Homily for Palm Sunday - The Entry of the Lord Into Jerusalem (St. Cleopa of Sihastria)

Homily for Palm Sunday 

The Entry of the Lord Into Jerusalem 

On the Fulfillment of the Prophecies Concerning Christ and on Spiritual Blindness

By St. Cleopa of Sihastria)

“And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it, as it is written: ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt’” (John 12:14–15).

Beloved faithful,

If we read in the Holy and Divine Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, we find that all the prophecies that were spoken about our Savior Jesus Christ — who, in the fullness of time, came to the human race — were fulfilled with great wonder in their time. Thus we see that the holy prophets, through revelation from the Holy Spirit, foretold thousands of years in advance that our Savior Jesus Christ would be born according to the flesh from the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15); that He would be born from the seed of Abraham (Genesis 22:17–18); that He would be of the lineage of David according to the flesh (Isaiah 9:6).

Likewise, for the day of this great and most radiant feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, we see fulfilled the prophecy of the Holy Prophet Zechariah, who said: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).

But, my brothers, what does the colt of the donkey symbolize, of which Zechariah so clearly prophesied, and which the Lord fulfilled by sitting upon it? The colt of a donkey, like any young animal, is wild and difficult to tame, and as a donkey it is unclean; therefore it was not accepted among the things offered to God according to the Law, but was exchanged. Unclean were all the nations of the earth because of their unbelief, and wild and hard to tame, because they were deprived of the laws of God.

The sitting of Jesus Christ upon the colt of the donkey signified the longing (or groaning) of the nations for Him; and you see that the Apostles brought the colt of the donkey to Jesus, as the divine Luke says, and having thrown their garments upon it, they set Jesus upon it. The garments spread on the ground were signs and figures showing that the Apostles, extending the preaching of the gospel to the nations, brought them and subjected them to Christ, who filled them with His divine gifts. Then the divine Gospel says: “These things His disciples did not understand at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and that they had done these things to Him” (John 12:16).

The people who were from Bethany, together with those from Jerusalem, hearing that the Savior had performed that great and most glorious miracle — the raising of Lazarus, who had been dead four days — merely by the cry, “Lazarus, come forth!”, went out to meet the Lord with great reverence and wonder and greeted Him with branches and palms. But did the high priests, the Pharisees, and the scribes receive the Savior with the same reverence and faith? No. They were filled with envy and hatred against the Savior, and hearing of the most glorious miracle of the raising of Lazarus, not only did they not believe, but they hastened to take all measures to kill Jesus. For, having gathered the council, they said: “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him go on thus, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation” (John 11:47–48).

Do you see, my brothers, how much blindness and wickedness there was in the mind and heart of the scribes, the chief priests, and the Pharisees against Jesus? What a great difference there was between the people and their spiritual leaders! The people received the Savior with such reverence and honor. Indeed, many of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in Him (John 11:45). But the chief priests and the Pharisees, blinded by hatred, malice, and unbelief, not only did not believe in Him, but quickly prepared a plan to kill Him. How right the Savior was when He rebuked these scribes and Pharisees and said to them: “Fools and blind!” (Matthew 23:17). What spiritual blindness, what hatred and envy were in the mind and heart of these spiritual leaders of the people of Israel! Instead of believing in the most glorious miracle of the raising of Lazarus and praising Jesus Christ, listen to what they say: “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs” (John 11:47).

Listen to this madness — listen to this blindness born of envy and hatred! Concerning this blindness and hardness of heart of the Pharisees, the chief priests, and the scribes, the great Prophet Isaiah prophesied, saying: “For the heart of this people has grown dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I should heal them” (Isaiah 6:10).

Beloved faithful,

The causes of the hardening and spiritual blindness of the chief priests and Pharisees were hatred and envy, which they bore against the Savior. Therefore they sought various pretexts to destroy Him. Thus we have thought to say a few things about the accursed passion of envy — not with our own words, but with those of the Holy Fathers.

Hear what Saint Basil the Great says about envy: “God is good and a giver of good things to those who are worthy. Only the devil is evil and the contriver of every kind of wickedness; and just as envy is absent from the good, so it exists in the devil. Let us guard ourselves, brethren, from the passion of envy, lest we become partakers in the works of the devil and the adversary and be found condemned with him in the same condemnation. For if the proud man falls into the condemnation of the devil, how shall the envious escape the punishment prepared for the devil? For no passion more destructive than envy remains in the hearts of men; it grieves those outside very little, but it is the first and closest evil to the one who has it.

For as rust eats iron, so envy devours the soul of the one who has it. As vipers consume the womb of those that carry them in order to be born, so envy has the power to consume the soul of the one who has it. For envy is sorrow at the good of one’s neighbor; therefore griefs and sorrows never depart from the envious man. Has his neighbor’s field borne fruit? Is his house filled with all that is necessary for life? Does that man lack no joys? All these are nourishment for the disease and increase the sufferings of the envious. For this reason he is no different from a man exposed and wounded by all. Is someone brave? Is he healthy? These wound the envious man. Another is more handsome — another wound for the envious. Someone else surpasses in spiritual gifts and is admired and sought after for his wisdom and eloquence. Another is rich, gives many gifts to the poor, and is praised by those who receive his benefactions.

