Main Verse:

Matthew 21:5-5 (NLT) “Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey– riding on a donkey’s colt.’”

Proverbs 16:18-18 (NLT) Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.

Additional Scriptures:

Philippians 2:3-8

Materials:

• Microwave Oven that can be set up in the room so everyone can see it.
• Table
• Marshmallow Peeps (alternatively you can use a regular marshmallow and teach this lesson any time of year.)
• Plate

Preparation:

All microwaves vary, so practice ahead of time by microwaving a Peep to determine how long to leave it in.  I recommend starting with 30 seconds.

Object Lesson:

Who can tell me what it means to be proud?  (Allow for answers).  Yeah, it means that someone is bragging about themselves.  They might talk about how they are the best basketball player on the team or the best dancer in their class or brag that they are the smartest one in the class. They might say these things about themselves even if it isn’t 100% true.  They sort of puff themselves up a bit to make themselves feel like they are better than everyone else.  

What is the opposite of being proud?  That’s right, it’s being humble.  Jesus was the best example of a humble person.  He didn’t act like He was better than everyone else.  In fact, there was a prophecy about Jesus which said Matthew 21:5-5 (NLT) “Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey– riding on a donkey’s colt.’”  Today on Palm Sunday, we celebrate when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people wanted Him to be their king.  But they didn’t realize that Jesus wasn’t your average king.   

Now, most kings were very proud.  What kinds of things do kings usually have? (Allow for answers: jewels, money, throne, robe, castle, carriage, etc).  They would be proud of all of their money and their fancy clothes and their carriages and big houses as well as their power.   But Jesus didn’t have any of that. Do you think Jesus could have had all of that stuff if he wanted to?  (Allow for answers).  Absolutely!  But He didn’t come to be an earthly king, he came to save us from our sins.  The Bible says in Phillippians 2:5-8 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.  Even though Jesus was God, he gave up his privileges as God and became a human being.  He took a humble position as a slave.  He obeyed God by dying on the cross for our sins.   

(Put the Peep on the plate and put it into the microwave).  Let’s pretend this Peep is a proud person.  (Turn the microwave on for 30 seconds).  They brag and brag and make themselves sound better than everyone else.  (Open the microwave to show the Peep that is all puffed up.  The Peep will start to deflate).  Uh-oh!  What’s happening to this Peep?  He’s going down.  He was too proud and you know what happened, he fell down.  The Bible tells us to watch out because pride comes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall.  That means that when we are proud we are not following the example of Jesus and things can go wrong in our lives!  There can be a consequence.  If we are too proud, God might have to teach us a lesson so that we can learn to be humble.  God wants us to care more about others than ourselves, the way that Jesus did.