Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations with the feast of the Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem!

Just as the unheard-of miracle of the raising of Lazarus gathered many Jews to meet the Savior when He was entering Jerusalem, today the grace of the Holy Spirit has gathered us in our church, not simply to meet Him, but to partake of His most-pure Body and Blood, and in such a way to join ourselves to Him!

All four evangelists describe in detail the triumphant entry of our Lord into Jerusalem, accompanied from the Mount of Olives into the city by a great multitude of people and the disciples Christ. Along the way, clothing and branches were laid out, while the people, holding festive bouquets of palm branches, triumphantly chanted the words of the 117th (118th) Psalm: “Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” The Holy Evangelist Matthew notes that “all [of Jerusalem] was moved,” and that even the children in the Temple cried out, “Hosanna to the son of David!” The Holy Apostle Luke mentions the words of the Saviour that, had not the people met Him as they did, the rocks themselves would have begun to Glorify Him.

There was but one element that did not correspond to this festive event, namely the fact that our Lord God, Jesus Christ Himself, entered into His capital, into His Temple not as a victorious King on a white steed, together with His conquering soldiers, but on an donkey, surrounded by Galilean fisherman, tax collectors, and pilgrims from all ends of the earth who had gathered in the Holy City for the feast of Passover. This, of course, was not by chance, for as we heard in today’s Gospel reading, all of this took place so that the saying of the Prophet Zachariah, “Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt,” would be fulfilled.

Those of you who read the Holy Scriptures attentively may have noticed that the Apostle John the Theologian records the words of the Prophet Zachariah not verbatim, but only summarizes them. He also changes the first words of this verse. Zachariah said: “ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem,” whereas John does not say “rejoice and shout,” but only “Fear not, daughter of Sion.” Why is this? Is not today, when all of Jerusalem was moved and even the rocks were ready to shout, a day of rejoicing?

With the words “Fear not” the Evangelist John emphasizes that the Jewish King, the King of the whole world – Jesus Christ – is fundamentally different from earthly authorities. He did not come to collect tribute or taxes, nor to subjugate neighbouring nations, nor to punish criminals, striking fear in His subjects, as is the case with every earthly government, but to serve the race of man through His crucifixion. We can also notice that despite today’s festive atmosphere, the words “shout and rejoice” do not exactly fit, since Christ came to Jerusalem to suffer. The words “fear not” remind us that after the crucifixion, there will be the resurrection, i. e. do not fear the passions of Christ for on the third day He will arise! On that day we will rejoice and be glad.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, today let’s remember that our meek and humble King did not come to enslave us, but to serve us, giving His life on the cross for the sake of our eternal blessedness. Let us not fear this King, because He demands nothing from us, but only invites us to take up the cross and follow Him. Therefore, today let us lay down our clothes before Christ, that is, let us renounce our sins, throw them off so that the Lord will trample them under His feet. Let us take branches – the good deeds that we were able to grow during Lent - in our hands and meet the Saviour. Let us pray that today, He sees our spiritual fruits, enters our souls, and sanctifies us.

priest Alexis