THE EASTER TRILOGY: Belief Before Miracles: The Palm Sunday Question / Holy Week Conversations

"Do you believe this?" Jesus' profound question to Martha before raising her brother Lazarus reverberates throughout Palm Sunday's celebration and directly into our lives today. When faced with impossible situations, do we trust Jesus before seeing the miracle?

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, but the story actually begins with a pivotal miracle—Lazarus' resurrection from the dead. Martha's declaration of faith before seeing her brother alive again demonstrates genuine belief in Jesus' identity, not just His abilities. This same question confronts us: Do we believe Jesus is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do?

The Palm Sunday celebration itself reveals something fascinating about human nature. While crowds enthusiastically welcomed Jesus with palm branches and shouts of "Hosanna," their motivations varied dramatically. Some had witnessed Lazarus' resurrection and believed wholeheartedly. Others followed political hopes or simply joined the excitement. Most telling was what happened afterward—when adults returned to their regular lives, the children continued worshiping Jesus in the temple. Their unwavering, childlike faith challenges us to examine our own belief. Do we praise Jesus only in celebratory moments or consistently through all seasons of life?

Personal stories of faith challenges, like Tosha’s experience with her desperately ill daughter, remind us that believing isn't always easy, but it's transformative. In those critical moments when circumstances seem impossible, Jesus still asks, "Do you believe this?" The answer shapes not only our relationship with him but our ability to pass authentic faith to the next generation. Join us for this Easter trilogy as we journey through Holy Week's most significant moments and discover how they transform our families today. What do you truly believe about Jesus?

______________________

The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.

Family Disciple Me is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Family Disciple Me podcast.
Hi, my name is Tasha Williamsand I'm here with my friend,
wendy Hickox.
Hi, tasha, I'm so excited to bepart of this special Easter
trilogy.
It's a three-part journeythrough the biggest moments of
the Holy Week, including PalmSunday, good Friday and Easter

(00:24):
Sunday.
And actually, tasha, we'rekicking things off with Palm
Sunday, a day when peopleshouted and celebrated Jesus as
King.
But Palm Sunday, it's not just ahistory lesson.
It asks us a really personalquestion Do we believe that's
right?
You know, wendy, I remember atime when I was at a parade.

(00:44):
I was caught up in theexcitement of the crowd.
It was so fun.
Everyone was cheering andwaving and celebrating.
It was contagious.
But I've also experiencedmoments where I've stood alone,
and I've stood alone in my faithwhen I had to decide for myself
do I really believe in Jesus,no matter what others do?

(01:07):
And that's what today'sconversation is about.
And that's such a powerfulconnection, tasha, because on
Palm Sunday there was this hugecrowd celebrating Jesus, but not
all of them truly believed.
Some were just going along withthe excitement, while others
had experienced Jesus' powerfirsthand, especially those who

(01:29):
had just witnessed one of themost incredible miracles.
That's where our scripturecomes in today.
In John, chapter 11, verses 25and 26, jesus says I am the
resurrection and the life.
Do you believe this?
That's the big question.

(01:49):
Yes, that's the really bigquestion.
So well, let's roll the podcastintro and then dive into what
happened just before Palm Sunday, because it sets the stage for
everything.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Welcome to the Family Disciple Me podcast.
If you have a real relationshipwith Jesus, then you're in the
right place to be encouraged,challenged and blessed as you
seek Him, speak Him.
The mission of the FamilyDisciple Me ministry is to
inspire devotion-drivendiscipleship, which is something
we believe every Christfollower can do.

(02:25):
Discipleship starts with aconversation, so let's get going
with that right now.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
Have you ever had a moment in life when you said I
can't believe that just happened?
Maybe it was a crazy event oran unexpected blessing, or
something that you didn't thinkyou'd ever see, or maybe a
really hard situation where Godshowed up in ways you never saw

(02:53):
coming?
That's exactly the kind ofmoment that led up to Palm
Sunday.
Jesus had just done somethingunbelievable and the people who
saw it couldn't stop talkingabout it.
So well, wendy, let's talkabout it ourselves.
It's the story of Lazarus.
You know, just before PalmSunday, jesus' friend Lazarus

(03:15):
died.
Many of us are familiar withthat story.
Yes, lazarus' sister, there's aword for you.
Lazarus' sisters, mary andMartha, they were grieving.
They had been desperate forJesus to come help their brother
and yet he didn't come.
Quote in time.
Well, now he finally shows up,and when he arrives, he doesn't

(03:40):
just comfort them, he makes areally bold statement.
He sure did.
He said in the first that'squoted in John 11, 25 through 26
, I am the resurrection and life.
Do you believe this?
Imagine Mary and Martha in thatmoment.
Their brother, their preciousbrother, is dead.

