"Palm Sunday Comparisons"
A Video Workshop Lesson Plan for Older Children

Summary:  Students will do a Bible Study comparing the Gospels. Then watch three different video clips from: “The Easter Story” (Greatest Adventure Stories from the Bible),  “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “The Visual Bible: Matthew”. You can adapt to one or two as needed.

NOTE: Many if not all of these can be found online either for free on YouTube or downloaded/streamed from services like Amazon.

Introduce the Lesson:
Say: This month we are learning about one of the first events of Holy Week, which is the week before Jesus died on the cross then rose from his tomb. This month we are talking about Palm Sunday, the day that Jesus arrived in Jerusalem. Holy Week is the week before Easter; Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week and Easter Sunday is the last day.

Background to Share:

• Jesus had been teaching and healing people for three years. It was nearing the time of Passover, the celebration of Moses leading the Hebrew people out of Egypt. Jesus and his disciples were going to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration there.
• Passover was an annual Jewish holiday celebrating how God had freed the people from slavery in Egypt. What is kind of ironic is that the people in Jesus’ days were celebrating freedom from Egypt but they lived under the oppressive rule of the Romans.

Study Activity: Compare the Gospels
Tell the kids that you are going to read the story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem in all four Gospels to see how the four versions of the same story differ. Then you are going to watch the “Palm Sunday” scene from three different movies about Jesus to see which, if any, of the Bible stories they match.

• Have the children take out their Bibles. Beginning with Matthew 21:1-11, read all four passages about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
• For each passage, write the keys elements of the story, and how it is the same or different from the other versions, on the prepared chart (large paper on easel).

Refer to the Matthew list here for points to include on your chart; add other differences and/or similarities in the passages that you and the kids identify.

Matthew 21:1-11

• Jesus sent two Disciples to get a donkey and her colt (v. 2)
• Quotes the prophecy from Zechariah that Jesus would arrive on a donkey
• Seems to say Jesus rode on both the donkey and the colt ( v. 7)
• The crowd spread cloaks on the road and also branches from trees (v. 8)
• Crowd shouts “Hosanna!” and “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” (v. 9)

Mark 11:1-10

• Jesus sent two Disciples to get a colt (v. 2)
• The crowd spread cloaks on the road and leafy branches they cut in the fields (v. 8)
• No mention of the prophecy that Jesus would arrive on a donkey
• Crowd shouts “Hosanna!” and “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” (v. 9)

Luke 19:28-44

• Jesus sent two Disciples to get a colt (v. 30)
• Crowd spread cloaks on the road (v. 36) but no mention of palms or other branches
• Describes the Disciples shouting, praising God, but not the crowd (v. 37)
• No mention of crowd shouting “Hosanna!” – crowd calls Jesus “King” (v.38)
• No mention of the prophecy that Jesus would arrive on a donkey
• Pharisees told Jesus to order his Disciples to be quiet; Jesus replied that then the “stones would shout out.”

John 12:12-19

• Jesus found the donkey (he didn’t send the Disciples to get it; v. 14)
• Only passage that specifically states the crowd waved palm tree branches (v. 13)
• Crowd shouts “Hosanna!” and calls Jesus “King of Israel” (v. 13)
• Refers to prophecy that Jesus would arrive on a donkey

Show the Videos:

Watch the Videos listed below and compare the three different video clips as described below. Pass out popcorn and napkins.

• Talk briefly about each scene after you watch it.
• What did the kids notice? Is there anything they didn’t understand?
• Is the scene similar or different from the Bible passages (refer to the chart from your discussion)? See specific scene notes, below.

Video Clip 1: “The Easter Story, Greatest Adventure Stories from the Bible”

• Told through the eyes of the Apostle Mark, so look for similarities and differences to the passage from Mark 11.
• This DVD has no scene selection. From Main Menu, select “Play Story” and then manually advance until you see the scene panning across Jerusalem. (If you can’t get to the right scene, you can play the DVD from the beginning; it’ll just take a few minutes longer.)
• Stop the DVD when the two Pharisee priests leave to go tell Caiaphas (when one of them says, “Somebody had better keep an eye on him."

Video Clip 2: “Jesus Christ Superstar”

• Jesus Christ Superstar was first staged as a play on Broadway in 1971. This play was made into a movie in 1973. In both the play and the movie, the characters sing most of their lines. This format is called an opera. Because the format of the music was rock and roll, it was called a rock opera.
• From the Menu, select Scenes, then select Scene 4 Everything’s Alright. When the scene begins, advance manually until you see a scene with birds flying in blue sky.
• Point out Caiaphas in the early part of the scene (wearing black robes and big, round black hat). Caiaphas was the chief religious official for the Jewish people.
• Stop the video when the scene shifts to arid desert (after Jesus walks to the top of the rock to speak to the people).
• Ask: Why did the Pharisees (guys in black robes on scaffolding) say Jesus was “dangerous” and “a problem”? (If the Romans thought Jesus was taking power from the Pharisees, the Romans would boot out the Pharisees and take direct control of Jerusalem.)
• Ask: Why did Caiaphas want Jesus to quiet the crowds? (Caiaphas wanted Jesus to stop the crowds. Caiaphas and the Pharisees considered their acknowledgment of Jesus as king would be going against Herod, who was the Roman ruler. They were afraid of the Romans.)

Video Clip 3: "The Visual Bible: Matthew"

• This movie is based on the NIV of Matthew.
• Insert disc 2 into DVD player. Select Search by Event, and then select Scenes 61-66. Select The Triumphal Entry to play.
• Stop the video when the priest (guy in black robe and striped head cloth) is walking down the columned passageway. (If you get to the scene where Jesus enters the temple you’ve gone too far.)

Closing:

Ask:

• What does “Hosanna” mean? (“Save us")
• Why did the people shouted “Hosanna”? (They wanted to be saved from the Romans, who ruled over the Jewish people and Jerusalem at that time.)
• “Did Jesus come to save them from the Romans?” (No)
• Did Jesus turn out to be the kind of king that the people expected? (No)
• The people were expecting a warrior type of king. Jesus saved the people in a way that they didn’t expect – by dying on the cross Jesus saves all of us from our sins.
• What kind of king was Jesus? (Allow all answers – looking for words like humble, peaceful)
• What sort of mistaken beliefs do people have about Jesus today?

Close with a prayer.

Pass out some smooth stones and finepoint permanent markers. ("River" stones can be purchased in many plant stores). On the bottom of each stone, have students write THEIR NAME and the word SHOUT IT OUT LOUD! or similar.
Pile the stones and place hands on them during a prayer that each of us would learn to show others we follow Jesus Christ with our words and actions. Ask God to turn us from stones to disciples

More Life Application:
(added by Wormy)

How do YOU "shout Hosanna" in the way you act towards others in church, in class, at school, to strangers?

Where are people probably "too quiet about" or "too embarrassed to show" your faith? and why?

What could you ask Jesus to do for you that would turn you from a STONE about your faith to a faithful disciple?

A lesson written by member Bravo5 and updated by the Rotation.org Content Team