Read: Matthew 21:1-11; John 3:16-18

Arlo giggled as his sister Marni raised her palm branch over his head. “Save me! Aunt Lori, Marni is going to rule over me!”

Aunt Lori called to the kids from the deck. “Quit playing with those. Come on, let’s eat lunch.”

Arlo and Marni groaned. They tossed their palm leaves to the side and trudged up the steps. “Those branches are perfect for sword fighting,” said Marni. “Why can’t we play with them?”

“Yeah,” Arlo added. “We got them in church, but all we did was wave them around and lay them on the floor. It was boring.”

Uncle Damien brought out plates of sandwiches. “Do you even know why you got them?” he asked as he set the food down.

The kids shrugged and said in unison, “Palm Sunday.”’

Uncle Damien nodded. “A week before Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He entered Jerusalem on a donkey. The people laid down their cloaks and palm leaves as He rode through the city to honor Him as the Messiah—the Savior God had promised. Every year on the Sunday before Easter, we celebrate that day by remembering that Jesus is the humble King who came to save us.”

Marni thought about the church service earlier. “But why did the pastor have us say ‘hosanna’? What does that mean?”

“Actually, it’s kind of like what Arlo exclaimed when you beat him in your game earlier,” said Aunt Lori.

“I joked that you had to save me from Marni’s oppressive rule,” said Arlo.

“And hosanna means just that,” Aunt Lori said. “It’s a word meaning ‘save us’ in the language Jesus spoke.”

“And He did just that,” Uncle Damien said. “When Jesus died on the cross, He took the punishment for sin we deserved. Then when He rose from the grave, He conquered death so we could have eternal life with Him. The moment we trust in Him, He frees us from the oppressive rule of sin and death and makes us right with God.”

“Wow!” Arlo exclaimed. “We should shout hosanna more often!”

–Zoe Brickner

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