Palm Sunday story for children

THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM

As Jesus came closer to Jerusalem, he asked two of his disciples to go ahead of Him. He said, "When you get to the town, you will see a donkey tied up. Untie it, and bring it to me. If anyone asks you about taking the donkey, just tell them, 'The Lord needs it and He will bring it back as soon as He's done with it.'"

So, the disciples did as Jesus asked. They soon found the donkey tied at a doorway. As they were untying it, some people were standing nearby visiting. They didn't recognize the men and asked, "What are you doing? Why are you untying the donkey?"

They replied just as Jesus had told them to. Explaining that the Lord needed it, the people let them go.

When they brought the donkey to Jesus, some of the disciples took off their coats and laid them on the donkey's back. They did this out of respect for Jesus. Then Jesus rode on the donkey towards Jerusalem.

As He was traveling, some people saw Jesus coming and came running towards Him. They had heard He might be coming and they wanted to see him because he had just helped a dead man come back to life.

One by one, they laid their coats on the ground for the donkey to step on. Even the people that weren't wearing coats ran to the fields and trees nearby and cut palm branches and laid them down.

These people knew that Jesus was special. It was like when a King or Queen would come to town, and people would roll out a red carpet for him or her to step on. This is what these people did for Jesus when they laid down their coats and branches.

As they got even closer to the town, more and more people noticed Jesus. A crowd surrounded Him and started to shout praises to Him for all the miracles He had done: "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna, Hosanna!"

The word Hosanna means save us. They said this because Jesus was helping them and doing amazing things. They wanted to praise Him, and they wanted Him to keep helping them.

Some men named Pharisees (these men thought they were important; a lot of the people listened to them). They heard the crowd praising God. They said to Jesus, "Teacher, why don't you tell these people to stop praising you as if you were God?"

The Pharisees thought that Jesus was getting too much attention from the people. They wanted to be the most important, but everyone was listening to Jesus instead.

Jesus replied, "If they were quiet now, even the rocks would cry out!" Even the rocks knew that He was God; after all, Jesus did make them.

Now Jesus could see Jerusalem and it made Him very sad. He came to help the people, but no one realized that He was God, and they didn't accept Him.