Palm Sunday - Clear Creek Resources

SCRIPTURE TO READ

John 12:12-16

¹²The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” ¹⁴And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

¹⁵“Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

¹⁶His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

CHILDREN’S BIBLE READINGS (OPTIONAL)

The Beginner’s Gospel Story Bible (pages 236-241)
The Gospel Story Bible (pages 216-217)

DEVOTIONAL: WHAT KIND OF KING?

Today is Palm Sunday, the first day of Passion Week.

On this day, Jesus enters Jerusalem riding a colt, fulfilling the 500-year-old prophecy in the book of Zechariah (9:9) that the king of Israel would enter the capital as a harbinger that salvation was coming! Thus, as Jesus rides into the city, his fellow Jewish countrymen welcomed him shouting, “Hosanna!” which is a word of praise translated as, “Save us!”

Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? It’s quite a scene. But it might help to ask the question: What did the people mean by “Save us”?

One way we can discern the answer is not by what the people said but by what they held in their hands as Jesus passed: palm branches.

Many years earlier, when the son of a Jewish priest named Judas Maccabees overthrew the occupying government and subsequently rededicated the temple altar, the people brought palm branches into it to celebrate their national freedom. When his brother Simon later conquered Jerusalem’s citadel, Jews brought palm fronds as well. Over time, palm branches became a symbol for Jewish nationalism.

Thus, what we have in the triumphal entry of Jesus in John 12 is not just the fulfilling of Old Testament prophecies about the king’s arrival to save, but also the people’s misconception of what kind of king Jesus would be and the type of saving he would accomplish. They believed Jesus in due time would take up the sword, kill their Roman oppressors, and restore the kingdom to Israel with a glory never seen before.

The people thought Jesus to be their very own national liberator who would save them politically, but Christ was coming as a global redeemer who would save anyone spiritually. He wasn’t about establishing a military empire but a kingdom where God and man were reconciled.

If only the people of Israel would have remembered the verse after Zechariah 9:9. Verse 10 says the coming king “shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea.”

Jesus enters Jerusalem not to announce he’s the king who will execute Israel’s enemies but the King who will be executed on their behalf a week later, in order that through his death and resurrection, he might establish a real peace that would last forever!

Thus, Jesus rides into Jerusalem as the King of all and for all who believe!

APPLICATION: A HEART FOR ALL

Israel couldn’t fathom a king who wasn’t solely for them and their agenda. The palm fronds revealed the size of their hearts for others outside their circle. But Jesus proved his heart (and kingdom) was much bigger. He sought to save sinners of every shade and stripe, be they Jews or Gentiles.

What about you?

When you think of the work of Jesus, do you believe he comes for us all, or do you struggle with a heart that’s somehow become smaller – one that believes Jesus wants the kind of people you prefer? It’s easy to allow the size of our hearts to shrink down to only those that are like us. Do you need to repent and ask God to give you the kind of heart for others that Jesus has – a heart for all?

Take some time to remind yourself today that Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago today as the true King who moves toward the weekend of trial, cross, and resurrection as the sovereign hope for sinners of every color and shade – including you!

PRAYER

Lord, help my heart to love as you love, to be as big for those around me as yours is! May your Holy Spirit place upon my heart those I might have written off from your reach. Help me to live in a missional way with them where my words and deeds might reflect the truth that the king I serve is one who has come to save sinners from every nook and cranny of the world – including me! Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord – the King of Israel!”

OPTIONAL FAMILY DISCUSSION GUIDE

What kind of king were the people expecting? (An earthly king who would help them.)
What kind of king was Jesus? (Jesus was a New King, a Rescuing King, a Forever King.)
Jesus came to save everyone who believes in him. Because Jesus loved us like this, we can love others too. How can you love and serve someone in your family, neighborhood, or school?

SCRIPTURE MEMORY

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

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