(04:02):
Wendy, your family has one son,just like my family has one son
.
And the sisters in both of ourfamilies.
They love their brothers right,they love their brother.
If this was a story in ourfamilies, we know that our girls
would respond the exact sameway that Mary and Martha did.

(04:23):
They would be heartbroken, andMary and Martha were heartbroken
.
But Jesus is standing in frontof them and in this moment he's
asking them if they believe inhim before anything has even
changed, before any miracle haseven begun to happen.
And really isn't that themoment when our faith is really

(04:46):
tested, Tasha?
It sure is.
You know, I remember asituation like this in my own
life.
I remember the day, I actuallyremember the hour and exactly
where I was standing when Jesusasked me the question that he
asked Mary and Martha.
It wasn't that I had a childthat was dead, but I had a child

(05:07):
who was desperately ill.
She was so sick, Wendy, thatshe had gone from an athlete to
practically an invalid.
And there was a moment in timewhen I felt like God said to me
Tasha, I have the ability toheal her.
Do you believe this Really?

(05:29):
I can't even imagine standingin that space and having that
question under the circumstancesthat you were dealing with, and
we'd been praying for so long.
We had so much wanted Jesus toshow up and heal her.
And yet nothing had happened,Nothing had changed.
And there, in that moment thatday, Jesus said to me I have the

(05:51):
power and the ability to healher.
Do you believe this?
That was one of the most uniqueexperiences of my whole life so
far.
And that's the experience thatMary and Martha had.
Except the stakes were evenhigher Because at this point in
the story, their brother wasn'tjust sick, he was dead.

(06:14):
Yes, what a desperatelydifficult scenario Thing is.
When Jesus said John 11, heasked his sisters if they
believed what he said.
Martha answered yes, and heranswer it was more than about
her brother Lazarus.
Her belief was in Jesus himself.
She told him I believe you arethe Messiah, the Son of God.

(06:36):
And here's the thing AfterMartha expressed that belief in
Jesus, he did the impossible.
He raised Lazarus from the dead,absolutely.
No wonder people were talking.
They had just seen proof thatJesus wasn't just making empty
claims.
He had real power over life anddeath.

(06:59):
Jesus didn't just say he wasthe resurrection and the life,
he proved it.
The beautiful thing is thatMartha chose to believe him even
before she experienced thatmiracle.
This makes me think about myown life and I bet it makes our
audience think about their lifeas well.
When God has asked you to trusthim before you even know how

(07:24):
things will turn out, that'sright.
That's right.
So here's what happened next,word about Lazarus spread the
people who saw this miracle.
They couldn't keep quiet.
They told everyone about whatJesus had done.
That's why Palm Sunday was sucha big celebration.
It wasn't just about theprophecy being fulfilled, it was

(07:45):
about real people who had seenJesus's power firsthand.
But here's the thing, wendy, noteveryone in the crowd believed
Jesus.
Some were just caught up in themoment, like people at a parade
.
Some were hoping he'd be apolitical ruler, maybe, like
this was a political rally orsomething.
Some would actually later turnagainst him.

(08:08):
Isn't it easy to go along withthe crowd?
But really, tasha, faith isabout a personal decision.
The same question Jesus askedMartha is the question he asked
each of us today.
Yes, that question do youbelieve this?
And herein lies the deepest,most important question what do

(08:31):
you believe about Jesus?
Do you believe what the Biblesays about him?
Do you believe what he saysabout himself in the Bible?
When have you had to stand firmin your faith, even when other
people didn't or wouldn'tbelieve what you've chosen to
believe about Jesus?
These are great questions tothink about and ponder.

(08:54):
One of my favorite details aboutPalm Sunday is what happened
after this big celebration.
Yes, I love this part, wendy,because the big crowd, all the
grown-ups, I like to say theyeventually went home.
I can see them going back towork, you know, back to their
houses, back to their fishingnets, whatever their lives held
at that point.

(09:14):
But the children?
They kept worshiping Jesus.
Matthew 21, 14.
Well, it tells us that evenwhen the adults moved on, the
kids kept singing Hosanna to theson of David.
I love that.
It reminds me of how kids havesuch bold, simple faith.

