Rotation.org Writing Team

PALM SUNDAY

STORYTELLING

PASSAGES

Matthew 21:1-11
Mark 11:1-10
Luke 19:28-44
John 12:12-19

MEMORY VERSES

Mark 11:9 - “Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” [NRSV]

Psalm 118:26 - “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you from the house of the LORD.” [NRSV]

PURPOSE

The children will experience Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem through their senses. Themes will include praise by people and creation and also Old Testament prophecy. Follow-up discussion will focus on being witnesses.

Objective(s) for Rotation

Children will:

Older children will locate the stories in their Bibles; Younger students will learn that the story is in the New Testament in the Gospels.

Know that Jesus came to Jerusalem along with thousands of others to celebrate the Jewish Passover.

Learn that Palm Sunday remembers Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem just a few days before his arrest, trial, and crucifixion. This story begins the events of Holy Week.

Discover that Jesus’ entry on a donkey signified that he was a humble, peaceful Messiah, fulfilling Old Testament prophecy.

Understand the meaning of the word Hosanna; the people expected a king to save them. Yet the crowd misunderstood what sort of Messiah Jesus was.

Objectives for Storytelling Workshop

Children will:

Consider how creation can praise God.

Think about how they can be witnesses.

PREPARATION

Read the Bible Background.

Read and prayerfully consider all four Scripture accounts and Psalm 118.

Materials List

• Artwork of the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem
  
• Bibles
  
• CD player
  
• CD recording of “All Creatures of Our God and King” (the two suggested recordings have the traditional hymn arranged to a lively calypso/parade beat - you can preview them online at amazon.com and other websites):
  

  Passion Worship Band. Passion: Hymns Ancient and Modern. Six Step Records, 2004. ASIN: B0001BS3KW.
  David Crowder Band. Illuminate. Six Step Records, 2003. ASIN: B0000C3I9N.
  Cymbals - or substitute cookie tins or metal popcorn cans

  
  
• Food:
  

  flatbread or pita bread
  raisins or dried figs
  water

  
  
• Incense such as frankincense to represent what was burned in the Temple (Exodus 30:34)
  
• Incense holder
  
• Matches
  
• Napkins
  
• Paper, 8 ½” x 11” white
  
• Paper cups
  
• Pencils or pens
  
• Pictures of Herod’s Temple
  
• Pictures of Jerusalem
  
• Poster board
  

Advance Preparation Requirements

Write the memory verse(s) on poster board.

Create the journal pages for each child by printing the memory verse on 8 ½” by 11” paper, along with “Who?”, “What?”, and “Why?”

Find artwork of the “Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem” in books or teaching picture files, online and print them or download them for a PowerPoint presentation, or purchase posters. Internet sources for online artwork include http://textweek.com/art/art.htm and a source for posters could be http://www.allposters.com/.

Locate pictures of Herod’s Temple and Jerusalem in books or teaching picture files. An Internet search will provide plenty including http://www.biblestudy.org/biblepic/secdtemp.html and http://www.holylandnetwork.com/temple/model.htm.

Arrange the room with comfortable seating, either at tables, in chairs, or on rugs or pillows on the floor.

PRESENTATION

Open – Introduction

Open with prayer: “Spirit, fall on us today and open your Word to us. Amen.”

Ask the children: “Have you ever been so excited about something, you wanted to tell everyone?” [Maybe a vacation, a present, an award?]

What does it feel like to be so excited?

Whom do you tell and how do you tell them?

Today we want to relive the excitement of a day in Jerusalem almost 2000 years ago. I hope that you feel so excited today after our lesson that you will want to tell others about it!

We are exploring Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This event is celebrated as Palm Sunday. Does anyone know what “triumphal” means? [Celebrating a victory]

Let’s begin by reading our Scripture. We find this story included in all four Gospels. Today we will read Luke 19:28-40.

Distribute Bibles to the group or ask the children to take out their own Bibles. Show the children how to open the Bible in the middle and then open the second half in the middle again. They should have opened the Bible to one of the four Gospels. Help them turn forward or back to Luke. Ask for volunteers to read, or read to the class.

I wonder what victory is being celebrated by this triumphal entry?

Dig - Main Content

Read the following script, adjusting to reflect local experiences, customs, and environment.

Today we will travel in our imaginations to Jerusalem on the day we just read about – the day Jesus makes his triumphal entry into the city. So sit comfortably and listen, feel, smell, taste, and see the events unfold on the day we call Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week. Pretend you and your family live in Jerusalem ...

Guided Meditation Script

We have heard there is a teacher coming into town today. But he is more than a teacher. We have heard all sorts of amazing reports! He has done miracles. He has healed people. He has even raised a man named Lazarus from the dead! Lazarus is a friend of some of our friends, so we have heard that amazing story quite a few times. We are excited and want to see this man about whom we have heard so much. As is the custom, we eat a light meal to break the night’s fast. It is spring, so fresh fruits are not available; therefore we have some dried fruit with our bread and water before we head out for the day.

[Distribute water, bread, and dried figs or raisins to the children.]

[As the children eat, show them pictures of Jerusalem and the Second Temple, and continue with the script.]

