Children’s Sermon

Matthew 21:1-11

What’s Happening?

By Dr. Carol J Miller

For the past two or three years, Jesus and his disciples had been teaching people that God loves them and forgives them. They had been healing people. They had made friends with people who had no friends.

But instead of being happy that Jesus was doing such wonderful things, the leaders of the people were angry. They didn’t care about sick people getting well. They didn’t care that Jesus’ disciples were bring friends to people who needed friends. The leaders saw that the people who used to listen to them were now listening to Jesus––and that made them jealous.

The leaders were so jealous that they decided to kill Jesus. They thought that, if they got rid of Jesus, people would start listening to them once again.

In our Bible passage, Jesus is about to come through the city gates of Jerusalem where all the leaders were. They had bad plans for Jesus––plans to kill him. But Jesus had his own plans.

There was a big celebration in Jerusalem, and Jesus planned to go there. He knew that the leaders who wanted to kill him were in Jerusalem, but he didn’t let that stop him.

To make his entrance into Jerusalem, Jesus decided to ride a donkey. Most important people would want to ride a big horse on such an occasion, because a big horse is so impressive. But Jesus wanted to show people that he was a gentle man––someone who would care about them and help them. So, instead of riding a big horse to impress them, he rode a little donkey.

The people were glad to see Jesus when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. They waved palm branches to let Jesus know how much they appreciated him.

Who can tell me what that day is called? Right! Palm Sunday! A day when Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem. A day when he showed people that he cared about them.

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible

Copyright 2014, Richard Niell Donovan