A Children’s Sermon on Luke 19:28-40

Preface for Pastors and Parents

This Sunday is Palm Sunday, so I bring you a children’s sermon on Luke 19:28-40. That’s the text for the “Liturgy of the Palms” in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.

Of course many churches will choose instead to use the “Liturgy of the Passion,” reading the whole vast story of Maundy Thursday through Good Friday. I’ll write on that too, someday. But I hope you’ll let your kids revel in the story of the Triumphal Entry, so I’m giving you a children’s sermon on Luke 19:28-40.

In a Palm Sunday children’s sermon I try to do two things: First, I try to emphasize the details that only that particular Gospel brings out. Second, I approach the storytelling from a different angle.

If you like Mark’s version better (or if you prefer the particular twist I gave it) you can find that children’s sermon through this link. Or check out my one on Matthew’s version of the story too. Different again. You can find it through this link.

(I’ve only done one version of the “Liturgy of the Passion.” It was on Mark, and you can find  it through this link.)

In my children’s sermon on Luke 19:28-40 I’m exploring the way Jesus set it up to be a big celebration.

A Children’s Sermon on Luke 19:28-40

Good morning kids! I’m so glad to see you here in worship this morning. Thanks for coming up to hear the children’s sermon.

Today is a very special day. Today is called “Palm Sunday.” This is the start of the very last week of Lent. In Lent we take 40 days, plus seven Sundays, to get ready for the amazing gift of Easter.

At the end of Lent we remember the sad day when Jesus died on the cross. Then on Easter we celebrate that Jesus was alive again. Jesus brought us all a new kind of life; a forever life with God; a life that’s even stronger than death.

Getting Ready for a Celebration

Palm Sunday is the day Jesus and his friends went to Jerusalem. He knew it was the last week of his ordinary life on earth. Jesus wanted to make it a very special day.

Jesus had it all planned out.

“Hey you guys!” he said. “Let’s make this a big celebration! We’ll have a big parade all the way from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem!”

Jesus sent two of his friends — let’s imagine it was Andrew and John — into town to find a young donkey colt.

Off they went. They found the colt. They brought it back.

All the while they were gone, they talked about Jesus’ idea.

“This will be so much fun!” said John. “I’m so glad we’re going to have a parade for Jesus!”

“Yeah,” said Andrew, “Jesus is amazing! I can’t imagine what my life would be without him.”

“Me too!” said John, “And look at all he does for people every day! I mean, he teaches us stuff about the Kingdom of God, and look at all the people be healed!”

“I know, right?” said Andrew. “And that time he fed 5000 people with miracle bread! That was awesome. Nobody but Jesus could do that. You know what I think?”

“What?” asked John.

“I think,” said Andrew, “if Jesus wanted to be a king, they would make him king. Look how many people are following him now!”

“Well,” said John, “the prophets said the Messiah would be a king like David.”

Back on the Mount of Olives

About then Andrew and John found Jesus on the Mount of Olives. They showed him the donkey colt.

Jesus said “Thanks guys!” and he patted the donkey, stroking the side of his neck. “Well aren’t you a beauty!” Jesus told the colt, looking into his great big eyes. “You and I are gonna have so much fun!”

The colt snorted and tossed his head, then he rubbed up against Jesus in a friendly way.

“Hey everybody!” yelled John, “It’s time for Jesus to ride to Jerusalem! Let’s send him into town like a king!”

They all laughed and gathered around Jesus and the colt.

“Well, your Majesty” said Andrew, “We can’t let you Just ride bare back.”

He and John took off their coats and laid them across the colt’s back. “There! Now you have a royal saddle!”

Then Andrew and John made a chair with their hands and picked Jesus right up off the ground.

“Hey!” Jesus said. “What are you doing?”

“A king doesn’t just climb up onto a donkey.” Andrew said. “We, your royal servants will place you on your saddle.”

And they gently plopped him onto the colt’s back.

Jesus and his friends laughed. “Well now!” said John, “A king’s donkey can’t walk on an ordinary dirt road. Let’s everybody make a carpet of coats for Jesus to travel on!”

So one by one they took off their coats and laid them on the road. Other people standing by thought that was fun too, so the carpet got longer and longer.

One little boy —his name was Isaac — laid down his coat and said, “Jesus is gonna LOVE this carpet!”

And when Jesus passed by they picked up their coats, of course, and then laid them down again at the front of the line. They kept the carpet going all the way to Jerusalem.

The People Start to Praise

All along the way, people came to see what was happening.

“Hey, that’s Jesus!” cried someone “He healed my blind cousin! Now he can see!”

And a cheer went up from the crowd.

“He cast seven demons out of me!” Yelled Mary Magdalene.

And another cheer went up.

Person after person shouted out the wonderful things Jesus had done for them. Time after time the crowd cheered.

The People Start to Sing

And then someone started to sing. It was a song from the book of Psalms in the Bible. Actually it was Psalm 118, where the people praise the Messiah King. I don’t know the tune, but the words were “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

After everyone sang that for a while an old woman said “I was a shepherd girl near Bethlehem, back when Jesus was born. The angel came and sang us a song about him. Lets sing that one now!”

So she taught them the angels’ song, and they all it together: “Glory to God in the highest! And peace to God’s people on earth!”

Grumpy People Start to Complain

Well, with all that praising, and shouting, and singing, even more people started to gather. Some of them were pretty grumpy, to tell you the truth.

The grumpy people were talking to each other instead of joining the fun.

“They shouldn’t be singing these songs,” said one.

“That’s right!” said another. “Those are songs for a king, and Jesus isn’t a king—is he?”

“Those are songs for the Messiah,” said another. “Jesus is just some carpenter from Nazareth—isn’t he?”

So the grumpy people refused to join the celebration.

Well Jesus had been laughing and enjoying all the memories people had been shouting about. And all the singing was really fun too. But the grumpy people called out when Jesus was passing close by.

“Hey, Jesus!” they said. “You should stop your people from singing those songs! It’s just not right.”

“Oh you guys,” Jesus said, still smiling,

“There’s no way I could stop all this joy. If all these people stopped, I bet the very stones of this road would start singing!”

And he rode on into Jerusalem on his carpet of coats.

Afterward

When it was all done, John said to Andrew, “You know the one thing that could have made this better?”

“What?” asked Andrew. “Maybe if we actually heard the rocks and stones singing?”

“Palm branches.” said John. “We should all have been waving palm branches.”

“Maybe,” said Andrew. “But I think the only thing better would for the celebration to go on forever.”

Wondering

I wonder what it felt like to lay down their coats for Jesus to ride on like a carpet?

I wonder what you would have shouted about if you had been in the crowd?

I wonder if those grumpy people ever realized how wonderful Jesus is?

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You are, of course, free to use this children’s sermon, or adapt it as you find most useful. But, if you use it, please do one (or more!) of the following.

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