Here’s a recap from our Palm Sunday Service! Unfortunately, we don’t have pictures or video of when ‘Johnny 1’ fell off his chair…

 

Welcome and Prayer

Song: Make Way, Make Way!

Two Newsreaders, Johnny 1 and Johnny 2, are sitting behind the News Desk…

Johnny 1                 Good morning and welcome to HRBCtv News. I’m Johnny…

Johnny 2                 ..and I’m not.

Johnny 1                 The headlines tonight: Jesus has entered Jerusalem on a donkey.

Johnny 2                 Acting like a king, the crowds gathered and cheered him into the city but others are left wanting to know just where the donkey came from and who’s going to clean up the mess.

Johnny 1                 In other news.. In London, the Queen has spoken of her distress when she heard that Prince Charles had been misbehaving. She said she was having a bad heir day.

Johnny 2                 A thief was thwarted in Tesco Springhill by David Jenkins using a label gun. Police say they are looking for a man with a price on his head.

Johnny 1                 The funeral was held yesterday of HRBCtv’s joke writer. In tribute, one of his jokes was read out, and the congregation had a minutes silence.

Johnny 2                 Back to our main story – Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We can now go over to some of the local reporters in Jerusalem to ask them about what’s been going on…

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John enter stage

Johnny 2                 Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – thank you for joining us here today. Matthew, we’ll come to you first. What has been happening over there?

Matthew                Well, it really has been a quite extraordinary few days. Jesus and his disciples have just come from Jericho where Jesus healed a blind man..

Mark                        [interrupting] I believe his name was Bartimaeus..

Matthew                Thank you, Mark.. As I was saying, Jesus healed the blind man..

John                         [interrupting] .. and he had just raised his friend Lazarus from the dead – that was truly amazing!!

Matthew                Yes, John, thank you! They had just come from Jericho and were approaching Jerusalem when Jesus said to two of his disciples – Luke – you tell them..

Luke                         He said, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.  If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

Johnny 1                 That seems a bit of a strange thing to do – why did Jesus tell them to do that?

Matthew                Well, the prophet Zechariah had written “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey”

John                         [interrupting] So what he was going to do would be fulfilling prophesies about him..

Johnny 2                 So is that what happened?

Luke                         Yes – the two disciples went and found the donkey just as he had told them. As they were untying its colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” So they replied like they were told, “The Lord needs it.” And they brought it to Jesus.

Mark                        When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it and rode into the city. There was a large crowd gathered to see Jesus and they spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.

John                         [interrupting] They were palm branches.

Mark                        Are you sure?

John                         Yes.

Matthew                So Jesus made his way into Jerusalem and the crowds were singing and shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Luke                         It really was quite extraordinary.

Johnny 1                 It certainly sounds it – I think we’ll have to find out a bit more about this. Was everyone happy about what was going on?

John                         Well, some of the Pharisees were far from happy. In fact I don’t think we’ve heard the last of it..

Johnny 2                 Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – thank you for your time.

Matthew                [Just as the 4 of them are leaving] Don’t forget to plug our books!

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John leave the stage

Johnny 2                 Oh yes – [To the congregation] Matthew, Mark, Luke and John have all written accounts of this event and many other of the events in Jesus’ life in their self-titled books, available at all good Bible book shops now. Johnny…

Johnny 1                 Thanks Johnny… now, continuing to look at this intriguing story, we’re going to look a bit closer at the actions of the crowd and what they were shouting…

Johnny 2                 According to the reporter Matthew who we were just speaking to, the words were, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Matthew 21v9 – What’s all that about?? Hosanna?? Son of David??

Johnny 1                 Well, apparently, ‘Hosanna’ was a shout to show praise or adoration to God, recognising that Jesus (a descendant of King David) came to save us.

Johnny 2                 Mmmm ..  do you reckon the congregation could maybe read it out to us so that it would be like the crowd in Jerusalem?

Johnny 1                 It would have to be very loud though to be like the crowd. Let’s give it a go though. Ok – after 2 – 1… 2…

Congregation reads the verse several times in different ways

Johnny 2                 Well thanks for all your help folks – I think that’s safely stored away in my head now..

Johnny 1                 We’re going to go now to some adverts and a musical break but join us when we return for more up-to-the-minute news from ‘HRBCtv News’

The 2 Johnnies leave the stage

Song: Sing Hosanna!

Song: Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna  in the Highest!

The Two Johnnies are back behind the News Desk…

Johnny 1                 Welcome back to HRBCtv News where we’ve been looking at the events in Jerusalem where Jesus entered into the city on a donkey and large crowds gathered to welcome him as king.

