Lesson # 10
As we are preparing for Pascha, we will postpone our studies of the Old Testament and will concentrate on studying the Holy Week for the next three classes. The children are going to make a booklet with their hand prints and evangelical quotations, related to each event.
Lesson 10 was dedicated to the Palm Sunday. The message of Jesus’ Entrance into Jerusalem is bittersweet. The King of Kings comes to the city humbly, on a donkey, unlike an earthly king who would have probably picked a strong white stallion. Jesus knew that His triumphal entry would not last long. People who waved the palm branches and shouted “Hosanna!” will be shouting “Crucify Him!” in just a matter of days.
Palm branches were an important symbol ancient Israel. The city of Jericho of the Promised Land was also known as “the city of palm trees” (Deut. 34:3; 2 Chron. 28:15). When we were making hand prints of the palm branches I asked the kids to remember Christ’s great victory over sin. Many people who waved the palm branches at that time, didn’t realize what they were celebrating. They believed that they were celebrating the coming of a mighty, conquering King who would gain great victory for them by delivering them from their oppressors. They were right in thinking of Him as a great deliverer. But they didn’t realize that He would gain the victory over sin by dying on the cross.
Next lesson will be dedicated to Jesus’ journey toward the Cross and we will learn and make hand prints to help us remember the events of the Holy Week.
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