𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧

Let’s imagine that a very important person (like the president of your country) is coming to visit your home today. What would you do? How would you welcome him? Will you put up balloons all over? Tell us how you would prepare your home to welcome him.

Let the kids share.

We give our best when someone important comes to our homes.

Today we will read about how the people welcomed Jesus when He came to Jerusalem.

𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

Have you heard of the “red carpet” treatment? This is often used when a very important person arrives in a place. There is a literal red carpet being laid on the ground where the person will be walking on. Now something like this also happened in the life of Jesus and this is our story today found in Matthew 21:1-11.

1-3 𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑤 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝐽𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝐵𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑂𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚, “𝐺𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑟. 𝑈𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒. 𝐼𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑦, ‘𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚,’ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒.”

6-9 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑘𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑘𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑐𝑢𝑡 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑑𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, “𝐻𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑! 𝐵𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑! 𝐻𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑡!”

At this time, Jesus had already performed many miracles and His fame spread. As he entered Jerusalem, the people welcomed him and were hailing him as their king. A crowd laid out their version of “red carpet” on the road where Jesus was passing through. They laid down their cloaks and leafy branches and the people cheered amd were excited as they thought him to be the one to rescue them from the oppressive Roman empire

But the truth was that Jesus is King. He came not just to be the king of the Jewish people but to be king over our lives and in our hearts. He came not just to save the Jews from the Romans but to save us all from our sins.

Do you want Jesus to be king over your life? He can be if you believe in Him and trust in Him to save you from your sins.

𝗛𝗨𝗗𝗗𝗟𝗘

Parent to Kid

2-6 years old

- Have you ever met a king? What would you do if a king were to come to your house today?

7-12 years old

- How do you think Jesus can be king over a person’s life?

- Would you want Jesus to be King over your life?

Kid to Parents

- Is Jesus King over your life? Tell us how it happened.

Jesus came to earth to be king and to rule over our hearts and lives. As King, He has the power to forgive us of our sins and give us the gift of eternal life.

Pray today for you and all your loved ones to see Jesus for who He truly is.

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬

We thank You Jesus for being the perfect example of humility and grace. Thank You for winning the battle for us over our sins and death. Lord Jesus, we allow You to enter our hearts and minds today so we may know You in a personal way. Please be king over our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.

𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥

Jesus is often referred to as the King of kings. But do you know that He is not at all like the kings that we normally see in movies or read about in books?

Instead of riding a horse (showing pride), Jesus rode on a donkey (showing humility).

Incidentally, this was the exact fulfillment of what was written in Zechariah 9:9

“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle

and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Truly, He is the King of kings and the awaited Messiah!