TEXT: Luke 19:29-40

“Jesus, we love You! Jesus, we praise You! Hosanna, Hosanna!” Many people were standing beside the road. They were clapping their hands and singing praises to the Lord. People had come from all around to see Jesus. They were happy because Jesus had come to their city of Jerusalem. Some of the people spread out their coats on the dusty road. Others cut down palm branches from nearby trees and waved them in the air as Jesus rode by on a donkey.

Two of Jesus’ disciples had borrowed the donkey from a man who lived in a small village. They had told the man that the Lord needed it, so he let them use it. He was happy to do this for Jesus. The disciples put their coats on the donkey’s back so Jesus would have a nice place to sit. They wanted to do whatever they could for Jesus.

As He rode through the city, Jesus could see how excited the people were. He could hear them praising God for all the miracles they had seen. They were filled with joy. The people who loved Jesus were praising Him and saying, “Blessed is the King! Peace on earth.” They wanted Jesus to be their King.

Some of the Pharisees complained to Jesus. They told Jesus to tell His friends to stop saying these things. The Pharisees were important people in Jerusalem and they thought Jesus should do whatever they said. But Jesus knew that this was a very important time. He told the Pharisees, “These people need to praise Me. If they don’t, then the stones will praise Me.”

What a strange thing for Jesus to say. Have you ever heard a stone talk? That would certainly be an amazing thing to hear. But why should the stones have to praise Jesus when we can praise Him? Aren’t you glad that Jesus made us so we could love Him and praise Him in everything we say? And just like those people so many years ago, we can say, “Jesus, we love You! Jesus, we praise You! Hosanna!”

As the Easter season approaches, we begin a unit emphasizing ways we worship our King. This lesson deals specifically with ways we worship Jesus with our words.

If your child has mastered his writing skills sufficiently, he may enjoy doing some activities with words which focus on this theme. Prepare a simple word-find for your child, arranging the letters to “praise words” or words descriptive of Jesus (love, good, blessed, special, kind, tender, etc.), arranging the words so they go forward, backward, and diagonally.

Or you might wish to take the words, ”We Praise Our King,” and write them down the left margin of the paper. Encourage your child to write words which begin with each of the letters and tell of things for which he praises Jesus.

FAMILY DEVOTIONS