Johnny 2                 We’ll come back to that news story shortly to see what the papers are saying about it, but first a roundup of other news. We’ve just heard that a juggernaut of onions has shed its load all over the M2 just outside Belfast. Motorists are advised to find a hard shoulder to cry on. Johnny…

Johnny 1                 Thanks Johnny. Some breaking news just coming in – The Irish bobsleigh team, nicknamed ‘The Finn McCool Runners’ are refusing to compete in the upcoming World Championships. Citing Health and Safety concerns, they say they won’t compete until the slopes are gritted. Johnny…

Johnny 2                 In the Irish Sea, a ship carrying red paint has collided with a ship carrying purple paint. It is believed that both crews have been marooned. Johnny…

Johnny 1                 Right, now the papers, and an awful lot of column inches have been taken up with Jesus’ so-called triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Let’s see what they’re saying – who have we got first?

 

Johnny 2                 Well, first the tabloids and we have ‘The Son’ who goes with the headline “The King has Come – The humble arrival of the man hailed as king”. They also note that the Pharisees aren’t happy with the latest turn of events. The front page also refers to the arrest of Barabbas – we’ll follow that closely in the coming days. And as you can see, there’s no excuse now for not hearing the good news. Their latest edition is available to download even to the ends of the earth.

 

Johnny 1                 The Daily Myrrh has “Palm SonDay” and talks about the large crowds who came out to greet the Galilean as he enters Jerusalem.. As you can see free download of our new series there Johnny. The Two Johnnies, now available … FOR KINDLES!

 

Johnny 2                 Moving on to the broadsheets and ‘The Jews Letter’, and an interesting comparison between the peaceful nature of Jesus and the previous leaders and Kings of the Jews who were more likely to be army men. It states “Jesus of Nazareth arrives in Jerusalem on a Donkey as crowds shout ‘Hosanna’ – Some say today’s events fulfil the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9 “The Coming of Zion’s King – See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey”. The donkey is an animal of peace, while the horse, is an animal of war. Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem, thus marks his entry as the Prince of Peace, not as a king about to go to war.”

 

Johnny 1                 Meanwhile, the Daily Pharisee takes a different point of view and see these goings on as the latest in a long line of stunts carried out by the Galilean troublemaker Jesus. Teachers of the Law are up-in-arms after Jesus of Nazareth entered the city of Jerusalem, welcomed by a small crowd singing ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord’. When challenged, Jesus refused to stop his supporters from shouting this, meaning he was effectively claiming to be the Messiah. Officials are looking at what form their reaction will take, but, with this not being the first time Jesus has troubled the authorities, it is believed that the strongest of sanctions could be taken. There’s also mention of some Jesus- related trouble in the temple and concerns over the activities of a tax-collector called Zacchaeus.

Johnny 2                 There certainly seems to be a lot of feeling stirred up by these events and there will be an HRBCtv special on this story after this broadcast. Johnny – over to you.

Johnny 1                 Thanks Johnny. Next on HRBCtv News, it’s competition time.

Johnny 2                 Hang on, since when did a news show have a quiz? It’s like we’re on Channel 5 or something.

Johnny 1                 We’re a very special News show. We’re ‘Cutting Edge’. Connecting with our viewers. OK?

Johnny 2                 OK – let’s do it. Quiz time!! So how do we work this?

Johnny 1                 It’s really quite simple – this side of the hall versus the other side. We’ll ask various age groups questions and whoever has the most points at the end wins.

Johnny 2                 So how do you get points?

Johnny 1                 Well, behold the ‘Palm Tree of Prizes’! Whenever you answer a question correctly, you get a prize and choose a palm leaf off the tree which has a number of points on the back that you win for your team.

Johnny 2                 OK – let’s go!

Quiz Questions: (Answers at the bottom…)

Primary School

Left Side:                1. What animal was Jesus riding when he entered Jerusalem?

Right Side:             2. What did the crowds put on the ground as he passed?

Secondary school

Left Side:                3. What did the crowds shout as Jesus passed?

Right Side:             4. How many disciples went and got the donkey?

20s30s

Left Side:                5. What miracle did Jesus perform the previous week?

Right Side:             6. What gospel do you find the story of Palm Sunday in?

Middle-Aged

Left Side:                7. Where was our memory verse from?

Right Side:             8. What was our memory verse?

Retirement age

Left Side:                9. In what Old Testament verse is Jesus Triumphal Entry prophesied?

Right Side:             10. What does the word ‘Hosanna’ mean?

Johnny 1                 So, Johnny, as we come to the end of this episode of HRBCtv News, we’re left to reflect on the events of the day – the Entry into Jerusalem on a donkey by Jesus of Nazareth.

Johnny 2                 Yes, Johnny, was it the entry of a king, a Messiah, or a troublemaker and blasphemer. One thing’s for sure – we haven’t heard the last of this. Please join us after the musical break for that HRBCtv News Special on these intriguing events.

Johnny 1                 [Taps together his script] So, it’s a very good morning from me..

Johnny 2                 and a good morning from him.

Johnny 1 and Johnny 2  Good Morning!

Song: Who’s the king of the Jungle?

Prayer

Kids to the front for the talk..