It is a sunny morning, which is normal this time of year. In the distance we see the Temple. “The gleaming white marble of the edifice{is}visible from well outside the walls of the city. The scale of the building was deliberately designed to impress, and it dominate{s}the landscape to such an extent that it{is}the single unchallenged visual focal point of Jerusalem. Even the three great towers that Herod had built near his palace ... seem small{in comparison}.” [“Herod’s Temple” - Wikipedia]

The temperature today is about the same as it is in this classroom, maybe a bit cooler.

[Average high in Jerusalem in March is 60°F, in April it is about 70°F - msn.com weather.]

The Passover Festival is at the end of the week, so crowds of people have been arriving in town for days. (Think of all the crowds you have been in: maybe at a parade, a festival or fair, a football game, a rally, Disney World.) People are pressing against us. We head towards the city gate that we have heard the teacher will be entering – the Golden Gate on the east side of the city. People are pressing against you. Can you see anything, or are you too short? Are there too many people in front of you? Everyone is moving, pressing, waving. We go where the crush of the crowd carries us.

You feel excited at the thought of seeing someone who is so famous! Maybe he will stop and say something to you.

A breeze carries the smell of the incense burning in the Temple. [Light the incense.] The smell reminds you of the prayers that rise up to God like sweet perfume. You think about the upcoming Passover celebration, where after the lamb is sacrificed, you and your family will remember and celebrate how God led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. You pray that someday soon God will send the Messiah to free the Israelites from Roman rule.

We hear the lambs that will soon be sacrificed baaing. But we quickly forget about them, because Jesus is getting close! If we could see through the crowd, maybe this is what we would see.

[Share the art prints of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry.]

A donkey! He is riding on a donkey? It reminds me of the prophecy of Zechariah.

[Read Zechariah 9:9-10 from the Bible.]

We hear the branches waving. We feel the slight breeze they create. People put branches and their cloaks on the road to welcome the king. We hear people shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”

[Have the children shout the memory verse with you.]

What does Hosanna mean?

The people shouting reminds you of the Hallel, Psalms that you and the other students at the synagogue have memorized.

[Read Psalm 118:1, 22-29 from your Bible.]

It is so very noisy as Jesus passes. In fact, some of the Jewish leaders complain to Jesus: “Teacher, order your disciples and followers to stop this noise.” Jesus replies, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” [Luke 19:40]

I wonder what shouting stones sound like?

[Crash the cymbals or bang the cookie tins.]

What do you think? [Briefly discuss.] Why would the stones shout?

If people are shouting, and if even the stones could shout, I wonder what else could be wanting to shout and praise God their Creator today? [Discuss briefly.]

Here is a hymn by St. Francis of Assisi that may describe how all creation is worshiping the Creator today.

[Play “All Creatures of Our God and King.”]

After Jesus has passed, the streets quiet. People go back to their usual busyness and we head home, treasuring in our hearts all we have seen and heard.

Reflect – Closure

Discuss:

After a day like we just experienced, how would you feel?

What would you tell your family when you sat down for dinner that night?

Why were people so glad to see Jesus that day?

Who is Jesus?

Do we still cry out to Jesus “Hosanna! Save us now!”?

What is a witness? [Two slightly different meanings: a person who is present at an occurrence and a person who gives testimony about what he saw, heard, or knows by personal presence]

Is it possible to be a witness to something we did not see? Or that we only saw in our imaginations, as we did today?

Can you be a witness to others about how Jesus came to save us?

What can you say or do as a witness?

Journal:

Give the children the journal sheets with the memory verse as well as pens or pencils. Tell them to take some time to reflect on how they can be a witness. They are then to write whom they would witness to, what they would say or do, and why they feel called to be a witness to that person or group. Assure them that they will not have to share their responses.

Ask if anyone wants to share any thoughts or ideas or questions from their journaling time.

Pray for the children to be faithful witnesses this week


ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS

Adaptations - Younger Children

Instead of having them write their responses to the journaling exercise, younger children can dictate their responses to a teacher or older helper; illustrate their responses; or the class as a whole can discuss to whom, how, and why they would witness.

Adaptations - Older Children

Provide a printout of the words of “All Creatures of Our God and King” so the children can read along, and then further discuss ways all creation can praise God.

SOURCES

Bouquet, A. C. Everyday Life in New Testament Times. New York: A Charles Scribner’s Sons Book, 1953.

Cyberhymnal with words to “All Creatures of Our God and King”: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/c/acoogak.htm

Daily life in Ancient Israel: http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=1356

Daily life in Palestine at the time of Jesus: http://www.loretonh.nsw.edu.au/religion/Year7_Units/Yea...sus_unit/DL_Food.htm

Jerusalem weather - http://weather.msn.com/monthly_averages.aspx?wealocations=wc:ISXX0010

Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. New York: Random House, 1991.

Ward, Kaari, editor. Jesus and His Times. Pleasantville, New York: The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., 1987.

Wikipedia online encyclopedia: Herod’s Temple - http://en.wikipedia.org (other information about ancient Jerusalem is available at this site)

Scripture quoted is NRSV

CONTRIBUTOR: Amy Crane