Bishop Gideon of Pskov (+1763): On Palm Sunday

Hosanna, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.

John 12:13

 

 

Behold, pious hearers, a wondrous spectacle! The King of Israel, or rather, the King of the whole world, today makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. And how do you suppose? Do you suppose with noble pomp and great glory? Do you suppose that He sits upon a gilded chariot, drawn by many most costly mules? True, it would seem to me also that such splendor befits His royal name; and a chariot suitable for this His triumphal entry, the Prophet says, stands ready for Him: the chariot, he saith, of God is by tens of thousands, even thousands of them that rejoice. [94] And He has wondrous horses as well, seen by that same Prophet, namely, clouds and winds: Who maketh, he saith, the clouds His ascent, and walketh upon the wing of the wind; [95] and He could, if only He so desired, on this occasion have taken also that living many-eyed chariot which Ezekiel once saw beneath Him. When, saith he, the living creatures went, the wheels went also. And when they stood, they stood (and the wheels with them): for the spirit of life was in the wheels, [96] and those wheels were full of eyes. But not one, as you see, of those chariots does this King now employ; rather, He rides—an unheard-of thing!—the King of kings and Lord of lords, giving to other authorities an example of humility, rides upon a certain dry and scarcely moving ass, as today’s Evangelist relates. Jesus, saith he, found a young ass, and sat thereon, as it is written: Fear not, daughter of Sion; behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt. [97] As for His noble and glorious reception, truly it was no other than befits a King. The courteous inhabitants of Jerusalem, notwithstanding so humble an appearance in Christ, showed Him great honor on this occasion. Hardly has such courtesy ever been shown on earth to any king as was shown to this King by those refined citizens. They came out to meet Him with very extraordinary adornment, and greeted Him, so to speak, beyond compare. They held in their hands, as a sign that they were meeting a victor, palms; they cut branches from the trees and cast them upon the road, and some even spread their garments; moreover, all cried aloud with a great voice: Hosanna, hosanna, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel! Why describe at length the celebration shown by this kindly people at the coming of their King? It is enough to say that what took place among them on the day of Solomon’s coronation took place today also. For just as then, according to the testimony of the Books of Kings: all the people went up after Solomon, and rejoiced with so great a joy that the earth rent asunder from their voice; [98] so also today, it is said: when Christ entered into Jerusalem, the whole city was moved, saith the Evangelist Matthew. [99]

But what then, my hearers? Reflecting on such favor as is now shown by the Jews to our Savior, do you not already begin to praise them in your thoughts and say: what courteous people! what a sensible nation! It knows what honor ought to be rendered to its King!

For God’s sake, refrain from such praise, at least for a time; behold, Great Friday will soon come, on which the Bride mentioned in the Song of Songs will say to the daughters of Jerusalem: Go forth and behold your King with the crown wherewith His mother, that is, the Jewish Synagogue, crowned Him in the day of His espousals; [100] and then better understand with what words these people ought to be blessed.

This evil and adulterous generation, as the Savior Himself calls it, never acts with a true heart. They now sing to Christ, Hosanna! but a little later they will cry out: Away, away, crucify Him. [101] Now they bless Him, but after four days they will begin to curse Him. Now they call Him the King of Israel; but soon they will cry out before Pilate: We have no king but Caesar. [102] And do you suppose that even at this very time they all think as they speak with their tongue? Look into their assemblies, and you will see that already many of them have begun to take counsel how they might ensnare Him, how they might destroy Him altogether as quickly as possible.

But it is strange to me that Christ, especially knowing, as the Foreknower of all things, of such a Jewish intention, permitted them on this occasion to address Him by such words. Formerly He so fled human glory that when the Jews wished to make Him their king, according to the testimony of John the Evangelist in chapter 6, He could in no way consent to it. Perceiving, saith he, that they would come and take Him by force, and make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain alone. [103] But now, although the Pharisees tell Him to forbid the people to call Him King, yet not only does He not listen to them, but He even confirms the people’s opinion all the more. If these, saith He, should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. [104] What then is this? Whence this visible change in our Christ? Many and diverse causes for this are found by interpreters of Holy Scripture, hearers!

First, Christ accepted this title from the people now because the time had come in which His spiritual kingdom was actually to be established on earth, once He had ascended in this city to His throne in it, that is, the Cross, and had freed His kingdom from tyrannical hands through His most glorious victory over the devil.

Second, by this testimony of the people Christ wished to show to the ages to come that He is the true God, who ruleth the hearts of men, and that He went up upon the Cross of His own will and not by any necessity; for at a time when all the chief men of Jerusalem had already agreed upon His murder, for Him to be so glorified by the people was in truth not a human deed, but a divine one.

