Read an Excerpt

Jesus' Greatest Moments

Zondervan

Chapter One

ICEBREAKER

Describe the places in the world where you feel most welcome ... and least welcome.

What factors make you feel welcome?

Before you read the following story, it'll help to know that Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem for his final week of life. He purposely decides to go to the power center of his enemies (religious Jewish leaders), knowing he must die. His popularity has grown, his reputation is enormous, yet his reception is mixed....

Read Matthew 21:1-11

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

"Say to the Daughter of Zion,
'See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. A very large crowd spreadtheir cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

"Hosanna to the Son of David!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?"

The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

DISCUSS!

1. During the largest religious festival of the year, the Passover, Jerusalem would swell to ten times its normal population. After reading this story, imagine you were a part of that crowd. How would you describe the sights, smells, sounds, and emotions of the day?

2. Jesus chooses to enter Jerusalem on a donkey. In Jesus' day, a king would ride to war on a horse, while riding a donkey would be a sign of peace. What significance does Matthew's quote from the Old Testament prophet Zechariah point out about this event?

3. What do you think Jesus wanted to communicate about himself here?

4. Why would the crowd give Jesus such a grand reception?

Read Matthew 21:12-17

Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'"

The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant.

"Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him.

"Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read,

"'From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise'?"

And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

DISCUSS!

5. Jesus is always full of surprises and in the center of controversy. Here we see him visiting the temple. In the outer court (reserved for the non-Jews, or "Gentiles," who worshiped God), he finds hordes of merchants selling animals for the holy Passover sacrifice and exchanging currency. Why might this upset him?

6. Consider the things Jesus did in the temple at the end of this vignette. How does the work of Jesus in the temple compare to that of the merchants he drove out?

7. The merchants wrongly allowed business to crowd out the work of God in the non-Jews (Gentiles). What kinds of things crowd out the work of God in people's lives today?

8. Why do you think the religious elite are ticked off when children recognize Jesus' amazing power and praise him?

9. Notice Jesus' response: he quotes a psalm that refers to the natural way children praise God. What is he saying about himself here?

REALITY CHECK

On a scale of 1 (least receptive) to 10 (most receptive), rank each group's response to Jesus and tell why you chose that rank.

Initial Crowd

Temple Merchants

Children

Blind and Lame

Religious Leaders

On the same scale, how receptive have you been to God this past year-and why?

In what ways can you increase your receptiveness to God during the next six weeks?

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Jesus' Greatest Moments by Mark Ashton
Copyright © 2002 by Zondervan
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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