Worship at Home - Palm Sunday

April 5, 2020 by Mitchel Kirchmeyer

Even though we aren’t gathering to worship as a church in person, that doesn’t mean we stop worshiping as a church. This is a guide for your in-home worship on Sunday 4/5/20.

You can consider lighting a candle to set the environment for worship and to symbolize God's presence with you.

Families with little kids: There are questions in here to help your kids engage, but you still may feel that this is too old for them. The lesson focuses on Palm Sunday and the Scripture for today is John 2:13-22. There's a short video at the top that does a great job covering the story for kids if you prefer that. There are also two bonus videos at the bottom on "Temple" and "Heaven and Earth" if you want to dig a bit deeper.

Today, Sunday April 5th, is Palm Sunday which marks the start of Holy Week. This week was the final week of Jesus' earthly life. Palm Sunday was the day that he entered Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. Jesus was traveling there with many other Jews to celebrate the Passover festival. Passover was a yearly festival when God's people would remember and celebrate how God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt. Christians call today "Palm Sunday" because people traveling with Jesus picked palm branches on their way and laid them on the road in front of him as he entered Jerusalem. Palm branches were a symbol of victory, so Jesus entered Jerusalem on a green carpet of victory with the crowds praising God as he did so.

Parents: The journey to Passover was a long one for the Jewish people. You could re-enact this with kids by doing a "follow the leader" for a while until you reach Jerusulem. You could also re-enact the palm branches being laid at Jesus' feet as he entered Jerusalem.

Why were they doing this? Why were they laying palm branches of victory in front of Jesus like a royal red carpet? Why were they doing this as he entered the capital city? Why were they doing this when a festival was about to start that celebrated God rescuing them long ago?

The short answer is that they were longing for things to be different. They were longing for things to be different and they believed Jesus was the one to make them different. They knew that their world was not as it should be. Their country and their capital city were taken over by the Roman Empire and many hoped Jesus was the King to clear out the Romans so they gave him a royal welcome as he entered the capital city. Long ago God had defeated the nation of Egypt and rescued them and Passover is when they remembered all of that. Perhaps he will do it again. So they laid the palm branches of victory at the feet of Jesus, hoping he would lead them as their King like Moses in the past and like David in the past to rescue them.

What is wrong with our world right now? What are you longing would be different?

What's often missed in the story, however, is that Jesus was also longing for things to be different. While people were singing his praises, Jesus had tears streaming down his face. The Gospel According to Luke tells us that as Jesus drew near and saw the city, he wept over it. He knew that they would ultimately reject him as their King. Their hearts were not in the right place (Luke 19:41-44). Jesus longed for the people's hearts to be different - to be changed.

What attitudes and actions of yours do you think Jesus longs to be different?

Our world is not as it should be and we are not as we should be. We long for things to be different. We also need to long for our hearts to be different. Things are not only messed up out there but in here - not just outside of us but inside of us.

After Jesus entered Jerusalem on Sunday, he visited the temple at some point during the week. The temple was the place where God's presence was. It was where people went to worship God and to offer sacrifices for their sins (the wrongs they had committed against God). Jesus was not happy with what he saw there. People were in town for the Passover festival and that would require a sacrifice, but the trip to Jerusalem for Passover was long for many people. So instead of traveling all that distance with their animal sacrifice, they would buy the animal once they arrived in Jerusalem. There were people in the outer courts of the temple who sold sheep and oxen and pigeons for travelers to buy as a sacrifice. There were also people there called "money-changers" who were like currency exchangers we have today that could exchange one type of currency for another. People would travel from many different areas with many different types of money and if they wanted to give an offering at the temple, they needed the right type of money.

This is what Jesus found in the temple during Holy Week. But this is also what you would find in the temple every year at the Passover feast. We are going to rewind to a few years earlier to a different time when Jesus entered the temple during the Passover feast. This would have been the exact same time of year and Jesus found the exact same scene. And again, he was not happy with what he found. We are going to rewind to this incident because Jesus says something important about his resurrection. Take a look at John 2:13-17.

13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” (John 2:13-17)

What is Jesus upset about?
What does he do about it?
Do you think he should be upset?
Do you think he should have done what he did?
What gives Jesus the right to do what he did?

Jesus' problem wasn't with the fact that sacrifices were being sold to people but where they were being sold. The outer courts were a place where non-Jewish people were allowed to pray and it was turned into a marketplace.

That last question is exactly what the people who were present were asking. Jesus didn't work at the temple as a priest. He wasn't one of the religious leaders. He didn't even live in Jerusalem. He had traveled there from out of town like thousands of others to celebrate the Passover. So what gave him the right to drive people out of the temple? What gave him the right to pour out the coins of the money-changers and overturn their tables? What gave him the right to tell them to take their things away? Who does he think he is?

Let's read the next part of the story.

18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. (John 2:18-22)

The Jews, probably those in charge of the temple, ask Jesus to show them a sign for doing the things he did. In other words, they want to know why Jesus thinks he has the right to do what he just did. Why does Jesus think he has the authority to disrupt worship in the temple? Why does Jesus think he has the authority to tell people how the temple should be run? Who does he think he is?

So what sign does Jesus give them that he has the right to decide how God ought to be worshiped in the temple? He says, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Jesus predicts his death and his resurrection. And he calls his body a temple. Jesus is making a remarkable statement! Jesus is standing right outside the ONLY temple that the people knew existed and is calling his body the temple. The temple is where God's presence is, where God's glory dwells, where you go to worship God, and where you offer sacrifices. In this one sentence, Jesus claims to be the presence of God, the glory of God, the place where you go to see God and worship God, and the place where sacrifices are offered. Jesus is saying, "I'm where God's presence is. I'm where you go to meet God. You can see God's glory in me. I'm where sacrifices are offered." And isn't it true that Jesus is God and will offer himself as the sacrifice for our sins?

"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Here in this statement, we have Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter all wrapped into one sentence. At Christmas, God's presence came to earth to dwell in human flesh - Jesus is the temple. On Good Friday, that temple was destroyed. On Easter, three days later, it was raised up.

Jesus' resurrection is the "sign" that proved he has the authority to tell us how to worship God. Jesus has the authority to tell us what pleases and displeases God. He has the authority to tell us that nobody comes to the Father except through him because he is the way, the truth, and the life. Why? Because on Good Friday, the living temple of God was destroyed and on Easter it was raised again. The Son of God is alive again.

Response

Jesus called the temple "my Father's house" (2:16) and Jesus is described as consumed with zeal (intense positive interest, dedication) for God's house or temple (2:17). After Jesus was resurrected and returned to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to his followers. Everyone who trusts in him is God's temple. We are now God's temple because his Holy Spirit is in us. We are the Father's house and Jesus is now consumed with zeal for us. Jesus longs for our hearts to be changed. He wants us to be changed from the inside out. He does not want anything to be taking place in us that is not appropriate for God's house.

What's your reaction to being God's temple? How does it make you feel?
What's your reaction to Jesus having zeal for you as God's temple? How does it make you feel?
Are there any attitudes or actions he might desire to clear out from your heart or life right now?

Worship with others:

As a church this month, we want to encourage one another every Sunday by worshiping together on WhatsApp (check out the video about it on our website here). Take a few minutes to post in the Encouragement group on WhatsApp.

Here are some examples of what you could post: