The Weeping Tree

Small Group Questions

Use this outline for personal reflection, as a couple’s or family devotion, or with a small group.  

HANGOUT

• What are some of your family’s Easter traditions?
• Did you grow up in a church tradition that marked the days leading up to Easter (Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, etc.)?
• If you did mark those days, what stands out in your memory? If you didn’t, what did Easter typically focus on?

HEAR

Read Matthew 21:1–11 & Zechariah 9:9

1. What details stand out to you in Matthew’s account of Jesus entering Jerusalem?
2. Why is it significant that Matthew connects this moment to Zechariah’s prophecy?
3. What does riding on a donkey communicate about the kind of King Jesus is?

The crowd shouts “Hosanna!” (“Save us now!”). They spread cloaks and branches in the road. This is royal language. Yet Jesus enters humbly—on a donkey, not a warhorse.

• What kind of salvation do you think the crowd expected?
• How does Jesus redefine kingship in this moment?

HUDDLE

Imagine yourself in the crowd on Palm Sunday.

• If you had been there, what would you have expected Jesus to do?
• What would you have wanted from Him?

Now consider today:

• What do you expect Jesus to do in your life right now?
• What are you asking Him to “save you” from?

The people shouted “Hosanna,” but many misunderstood the kind of salvation He had come to bring.

• How does knowing what happened later that week—the cross, the suffering, the resurrection—reshape what we think Jesus came to do?
• How does the cross clarify what kind of King He truly is?

INVITATION

This week, take time each day to read and reflect on the final days of Jesus’ life, leading up to Silent Saturday.

• Set aside 10–15 minutes.
• Read slowly.
• Ask: What does this reveal about Jesus? About me?
• End in prayer.

Don’t skip the week to get to Sunday.

Walk with Jesus.

Daily Reading

Follow the day-by-day events that ended with Jesus’ crucifixion. Take time each day to reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice and His love for you.

• Day 1: Matthew 21:1-11 & Zechariah 9:9
• Day 2: Mark 11:15-19 & Isaiah 56:7
• Day 3: Matthew 22:15-46 & 23:1-12
• Day 4: Matthew 26:6-16 & John 12:1-8
• Day 5: Luke 22:14-23 & 39-46
• Day 6: John 19:16-30 & Isaiah 53
• Day 7: Matthew 27:57-66 & Psalm 130

Passage to Memorize:  1 John 3:16

Think Deeper

1. When did you first understand the significance of Jesus’ death on the cross?
2. As you reflect on the death of Jesus, what immediately comes to mind?
3. How has Jesus’ death changed your life?

Suggested Resources

No Wonder They Call Him Savior, by Max Lucado

Surprised by Hope, by N.T. Wright

The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey  

Check out these and other books from our suggested reading list at https://bit.ly/AspireSMB.