All these are blows and wounds that pierce the heart of the envious. And what is worse in this passion is that he cannot even speak of it. He looks downcast, is gloomy, troubled, complains, and is consumed by this evil; and when he remembers his passion, he is ashamed to reveal his distress — that he is envious and embittered, tormented by the good things of his friend and by the joy of his brother, unable to endure the prosperity and abundance of his neighbor. Therefore, unwilling to confess his passion, he keeps the sickness deep within, which gnaws and devours his inner being. Nor can he find a physician for this disease or any healing remedy, though the Scriptures are full of medicines for it…” (St. Basil the Great, Hexaemeron, 1988, p. 117).

Let us also hear Saint John Chrysostom speaking about envy: “There is no other sin worse that separates a man from God and from other people than envy — that is, jealousy. This evil disease is more terrible than the love of money. For the lover of money rejoices when he gains wealth; but the envious man rejoices when another suffers loss and is harmed, and he counts the misfortunes and losses of others as his own gain.

What passion, then, is worse than this? He does not examine his own evils, but wastes away over the good of others and deprives himself of paradise. Nor does the envious man have any good even in this world. For just as a worm eats wood and a moth consumes wool, so envy utterly devours the soul and bones of the envious and jealous man. These passions are worse than wild beasts, which are driven to anger by hunger or by nature. But envious and jealous people, when someone does them good, react as though they had been wronged; like demons, they are merciless and bitter enemies. The envious avoid normal fellowship and conversation and do not even desire their own salvation. For envy does not know how to honor what is beneficial. Such people are always filled with disturbance and sorrow, and their souls go to hell. For there is no sin worse than jealousy and envy.”

Beloved faithful,

Today is Palm Sunday, when our Savior Jesus Christ enters Jerusalem as a king, in order to give Himself willingly to suffering and death for us sinners. You have heard in the Holy Gospel with what joy the crowd accompanied Him, and with what hatred and envy the scribes and chief priests of the Jews looked upon Him.

Today Great Lent comes to an end, and the Great Week of the holy and saving Passion begins. Those of you who have been more diligent, I believe, have by now confessed and received Holy Communion — the Body and Blood of the Lord. Those who have not yet been cleansed of sins through Confession and Holy Communion have only a few days left until Holy Pascha. Do not delay, but run to the priest, for we cannot rejoice in the Resurrection of the Lord while unclean and full of sins. Do not leave it to the last days, for this week the priests are very busy.

My brethren, from this evening the services of Holy Week begin, with the Passion of Christ. These are the most beautiful and moving services and hymns of the entire year. Come every evening, as many as possible, to the holy church. How can we sleep or be absent from church when Christ keeps vigil and prays for the whole world? How can we laugh and drink when the Son of God is delivered into the hands of blasphemers and unbelieving killers? How can we eat now when the Lord of life fasts and sighs for us? How can we stay away from church now, when Christ is betrayed by His own disciple and is sold to the Jews to be judged and crucified?

Let us go this week after Jesus Christ, on the way of the Cross — which for us is the way of life, forgiveness, and salvation. Without this path, no one among men can be saved.

Behold, today Christ enters Jerusalem triumphantly, accompanied by a multitude of people with palm branches in their hands. Let us also meet Christ with branches of good deeds. Christ curses the barren fig tree, which withers. Let us also be afraid, for we are like fruitless trees on the earth, lacking many spiritual good things. Christ receives the sinful woman to wash His feet. Let us also draw near to the Lord, and with tears of repentance wash His feet and kiss them.

Christ is sold by Judas to the Jews for thirty pieces of silver. May God preserve us from betraying the Lord for money, for honor, or out of fear. Christ washes the feet of His disciples at the Secret Supper, to teach us all humility. Christ our Savior performs the first Divine Liturgy at the Secret Supper, thus establishing the liturgical sacrifice and communing His disciples before His Passion. Let us value the Church all our life, attend the Divine Liturgy regularly, and approach Holy Communion with reverence and preparation — especially on great feasts and Christian holy days. Only Judas the betrayer, when he received Communion, “Satan entered into him,” because he received unworthily the Body and Blood of the Lord. So will all those suffer who receive Communion with unbelief and with grave sins upon their soul. Woe to those who lie in grievous sins and do not repent or reconcile with the Savior even during the holy fasts.

Behold, Great Friday! The Son of God is crucified between two thieves for our salvation. Let us go with the Holy Myrrhbearing women to weep for Jesus Christ, and especially to weep for our sins at His Cross. Christ gives up His spirit and is then laid in the tomb. Let us kneel with great faith at the Tomb of the Lord, cense it, pray, ask forgiveness, be reconciled with one another, and on the holy night of Holy Pascha await the mysterious moment of the Resurrection of the Lord and of our own resurrection.

If we do this, we shall all rejoice in the light of the Resurrection of the Savior and be able to sing the angelic hymn of victory over death and hades. Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.