom He d fed in the middle of nowhere? Today we re going to look at the story of Palm Sunday in light of the crowd on Good Friday. We want to help the children see that we have to be careful not to be afraid of or swayed by public opinion. We need to stand up for Jesus even when it s not the popular thing to do. INTRODUCTION The Wave THE WILDERNESS STORY Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11 & Matthew 27:11-26 RETELLING THE STORY Activity: Parade of Palms 3 Minutes Supplies for Today ACTIVITY Palm branches MEMORY VERSE Construc on Paper (op onal) Game: Reverse Simon Says Craft: Memory Verse: Luke 9:26 5- TAKING THE STORY HOME Clean Up and Prayer Forty Days in the Wilderness for Kids 45
Palm Sunday Praise Jesus No Matter What The Crowd Does INTRODUCTION The Wave 3 Minutes Ask the children to create a line all facing you (they can be sitting or standing). If you have palm branches, they could hold those. Take a few minutes and have the children create a wave by having the first child in the line either stand up and reach toward the ceiling (if seated) or stretch his arms over head (if standing). After they have the hang of it, you might have them add, Go, Jesus to their wave. The Teaching Moment: OK, let s all sit down. Was it fun cheering for Jesus and doing the wave? Who can tell me what today is? (allow for answers) It is Palm Sunday, and even though people in Jesus time probably didn t do the wave, they did yell for Him and praise Him as He came into Jerusalem. Let s read all about it. THE WILDERNESS STORY Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11 & Matthew 27:11-26 Today we re going to start by reading Matthew 21:1-11. (help the children find this scripture in a Bible and give children who d like to read an opportunity to share this story.) That was the story of the very first Palm Sunday! How exciting that would have been to watch that parade! How would you have felt to have been able to see Jesus ride into town like that? (allow for answers) Have you ever been to a parade with a lot of people watching? (allow for answers) How big do you think the crowd was for Jesus parade? (allow for answers) The Bible says it was a very large crowd. It tells us that they went in front of Jesus and walked behind Him. They cheered for Him all along the way! That was on Sunday, but who knows what happened on Friday? (allow for answers) Let s see what the Bible says. (Help the children find and read Matthew 27:11-26) Only four days after they had a big parade for Jesus, the soldiers arrested Him. And then on Friday, all of this happened. The priests didn t really like Jesus because He wanted them to follow God instead of wanting powers. So what does the Bible say the priests talked the crowds into doing? (allow for answers) What did they yell? (allow for answers) The crowds yelled, Crucify Him. They just kept yelling, Crucify Him. Why do you think they yelled that? (allow for answers) Where do you think the crowds were that yelled praises to Jesus on Sunday? (allow for answers) We don t know for sure why the people yelled, Crucify Him. Maybe the priests paid them or bullied them. We also don t know why the crowds who praised Jesus on Sunday didn t come and help Him on Friday. Maybe some of them switched over to the priests side or perhaps they were too afraid. Have you ever done something you didn t really want to because you were bullied or afraid of what other people would think? (allow for answers) Everybody does that sometimes, but it s important that we always remember to praise Jesus. Even when other people don t like Him, and even when others make fun of you or tell you to turn your back on Jesus, we always have to stay true to Jesus, we have to remember to always praise Him! Forty Days in the Wilderness for Kids 46
RETELLING THE STORY Activity: Parade of Palms Supplies: Palm branches and (optionally) a recording of a fast paced Praise Song such as Hosanna by Carl Tuttle or Praise is Rising by Paul Baloche Play the song softly (if available). Encourage the children to march around the room waving their palms and shouting Praise Jesus, Jesus is King, and other words of praise to Jesus. The Teaching Moment: It is fun to parade around and shout and wave our palms for Jesus. What do you think you would do if someone came to you and tried to convince you to never praise Jesus again? (allow for answers) No matter what someone tried to show us or give us, it s important to remember to always praise Jesus. Game: Reverse Simon Says 10-1 Have the children line up facing you. The rules for this new version of Simon Says are these: 1. Simon will always say Simon says before every command 2. If Simon uses his hand to do the command, then the crowd should use their legs and vice versa. The real goal is to move in a totally unique way with every command. Encourage the children to not match anyone in their move. They can hop, jump, shake, lift the leg or hand, etc. 3. Anyone in the crowd who succeeds in not following Simon, plus matches no one else in the crowd for three commands in a row gets to be the next Simon. 