Bible Study – Palm Sunday and Holy Week
Share: Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.
As in Advent, when we went inward to prepare to go outward with Christmas and Epiphany, in Lent we again go inward – in preparation. In the first two Sundays of Lent, Mark, brilliantly succinct, reveals the preparation Jesus experienced. During the next three Sundays John adds shimmering lights on Jesus’ ministry before we plunge into the Crucifixion, where we watch, from wherever we are, what Jesus must go through in order to give us Easter.
Today we are going to finish the part of the story of Jesus that will take us to Easter—next Sunday. There are several segments of the story beginning with Palm Sunday that talks about Jesus triumphal ride into Jerusalem, but that is only part of the story between now and Easter when Jesus appears after he has risen from the dead. It is difficult to put this into one short story, but we are going to break it up into smaller segments that may make it easier to understand. Since we are celebrating Palm Sunday in our church service today, we will begin with that portion of the story.
Opening Prayer: Thank you, God, for being with us while we are learning about Palm Sunday and Holy Week. Help us to continue to understand and study the Bible. Amen.
Please open your Bibles to Palm Sunday Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 14:1-15; 15:1-39, 42-47 and read or read the scriptures below.
Matthew 21:1-11
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”[a]
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna[b] to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[c]
“Hosanna[d] in the highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
The rest of this lesson today takes us through Holy Week, which are the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.
Mark 14: 1 - 9. It was two days before Passover. Does anyone know what Passover is? (If not, it is the day Jewish people – to this day – celebrate getting out of Egypt where they were slaves.)
Jesus is at a dinner party and something happens that many people thought was very strange. While Jesus was eating dinner, a woman came into the room carrying a beautiful jar with very expensive perfume. She proceeded to pour the perfume all over Jesus’ head. "Hey," the people said, "That perfume jar could have been sold and the money given to help poor people and she just wasted it!" No, Jesus assured them, it was not wasted. In verse 8 Jesus says: "She has anointed my body beforehand, for burial." Why do you think he said that? (He knows he is to die.)
Mark 14:12-16. Passover is coming. The disciples wondered where they would go to celebrate the feast. To help them find the right place, Jesus sent two of his disciples to find the place. This is how they would know they were in the right place: they would find a man carrying a jar of water.
Does anyone know why that one man would be easy to spot? (Carrying water was considered women's work, since few men would do that work, so this guy would be easy to find.)
Thursday (Maundy) - Lords Supper
Mark 14:17-21. They are all at supper eating a very excellent meal. They must have been startled to hear Jesus say that one of the people sitting at that very table was going to betray him. They turned to each other and said: "Could I be the one? Whoa, I sure hope not!" But the one who would betray Jesus was sitting right there at the table.
Mark 14:22-26. Jesus needed to leave his friends with something that would be with them all their lives and still be here for us today. So, Jesus took a small loaf of bread, broke off a piece for each person and said, "Take; this is my body." Then he took the glass of wine and said: "This is my blood of the covenant with is poured out for many." And each person took a sip of the wine.
Mark 14:32-42. Jesus and his friends go to a garden with the name Gethsemane. Jesus needs to pray to God and he wants his friends to pray with him. Here Jesus accepts that he is going to have to die. But his exhausted friends cannot keep awake. They keep falling asleep at their prayers.
Mark 14:43-50. Judas shows up. Judas is the one who will betray Jesus. Judas has brought soldiers to have Jesus arrested. Judas comes up to Jesus and kisses him on the cheek. That was the sign he had given the soldiers so they would know whom to arrest. So they arrested Jesus.
Mark 14:53-65. The chief priests need to be sure that what Jesus is saying is really wrong so they can kill him. They ask him many questions and finally convince themselves that what Jesus is saying is blasphemy. Blasphemy means telling lies about God.
Mark 14: 66-72. Peter had been so sure he would stick with Jesus no matter what. Jesus had told Peter that Peter would snap -- that he would deny Jesus three times before the cock crowed. Sure enough, before Peter realized what was happening, in his terror, three separate times Peter said he did not know Jesus. Then the cock crowed. Peter was heartbroken.
Good Friday - The Crucifixion of Jesus
Mark 15: 1-15.The chief priests decide to hand Jesus over to Pilate. Pilate doesn't really want to kill Jesus, so he gets an idea. It was the custom to release one criminal at Passover. So Pilate asked the crowd: Shall I release this Jesus, or shall I release Barabbas? The crowd wanted Barabbas to be released! So that meant that Jesus would be handed over to be crucified.
Mark 15: 16-32. Jesus is led away to be crucified. A man named Simon came along and carried the cross for Jesus for a while. At nine o'clock in the morning they nailed Jesus to the cross.
Mark 15: 33-39. At noon, as Jesus hung on the cross the skies began to get very dark. By three in the afternoon, Jesus had died. The soldiers who had been standing guard said: "Truly this man was God's Son!"
Mark 15: 42-47. A man named Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus so he could bury him in a tomb. Joseph took a linen cloth to cover the body of Jesus and then carried him to the tomb. He gently laid Jesus body in the tomb and covered the opening with a huge rock.
Everyone thought this was the end of the story. We now know it was not the end of the story. Next week we will celebrate what happened next.
Click here for the young learner’s lesson.
Videos (Click on url)
The Gospel of Matthew 21:1-11 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZdfpOlzx9o
Gospel of Matthew Summary: Part 2 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGCF3OPWN14&t=2s
The Gospel of Mark 14:1-16 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPynp9JIbCA
Mark 15:1-47 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4fvspRkkHw
Gospel of Mark Summary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGHqu9-DtXk
Activities:
Hosanna Puzzle: Click on the url https://www.pinterest.com/pin/14847873765357750/ and copy the green palm branch picture, write “HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST” or BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD” over the picture and cut into several pieces. Then put your puzzle pieces together.
Make a Cross: Click on the following url and create a cross. There are several great ideas. Be creative. https://www.daniellesplace.com/html/crosscrafts.html
Art: Draw a picture of one of the Bible verses from Mark 14 or 15 that we discussed above and paint or color with markers, colored pencils and crayons. Then display your art work in a place where friends and family can see it.
Thank Prayers: make a list of things we are thankful for. The more we say thank you, the more things we notice we have to be thankful for!
The Triumphal Entry- Decoder: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/the-triumphal-entry-8
The Triumphal Entry - Word Search: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/the-triumphal-entry-10
This is My Body – Crossword Puzzle: https://www.4catholiceducators.com/pdf/mark14_12_26.pdf
Prayer: We thank You for another day and a brand new week to give You thanks and praise. Help us to be with You in this Holy Week and to remember Your passion, death and resurrection. Amen.