(09:35):
They don't overcomplicatethings, they just trust and
worship Jesus for who he is,that childlike faith that we all
should have.
I think that's a challenge forus.
Do we keep praising Jesus evenwhen the crowd dies down?
Do we believe in him on thehard days, not just the exciting

(09:56):
ones?
That's the kind of faith I wantto pass down to the next
generation, wendy, the kind offaith that doesn't waver no
matter what.
So, tasha, I want to go back tothe story you mentioned at the
beginning.
What happened in your life whenJesus asked you in that
difficult situation regardingyour child?

(10:16):
Do you believe?
Did you believe, that he couldheal her?
Well, honestly, I said to himwhat some of the disciples said
to him along the way.
Lord, I believe please help myunbelief.
And while that was such apivotal moment in my life and in

(10:36):
my family's life.
How was it such a pivotalmoment Like what happened next?
Well, after months and monthsand months of desperately
difficult struggle for which thedoctors couldn't provide us any
answers or any cure, I think itwas about a day after that
moment when God was just askingme that question over and over

(11:00):
again Do you believe this?
I got a text from my daughter.
She was in Mexico on a missiontrip and she texted me because
she couldn't call me from there.
She texted me on her friend'sphone, no less, because her
phone didn't work there either.
She said Mom, you're not goingto believe this, but God healed
me last night.

(11:21):
What, oh my goodness?
I can only imagine hearingthose words on the other line,
or reading those words actually,those words on the other line,
or reading those words actually,since she was texting you.
What that must have felt like,because it comes full circle
back around to that question Doyou believe, even before

(11:45):
anything has happened?
And you did, and he healed.
He healed her, and it is anamazing story.
There were dozens of witnessesand I just have to tell you,
wendy, I couldn't stop crying.
I was so overwhelmed with God'skindness to us.
That's another story foranother time, but for now the
point is that God gave us amiracle, but before he gave it

(12:07):
to us we had to believe that heis the miracle.
I can only imagine that that wasquite a celebration it was, and
actually it still is, but inthe same way and actually in an
even million times greater way.
Palm Sunday was a day of joyand celebration.

(12:28):
However, it was also a momentof decision.
Some people chose to believe inJesus.
Some people, like Martha, choseto believe in Jesus before the
miracle.
Some people chose to believe inJesus after they'd seen the
miracle.
Others, well, they justfollowed because of the crowd.

(12:48):
And that is exactly why thisconversation matters, because
our faith it's not just for us,it's something we're called to
pass on to the next generation.
Can you imagine the opportunitythat Martha and Mary and all
the friends and familysurrounding that miracle,

(13:12):
surrounding that miracle?
Can you imagine the opportunitythat they had to share their
Jesus story and pass it on tothe next generation?
Incredible, yes.
Being in that moment seemsunfathomable.
I can't even imagine what thatwould look like.
But, moms and dads, this weeklet's have this conversation
with our kids.
Let's talk about why we believein Jesus.

(13:33):
Let's share those stories andwhy Palm Sunday still matters
today.
We talk with Family, discipleMe a lot about the theme Seek
Him, seek Him, speak him.
So this week, let's share withour kids, let's share with our
family or with people that we'rein relationship, why we believe

(13:54):
in Jesus, and then we can askthem what do you believe about
Jesus?
And not only that, wendy.
Let's look for a moment topraise Jesus together, just like
the kids in the temple did,absolutely Having that childlike
faith that was showed in thatsituation.
This is just the beginning ofour Easter trilogy.

(14:15):
Next time we're going to talkabout Good Friday, the day Jesus
gave his life for us.
As we go into this week, let'stake time for each of these
conversations, let's praiseJesus, let's reflect on his
question do you believe?
And let's share our faith withthe next generation Friends.

(14:37):
If this conversation encouragedyou, we encourage you to share
it with a friend and be sure tojoin us next time for the next
step in the Easter story.
Until then, let's seek Him,speak Him and make the most of
every conversation.
God bless you, friend.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
Thanks for joining us in this podcast episode.
You can find the matchingconversation guide in the show
notes To get the latest updatesabout the Family Disciple Me
ministry, as well as word aboutour soon-to-be-released app,
sign up to be the first to knowat familydisciplemeorg.
Also, if you enjoyed thispodcast, help us get the word

(15:19):
out by leaving us a review onyour favorite podcast platform.
God bless you, friend.
Now go seek him.
Speak him.