4. Play continues as long as time allows. The Teaching Moment: Today we played Simon Says a little different than usual. How do we usually play the game? (allow for answers) Usually we do exactly what Simon Says, but today we wanted to be reminded that it s not always good to do things just because everyone else does. What happened when the crowd did exactly what the priests told them to when Jesus was arrested? (allow for answers) When all of the crowds shouted Crucify Him, they hung Jesus on a cross. We don t know where the crowd from Palm Sunday was, but they didn t stand up for Jesus. It s important that we remember to praise Jesus even when everyone has turned their back on Him. Craft: Words of Praise Collage Supplies: Construction paper and/or card stock, glue, scissors, crayons, markers, foam or sticker letters and the sheet from the back of this lesson. You could also optionally visit www.morguefile.com and download photos of people praising for the children to include on their collage. Give each child a piece of construction paper or card stock and a copy of the sheet from the back of this lesson. Tell them they can either trace the words from the sheet onto construction paper or color them, cut them out and glue them on, write the words themselves or use sticky/foam letters to create the words. They can make the words look like a crossword puzzle, have them overlap a bit and put them any way they like. Give them permission to use other words of praise you or they might come up with. Forty Days in the Wilderness for Kids 47
The Teaching Moment: It s important that we always remember to praise Jesus. We want to always be like the crowd from Palm Sunday and never like the crowd from Good Friday. On days when you don t feel much like praising, you can use this sheet to remind you of words you can use to praise Jesus. Memory Verse: Luke 9:26 Supplies: (optional) Construction Paper and markers 5- Whoever is ashamed of Jesus and His Words, Jesus will be ashamed of him when he stands in front of God Luke 9:26 Repeat the first line of this verse three or four words at a time and have the children repeat several times, then talk about it: 1. What are Jesus Words? (everything in the Bible) 2. What does it mean to be ashamed of Jesus and His words? (if you are embarrassed to tell someone you go to church or you act like you don t know Jesus) 3. Have you ever pretended you didn t know someone because you were afraid what others would think, or has anyone ever pretended they didn t know you? (no wrong answers) That s how Jesus feels when we act like we don t know Him or His Words. He feels like we are ashamed of Him. Have the children repeat the second line of the verse a few words at a time. Go over it several times, then discuss: 1. What do you think it means that Jesus will be ashamed of us when we stand before God? (Just like we act like we don t know someone when we are ashamed of them, Jesus will act like He doesn t know us.) 2. Do you want Jesus to be ashamed of you? (no wrong answers) What will you do about it? (make sure we never act ashamed of Jesus like the people on Good Friday) You might give each child a one inch strip of construction paper to write, I am Not Ashamed of Jesus and put it on as a bracelet. The Teaching Moment: Sometimes when others are making fun of Jesus or church, it s hard to stand up for Jesus, but by remembering this verse and the Palm Sunday story, we can remember that we should never follow the crowd and always praise Jesus. Forty Days in the Wilderness for Kids 48
TAKING THE STORY HOME Clean Up and Prayer As you close today, encourage the children to clean up their mess and push in their chairs. Gather them in a circle, have them hold hands and lead them in prayer. Since we talked about praising God today, take some time in your prayer to allow each child to share a word or a phrase of praise. Tell the kids: Today, I m going to give you a chance to praise God in our prayer. I ll start the prayer and then we ll go around. I ll squeeze the hand of the person next to me. You can say one word of praise to God or a short sentence. When you re done, squeeze the hand of the person next to you. If you don t want to say anything, when your hand is squeezed, just squeeze the hand of the person next to you. So now, let s pray. Dear Jesus, Today we praise you for being so wonderful. We don t ever want to act like we are ashamed of you! We want to praise you even when others aren t praising you. So, hear our words of praise today. (Squeeze the hand of the child next to you after all the children have shared continue) Jesus, as we get ready to celebrate Good Friday and Easter this week, we praise you. We thank you for dying on the cross for us. Help us share your love with everyone we meet. Bless each of these children and their families. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. Forty Days in the Wilderness for Kids 49