What would it look like to walk through this week deliberately — not letting the most consequential week in history pass like an ordinary one?

Kent listed the weeks that changed the world. October 1962, when the Cuban Missile Crisis brought us as close to nuclear war as we have ever come, and sanity prevailed. July 1969, when America put men on the moon and brought them home. November 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down and an empire began to crumble on live television. And a week in Genesis 1, date unknown, when God spoke and everything that exists came into being. World-changing weeks, every one. But the week that changed the world most, he said, was the one that began with a man riding a borrowed donkey into Jerusalem while a crowd threw their coats on the road and shouted Hosanna. By Friday that same crowd would be shouting something else entirely. This is the week Christians have organized their calendars, their worship

Where have you been waiting for God to show up impressively, and possibly missing how he is actually arriving?

Everything about the entry is deliberate. Jesus sends two disciples for a specific animal in a specific village, because a prophet had described this scene five hundred years earlier and he intends to fulfill it exactly. And what the prophet described is a king on a donkey. Conquering kings rode horses. A horse said war, power, tribute. A donkey said something else entirely. Jesus stages his own coronation and chooses the least impressive animal available, on purpose, because he is announcing what kind of king he is before he says a word. Humble. Mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. We should let that land, because we still expect God to show up in the impressive thing — the big break, the obvious answer, the dramatic rescue. And he keeps arriving humble, in t

If someone asked you today, 'Who is this?' — would your honest answer be bigger than 'a good teacher'? What would it cost you if it were?

When he entered Jerusalem, Matthew says, the whole city was stirred up, asking one question: "Who is this?" It is the question the entire week exists to answer. The crowd's answer is not wrong, exactly. "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee." True as far as it goes. He was a prophet. He was from Nazareth. But it is the kind of answer that is accurate and still too small — the sort of thing you could say about him and walk away unchanged. And that may be the most dangerous place to stand. Not hostility. Approximate accuracy. Jesus the good teacher. Jesus the moral example. Jesus the prophet from Galilee. All true, all insufficient, all leaving you exactly where you were. The city was stirred but not converted. A week later most of them had moved on. The question has not

What have you been asking Jesus to save you from? What if he intends to save you from something deeper first?

Five days. That is all it took. Sunday: coats on the road, palm branches, Hosanna to the Son of David. Friday: the same city, quite possibly some of the same voices, shouting "Crucify him." What happened? Hosanna means "save us now." They wanted saving — from Rome, from taxes, from occupation. They had a very specific rescue in mind, and for a few days it looked like Jesus was going to deliver it. When it became obvious he had come to save them from something else entirely, the cheering stopped. The crowd did not turn on him because he failed. They turned on him because he would not be used. Before we get self-righteous about it, it is worth asking honestly what we are shouting Hosanna for. There is a version of faith that follows Jesus enthusiastically right up until he declines to f

Where do you need to pray the second half of that prayer today — not just 'remove this cup,' but 'nevertheless, your will be done'?

Today is Good Friday. Before the trial, before the nails, there is a garden and a man on his face asking his Father to find another way. "If you are willing, remove this cup from me." We should not rush past that. Jesus did not want to do this. The cup was real, and he asked to be spared it. Whatever else the cross is, it was not easy for him and he did not pretend otherwise. And then: "Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." That sentence is where our salvation was decided. Not at the moment of death but at the moment of surrender, in the dark, with no crowd watching and no one awake to see it. The disciples slept through the most important prayer ever prayed. Every honest prayer you have ever prayed has both halves in it — the asking and the yielding. He prayed it first, and

Kent listed weeks that changed the world — Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the moon landing, the Berlin Wall coming down — and then argued the most momentous was the week beginning that Sunday in 33 AD. What would have to be true about Jesus for that claim to hold up?

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the most significant week in human history - the week that changed everything. Discover why March 29th through April 5th, 33 AD transformed the world forever. This p…

Jesus sent two disciples to untie somebody else's donkey with nothing but "the Lord needs them." Kent's version was going to get a brand-new F-150 outside the Cheesecake Factory and saying the pastor has need of it, and he got no volunteers. What is that errand actually asking of the disciples?

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the most significant week in human history - the week that changed everything. Discover why March 29th through April 5th, 33 AD transformed the world forever. This p…

Kent pointed out that Jesus chose a colt and not a war horse — a symbol of peace, not war. What kind of king do you think the crowd shouting Hosanna wanted, and how does the animal he picked correct them?

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the most significant week in human history - the week that changed everything. Discover why March 29th through April 5th, 33 AD transformed the world forever. This p…

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From Hosanna to Crucify Him · Group Guide

Kent Keller Sunday, March 29, 2026 Matthew 21:1-11

Icebreaker

Think of one week in your own life that everything after it looks different because of. What happened, and how long did it take you to realize it mattered?

Discussion Questions

1
Kent listed weeks that changed the world — Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the moon landing, the Berlin Wall coming down — and then argued the most momentous was the week beginning that Sunday in 33 AD. What would have to be true about Jesus for that claim to hold up?
2
Jesus sent two disciples to untie somebody else's donkey with nothing but "the Lord needs them." Kent's version was going to get a brand-new F-150 outside the Cheesecake Factory and saying the pastor has need of it, and he got no volunteers. What is that errand actually asking of the disciples?
3
Kent pointed out that Jesus chose a colt and not a war horse — a symbol of peace, not war. What kind of king do you think the crowd shouting Hosanna wanted, and how does the animal he picked correct them?
4
Kent asked the same question four times: what would you lay at his feet — your praises, your questions, your pains, your rejections? Which of those four is actually in your hands right now?
5
Kent called himself a recovering skeptic who "speaks skeptic," and said real questions are welcome here. But he also warned that some people keep their doubts as a smoke screen so they never have to do business with God. Which of those two does your own questioning look more like?
6
Kent flipped S.M. Lockridge's line into "It's Sunday, but Friday's coming" — the same voices shouting Hosanna would be shouting crucify him within the week. Where does your own enthusiasm for Jesus usually run out, and what is one thing you will do before next Sunday to keep it from going that way?

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From Hosanna to Crucify Him · Group Guide

Discussion Questions

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