Palm Sunday
Story for Family Service
Once upon a time
in a village near the city of Jerusalem, the village of Bethphage; a little
donkey was born in the pasture. And that
donkey was called by his owner, Shorty, because he was so tiny when he was
born.
But the donkey’s
mom, called him Christopher. When
Christopher became old enough to talk to his mom, he asked her, "Why does
my owner call me Shorty, even now when I've grown to be a tall and strong
donkey?" Christopher's mom said,
"Well once you get a name, it sometimes just sticks and people won't let
you be anything else."
Christopher asked
his mom, "Then why do you call me Christopher?" His mom said, "Well, I'm not sure but I
just had this feeling that it was the right name for you."
Christopher
looked in the other pasture and he saw a beautiful big stallion prancing
around. He saw important Roman Generals
ride this beautiful horse. And
Christopher thought, "I wish that someone important would ride on my back
some day. And Christopher was a little
jealous of the stallion.
But one day
something exciting happened to Christopher.
Two visitors came to the farm where Christopher was kept. They called themselves disciples of Jesus, and they said there was
going to be a parade into the great city of Jerusalem. They also said that they needed a donkey to
carry their king. Christopher's owner
Farmer Jacob, said, "I've got two donkeys, that jennet over there and her
colt that I call "Shorty." If
Jesus needs the donkeys, take them.
Jesus is my friend, he healed my son, and I owe him everything I
have."
So the two
disciples took Christopher and his mom with them and they went to a place just
in front of the sheep gate in Jerusalem.
There was a large crowd gathered who had come to Jerusalem for the
Passover Holiday. After waiting for about
an hour, the crowd soon got excited.
Jesus arrived and it was time for the parade to start. The people put some robes on Christopher to
make a saddle for Jesus. Christopher had
never been ridden before, and he was nervous.
But Christopher's mom said, "Calm down, Jesus is the nicest man in
the world. You don't need to buck him
off."
Jesus climbed up
on the back of Christopher and the parade started. The people took some branches from some palm
trees and they began to wave and shout and scream, because their superstar was
there. They followed Jesus as he was
riding Christopher into the city of Jerusalem and Christopher trotted proudly
through the streets. This was the
happiest day of his life. At night, he
and his mom were tied up at the house of one of the disciples in
Jerusalem. Christopher's mom was proud
of him and she said, "Well now I know why I named you Christopher. "Christopher" means, "the one
who carries Christ." And today you
have carried Christ on your back, so today you have lived up to your
name." Christopher was so happy he
wanted hee haw with joy. But his
happiness didn't last too long.
He looked out on
the street and he saw another parade. In
the darkness he saw a tired and naked Jesus walking with soldiers. And the soldiers were forcing him to carry
this large wooden cross on his back. He
was bleeding and he was too weak to carry the cross, so at one place they
forced a man named Simon to carry the cross for Jesus. The people who were following the soldiers
were laughing and making fun of Jesus.
They were saying, "you're going to die Jesus. You were just pretending to be a king, but
you don't have any power, you're going to die Jesus."
Christopher ran
to his mom and said, "If I had known that this would happen to Jesus, I
would not have brought him to Jerusalem."
Christopher's mom
said, "It is a terrible, terrible thing, but we must trust God. Jesus is the best and nicest person who ever
lived and God will take care of him."
Well, Jesus went
on to die on the cross. And he was
buried in a grave. But the story
does not end here. Come back next week
and we will tell you the end of the story.
What happened to Jesus after he died and was put in the grave?
What was the
donkey's name? Christopher. What does Christopher mean? It means "The one who carries
Christ." In a way, every Christian
could be called Christopher. Because you
and I are asked to carry the presence of Christ into this world by being loving and kind. Amen.