So… Palm Sunday!

That’s when everyone paints the palms of their hands purple and waves them around and go “Yay for Palms” isn’t it?? No?

Oh sorry.. Oh that’s it! Palm Sunday’s a special day for people called Pam. So whenever you see someone you know called Pam, you give them presents and big hugs and… that’s not it, is it??

What is it about then? What other sorts of Palm are there?

Oh that’s right – you’d almost think I hadn’t been here for the last half an hour! Palm branches – Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a donkey and the crowd put Palm branches down.

But hang on, let’s start at the beginning..

Jesus was approaching Jerusalem and where did he get the donkey from?

That’s right – the disciples got it for him – Jesus told them ‘Right – go this house and there’ll be a donkey there – bring it here for me. If anyone asks- say ‘It’s for the Lord’ and they’ll let you take it..’

And then Jesus rode on the donkey into Jerusalem but he wasn’t alone, was he? Who was there?

Yes – there was a big crowd of people there shouting ‘Hosanna, Hosanna!’ and laying down palm branches and their cloaks on the road for him to ride on as he rode into the city.

And who wasn’t happy about the whole thing?

That’s right – the Pharisees and the teachers of the law didn’t like all this attention that Jesus was getting or his claims to be God’s son.

But let’s think about the main people in the story:

First of all, Jesus…

Here was Jesus who had spent the last three years teaching people about God, performing miracles and changing people’s lives – just the week before he had raised one of his best friends, Lazarus, from the dead!

Years and years before, a man called Zechariah had been told by God to tell his people about a king who was coming who would be ‘righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey’. And he was talking about Jesus. Jesus was righteous – which means holy and without sin – and he was lowly, or humble, because he is God and he left heaven and gave up everything to come down to earth as a man.

Now, the people were probably expecting this king to go to the palace and dress in fine robes and then gather armies together to make them a powerful country.

But Jesus wasn’t going to be that sort of king.

A donkey, as the news guys were telling us earlier, is a symbol of peace – he wasn’t going to war.

And how about the Palm branches? Do you know, back in ancient Rome, the palm branch was a symbol of triumph, of winning so all these people waving the branches, or spreading them out on the road, was kind of saying that Jesus had won!

But if he wasn’t going to win a war, what was he going to win?

Can anyone tell me what happens next week? Easter

And what is Easter about? There are Easter Eggs and lots of chocolate and all but that’s not why we remember Easter. Easter is when we remember when Jesus died on a cross for all the bad things that we have done and was then raised back to life and went back to be with God in heaven.

Because he died for our sins, for all the things that we do wrong, it means that we can be forgiven and be with Him in heaven, so Jesus won over sin – that’s where he was victorious.

So Jesus entered Jerusalem as a victorious king and was doing what was foretold by the prophet Zechariah.

Now, how about the disciples? Jesus told two of them to go ahead to the next village and they’d find a donkey and they were to bring it to them to him. Oh, and if anyone asks, just tell them that the Lord needs it and they’ll be grand.

These guys didn’t have mobile phones to phone ahead, or the internet to check for local suppliers of donkeys, so I think I’d be like ‘Are you sure? I’ll just go and there’ll be a donkey there??’

But the two disciples went and did what he asked because they trusted Jesus because they were realising more and more that Jesus was God.

Next there was the crowd. They had all heard about what Jesus had done with Lazarus and had gathered to see this man Jesus and they recognised that he was going to be their king, although maybe they didn’t realise that he wasn’t going to be the sort of king they were expecting.

They shouted ‘Hosanna, Hosanna’ to praise him but do you know what? Less than a week later, they were shouting for Jesus to be killed. How sad is that?

And then there were the Pharisees they denied who Jesus was – they said that this man was a king – they were happy with the laws and rules that they had created and enjoyed the power they had and weren’t wanting to give all that up.

And how about us?

We might not be in the story, but we are like one of the characters in the story – we have to decide who Jesus is and how that affects who we are.

Are we like the Pharisees, who refuse to accept that Jesus is God, is King, and we just go on living the way we want to.

Or are we like the crowd, who cheered Jesus as King but when it came to it, didn’t let it affect their lives? Do we do that say that Jesus is our God, but don’t take time to pray, to read his Bible or do as he tells us to do?

Or are we like the disciples – do we accept Jesus as King of our lives, do we trust Him and do as he asks?

So this Easter, as we remember how Jesus dies on the cross for all the wrong things we have done, we need to decide who we’re like – the Pharisee, the crowd, or the disciples and I pray that you will decide to be like the disciples who trust Jesus as God and King.

Song: The King of love is my delight

Closing Prayer

 

 

Quiz Answers:

1. Donkey
2. Cloaks and/or Palm Leaves/branches
3. Hosanna etc.
4. Two
5. Raised Lazarus from the dead
6. All of them – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
7. Matthew 21v9
8. “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
9. Zechariah 9v9
10. It’s an expression of praise to God