Yesterday was another glorious day in the land of Sunday School preschoolers. The lesson's focus was on the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ, when He rode into Jerusalem on the donkey. We began the morning coloring a picture and reading a story, both pertaining to Jesus' coming.
"When Jesus came into sight, the people started shouting, 'Hosanna! Hosanna!' and they laid down their coats and palm branches so He wouldn't have to walk on the dirt," the other teacher explained as she read the from the giant storybook. "The people were so excited to see Jesus!"
Then came the sounds of drums, rattles, bells, and clapping from down the hall. All the children gathered around the door and anxiously peered outside. A parade! One of the other classes was going through the halls with musical instruments, marching and yelling, "Hosanna!" as loud as they possibly could.
"Can we go? Can we? Please?" came the pleads from nearly every one of my students.
"Yes, yes. But you have to have instruments!" I grabbed the box of instruments from the cupboard and let them choose which ones they wanted. "Make sure you say 'Hosanna!' to everyone you see!"
I had barely finished my instructions when they ran out the door to jump into the group already proceeding. The other teacher went out ahead of me to monitor our class. I grabbed the few stragglers and brought them out. We made two loops around the halls, and as we were embarking on the second a group of adults from the church came downstairs ahead of us. They were dressed in robes and head coverings, to resemble those who had laid the palms in front of Jesus.
This made the kids ecstatic. It suddenly became real to them! After our parade, we went into what we call the Media Room. Here, we watched a short video about the Triumphal Entry and then my fellow teacher and I did a skit. Partway through the skit, the kids were jumping all around the toy horse and laying their paper palms down on the ground.
One little girl came up to me and, referring to the adults we'd seen in the halls, said, "I saw Hosanna! I saw Hosanna!" I have never seen her so excited.
It got me thinking. This little girl had indeed gotten the Name of Jesus mixed up with the word that the people used to praise Him. She called Him Hosanna instead of Jesus. But what a precious thing, because she fully understood that He was deserving of her praise. And at that moment there was nothing more that she wanted than to see Him.
Oh, to have the faith of a child! To see and believe. To understand that Jesus is Lord, and that He is the Lover of our souls. He came into Jerusalem for a divine purpose--the purpose to die for the people He made. He knew what He was going to face at Calvary. He knew the very people He came to save would reject and persecute Him. But He came. He came!
We should sing. We should rejoice! He came for us--and for Him we should cry, Hosanna!
