Parents Devotional Guide for Palm Sunday
- Begin by praying and reading the following passages with your family: Matthew 21:1-11 & Luke 19:28-38
Read Matthew 21:1-6 & Luke 19:28-35
As Jesus approached Jerusalem from a journey of teaching and performing miracles, Jesus and His disciples stopped at the Mount of Olives. Jesus commanded two of His disciples to go to a village where they will find a donkey and a colt tied to it. They were told to take the colt and bring it to Jesus. He told them that if anyone asks, “Why are you untying it?” say, “The Lord has need of it.” So they went to the village and found the donkey and colt, as Jesus said! When they untied it, the owners asked them why and they responded just as Jesus told them to and the donkeys were released.
- How did Jesus know that there was a donkey and her colt tied up in the neighboring village?
- Divine wisdom. This divine act again showed that He is the Son of God, omniscient, all knowing
- How did the two disciples sent out by Jesus show obedience?
- They went to the village, they untied the donkeys, talked to the owners of the donkeys, and they brought the donkeys back to Jesus. They obeyed everything Jesus had told them to. They believed in Him so much that they would do anything He asked of them
- What Jesus asked of His disciples required a lot of trust. If Jesus asked you to do something, how would you respond? (Allow discussion)
- Has there been a time where you trusted Jesus even though you didn’t know what the outcome would be? (Allow discussion)
Read Matthew 21:7-8 & Luke 19:35-36
After bringing the donkeys to Jesus, the disciples laid their coats on it for Jesus to sit. The crowd also began to spread their coats and palm branches in the road.
- Why did the crowd lay down their coats and branches on the road?
- Like a red carpet rolled out for a king in their palace, in Biblical times garments, coats, and branches would be laid down for kings entering a city. What a triumphal entry they gave to Jesus!
- Why do you think Jesus rode on a donkey instead of something bigger and grander like a horse?
- Horses were symbols of war, but riding a lowly donkey showed peace and gentleness. It also took place to fulfill a prophesy from Zechariah 9:9, which was written over 500 years before Christ’s birth!
- The donkey is called a “beast of burden”. What burden does Christ carry for us?
- He carries our burden of sin and the death, guilt, and shame it brings.
Read Matthew 21:9-11 & Luke 19: 37-38
The crowd began to praise God as they drew near to Jerusalem, shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!”
- Why did the crowd praise and shout for Jesus?
- They praised God that the Messiah finally came to save them!
- What does “Hosanna” mean?
- “Lord save us” or Savior: an appeal for deliverance
- What did the people in the crowd think Jesus was delivering them from?
- Jerusalem was part of the Roman Empire, but the Jews were waiting for a king like David to come and unite them into a kingdom of their own
- The crowd didn’t know, but Jesus wasn’t coming to be the earthly king that they hoped for. What did Jesus actually come to deliver us from?
- Deliverance from their sin and to offer us eternal life
