Homily for the Lord's Entry Into Jerusalem
By Fr. Daniel Sysoev
By Fr. Daniel Sysoev
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!
I congratulate you all on the feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem! On Palm Sunday! On the Sunday of Branches! Today the grace of the Holy Spirit has gathered us to meet the Lord, who is going to His voluntary sufferings for our salvation — to conquer death by death, to grant us incorruption, to deliver us from the terrible pit in the valley of death in which there is no water. Into this pit the souls of all people were to be cast, and the Lord leads us out from there to the ever-radiant heights of the heavenly plains. The Lord comes today so that we may blossom in soul. In our hands are red willow branches, reminding us of the blood of Jesus Christ; their blossoms remind us of the flowering of our souls through the blood of the Lord. The palm branches, with which the inhabitants of the city greeted Christ, are also a symbol of the Entry of the Lord Jesus; they symbolize God’s victory over death and corruption, victory over human sin, over the rebellion of the human race, which was not suppressed but healed by the Blood of the Lord.
That we, as Scripture says, may become flourishing: “And your bones shall flourish like young greenery” (Isaiah 66:14).
Today we celebrate the feast of the flowering of man, for a man without God is like a willow without blossoms. A man without God is a dry stick that can bring nothing either to God or to people. A man without God is a being needed by no one, who lives without knowing why. Without God — it is a life lived in vain. What is the point for a man to merely pollute the air if he has not known God, if he has not blossomed in soul? Many people say that one must live for one’s descendants, but if your descendants are the same as you — living without God — then what is the meaning of such existence? Such a life is completely meaningless. All earthly goals are corruptible; they disappear and fall apart. It is meaningless to live for one’s country, for one’s home, for property, even for children, since they are mortal. Only God, who is immortal and incorruptible, can give us the ability to blossom for incorruption. The Lord comes to save us; therefore the Jewish children cried out: “Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt. 21:9), that is, salvation comes from above, from beyond the heavens.
God has snatched us from corruption and from the pit of destruction; therefore the people cried to Him: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matt. 21:9).
The coming God comes to make us flourish, so that our mind may blossom with the knowledge of God, and through God with the knowledge of the world; that our will may blossom, becoming diamond-strong and precious, united with the will of God; that our feelings may blossom, filled with divine love; that even our body may blossom from the grave, and that graves may become a place of sowing from which there will arise a wondrous harvest — the resurrection of bodies that will be restored by God to live eternally before His face.
For this very reason the Lord comes today, and therefore He proclaims Himself the true Messiah — that is, King, Prophet, and Priest: a King who has come to save His subjects; a Priest who has come to offer His own blood as a sacrifice to God the Father for our salvation; a Prophet who has come to establish the final and definitive Covenant between God and mankind. He comes and manifests Himself before all as the King and Ruler whom the prophets awaited, for whom the twelve tribes of Israel prayed day and night.
He fulfills the ancient longing. He comes to gather all people into one, to overcome the division between Jews and Gentiles, between different nations, between those who considered themselves righteous and those who considered themselves sinners. He has come to overcome the division between immortal beings and mortal men. All these divisions Christ overcomes, entering Jerusalem today and proclaiming Himself the true King and sovereign of us all. Christ proclaims that the Kingdom of God has come! Therefore we glorify Christ as King, and with burning candles we raise willows and palms above our heads as a sign that the Light has come to us, that salvation has arrived, and that God has reigned over the nations. And His Kingdom is already on the way: He is gathering His ranks, which are already advancing toward the final goal. The devil, our great enemy, flees in panic before the sign of the great Cross, on which he was crushed, on which he was deprived of power. The devil flees not only from the Cross of the Lord, but also from the blood of the martyrs, from the witness of the venerable ones, from the wisdom of the righteous, from the zeal of the priests, and from the nobility of kings — from all the great virtues that have grown out of the kingship, priesthood, and prophecy of Jesus.
His Church, which is the Kingdom of God on earth, is already blossoming and being filled with new and great strength. I greet you with the Kingdom of God! Hold fast to this Kingdom! Abide in this Kingdom! Let not only the willows and young palm leaves blossom in our hands, but let our souls also blossom and give fragrance to God the Father with the most beautiful aroma of eternity! And may the Holy Spirit burn in our hearts as this beautiful Palm Sunday candle now burns in our hands. May the Almighty Lord help us!
I wish God’s mercy to you all! May the Lord preserve you! May the Holy Trinity bless you!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