Third, Christ resolved to enter Jerusalem today with such ceremony so that afterward the Jews might have no excuse, as though they had crucified their true Messiah and King without knowing Him, Him whom they themselves proclaimed to be the One whom God had promised them by the mouths of His Prophets, their King and Deliverer.

Fourth, Christ did this also in order to let us know to what difficulties, afflictions, and sorrows the honor of kings and other authorities is subject. For He, as anyone may see in the Gospel, is nowhere called the King of Israel except in three places. First, now, when the Jews are taking counsel for His murder; second, in Pilate’s praetorium, when the soldiers, having placed upon His head a crown of thorns and bowing their knees, mocked Him and said: Hail, King of the Jews; [105] third, on the Cross, when the lawless judge ordered this title to be affixed above Him: This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. [106] And now behold, all of you, what sort of royal life is this? A sea filled with afflictions and sorrows! What crown is upon their heads? A crown of thorns, bristling everywhere with sharp spikes! What is their office? Not only to care day and night for the welfare of their subjects and to have no rest from labors, but also, in a necessary case, to lay down their life for them. All this is proved in part by the present day, and in part will be proved by the coming Great Friday.

There are also many other causes, as has been said, for Christ’s so glorious and magnificent entry today into Jerusalem. But the chief one itself, as it seems to me, is this: that we might learn from it how inconstant this world is, and how vain all its glory is. You now see the King who after five days will take upon Himself a robber’s cross; you now see garments spread before Him whose clothing, soon enough, His murderers will cast lots for; you now see the Guest met with unusual joy by the citizens, whom, before a week has passed, those same citizens will drag outside their city with indescribable mockery. What a swift change! what inconstancy of this age! Learned men rightly liken it to a turning wheel, which has not one part that is firm and unmoving. Whoever does not believe it, let him mark this truth on this very day. I do not say that we should observe this truth, for example, in Belisarius, once called the beauty of Rome, and afterward deprived not only of all his possessions but even of his sight; or in Paul and Barnabas, whom the inhabitants of Lycaonia at first, when they saw the man lame from his mother’s womb healed by them, magnified as gods, saying: The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men; [107] and then, after not many days, stoned those same men and dragged them outside the city as evildoers. But mark, I say, this inconstancy of the world in our very Lord and Creator Himself. If, hearers, to use Christ’s own words, these things were done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? [108] If, I say, Christ, who seemed desired by all, beloved by all, felt such a change in Himself, can we then trust in our own good fortune? Can we lean with hope upon this dry and easily broken reed? But at the same time, neither must we ourselves imitate that inconstant people.

Do you know why I have said this? Behold, already—thanks be to the Lord—we are finishing the Holy Fast, during which many of us, having prepared ourselves by fervent repentance, were deemed worthy to receive into the inner city of our soul this most precious Guest, whom today the inhabitants of Jerusalem go forth to meet; we have tasted His Body, we have been given to drink of His Blood, we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit unto the remission of our sins. And of this I now remind you, namely, that having shown fervent love to Christ in these days, after their end we should not turn against Him in hatred; that, having been counted worthy of His gracious presence, we might not again drive Him out of our soul and mock Him, as the above-mentioned Jews did. For if it was grievous for Christ to endure this even from the Jews, according to that Gospel word: He began to be sorrowful and very heavy, and to say, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; [109] how much more intolerable will it be for Him to see such ingratitude from Christians, who according to Paul are accounted His very own members.

Nor ought we to omit, on the present occasion also, to declare our zeal for our Redeemer; for we know that, as all His other acts, so also His present entry into Jerusalem was accomplished for the sake of our salvation. Let us then go forth without delay, let us go forth with our minds to that place where the people of Jerusalem, with so great a glory as you yourselves have heard, go out to meet Him; and standing together with them, though not with one and the same spirit, let us begin to cut off, instead of branches, our passions, and instead of garments let us spread beneath His feet our hearts. Let us also raise with them, as a sign of our rejoicing, this triumphant cry: Hosanna, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel! Only—and I repeat it once more—the One whom we now bless, let us not cease to bless unto all ages. Amen.

 

94. Psalm 67:18.

95. Psalm 103:3.

96. Ezekiel 1:19, 21.

97. John 12:14, 15.

98. 3 Kingdoms 1:40.

99. Matthew 21:10.

100. Song of Songs 3:11.

101. John 19:15.

102. John 19:15.

103. John 6:15.

104. Luke 19:40.

105. Mark 15:18.

106. John 19:19.

107. Acts 14:11.

108. Luke 23:31.

109. Matthew 26:37, 38.

 

Russian source: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Gedeon-Krinovskij/sobranie-pouchitelnyh-slov-chast-2/#0_8