Rejoice
greatly, O daughter of Sion; proclaim it aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem;
behold, the King is coming to thee, just, and a Savior; he is meek and riding
on an ass, and a young foal. [Zech 9:9]
The prophet
of God pronounced this prophecy over four hundred years before the event that
we commemorate and celebrate today. Having completed His preaching on the
earth, our Lord Jesus Christ made His triumphant entry into the royal city of
Jerusalem, into the city where the true God was worshipped, a city in most ways
Godly.
The Lord made this entry as the King and victor, in order to finish His
service by a decisive exploit: destroying death by death; removing the curse
from the human race by taking this curse upon Himself. He made His entry into
the royal city on the colt of an ass, whereon yet never man sat (Lk 19:30), in
order to restore to mankind the royal dignity which our forefather had wasted;
to restore this dignity by ascending the cross.
The unbroken
colt was tamed beneath the wondrous Rider. The Apostles placed their garments
upon the colt; great multitudes of people ran ahead to meet the Lord and walk
alongside Him, shouting in their ecstasy, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed
is he [the king (Lk 19:38)] that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the
highest. (Mt. 21:9) The Lord is proclaimed King in the name of the Lord at His
own beckoning—not accidentally, and not by conscious human will. In the course
of four days, those same people who that day proclaimed Him King will cry, Away
with him, away with him, crucify him... We have no king but Caesar! (Jn 19:15)
What is the
significance of the Lord's riding into Jerusalem on an unbroken colt? According
to the explanation of the holy fathers, this has a deep, prophetic meaning. The
all-seeing Lord already saw the Jews' approaching final apostasy from God. He
announced this apostasy even back when the Law was given to the Israelites on
Mt. Sinai, through the lips of the inspired Law-giver. They have sinned, said Moses of the Jews'
future sin against the God-Man, as if he were speaking of something already
done. They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of His
children: they area perverse and crooked generation. Do ye thus recompense the
Lord? (Deut. 32:5-6) It is a nation that has lost counsel, neither is there
understanding in them. They had not sense to understand: let them reserve these
things against the time to come. (Deut 32:28-29) For their vine is of the vine
of Sodom, and their vine-branch of Gomorrha. (Deut 32:32). While to the
contrary: Rejoice, ye heavens, with Him—the Son of God—and let all the angels
of God worship Him; rejoice ye Gentiles, with His people, and let all the sons
of God strengthen themselves in Him. (Deut 32:43).
Thus, the
entry into Jerusalem upon an unbroken colt is a repetition of Moses' prophecy—not
in words, but in symbol. Moses foretold that the Gentiles would rejoice in the
Lord, but the Jews would be rejected. Here, the unbroken colt, whereon yet
never man sat (Lk 19:30), is an image of the Gentiles. The Apostles' garments
are Christ's teachings by which they would instruct the Gentiles, and the Lord
seated Himself spiritually upon the Gentiles, making them God. He led them into
Jerusalem, to the bosom of the Church, to the eternal city of God not made by
the hands of men, to the
city of
salvation and blessedness. The rejected Jews were also present there. With
their lips they cried, "the King of Israel," but in their soul, their
Sanhedrin, they had already resolved to kill the Savior.
Here is
another meaning of the colt of an ass. It is an image of every person who is
led by irrational desires, deprived of spiritual freedom, attached to the passions
and habits of fleshly life. Christ's teaching looses the ass from its
attachment; that is, from fulfilling its sinful and fleshly will. Then the
Apostles lead the ass to Christ, place their garments upon it; the Lord seats
Himself upon it and makes His entry upon it into Jerusalem. This means that the
person who has left his sinful life is led to the Gospels, and is clothed as if
in apostolic vestments, in the most detailed and refined knowledge of Christ
and His commandments. Then the Lord seats Himself upon him by spiritually
appearing to him and spiritually abiding in him, as it was His good will to
promise: He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth
Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and
will manifest Myself to him. (Jn. 14:21) And
My Father will love him, and We
will come unto him, and make Our abode with him. (Jn. 14:23)
The Lord's
coming is accompanied by peace surpassing words and comprehension; peace that
is full of grace, and worthy of the one Who grants it—the Lord. This peace is
not to be compared with the natural rest of fallen man, who may feel rest and
pleasure from fleshly delights, and who may consider his own insensibility, his
own eternal death, to be rest. The Lord is seated upon the natural qualities of
the person who has submitted to Him and has assimilated His all-holy teachings;
and He leads that person into the spiritual city of God, the city of peace—into
the Jerusalem created by God, and not by man.
The soul that
upholds the Lord is greeted by the Holy Spirit, Who offers that soul spiritual
joy which is incorruptible and eternal. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion,
the daughter of the Holy Church—because you belong to no one but God. Proclaim
it aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, the King is coming to thee, just,
and a Savior; he is meek and riding on an ass, and a young foal (Zech 9:9). You
have felt the grace-filled peace of Christ, and become a daughter of this
peace; you have been renewed with spiritual youth and have come to know
Christ's Kingdom by experience. The passions are tamed in you by the
grace-filled power of our Lord Who steers you; your natural qualities cannot break
their natural laws, they cannot go beyond their boundaries and be transformed
into uncontrolled passions!
Taking all
your thoughts, feelings and actions from the Lord, you can and must proclaim
the Name of the Lord to your brethren, and hymn Him in the midst of the Church.
(Pss 21:22) As one born of the Holy Spirit and a daughter of the Spirit, you
are able to behold the spiritual procession of your King, you are able to
behold the righteousness of your King. He is meek and lowly in heart (Mt 11:29),
an(i He will guide the meek in judgment, He will teach the meek His ways (Pss
24:9). Our God is a Spirit which is incomparable to any created spirit, as He
is in all aspects infinitely different from all creatures. The holy created
spirits are His thrones and chariots. He is seated and rides upon the Cherubim;
He is seated and rides upon those blessed human souls who have submitted to Him
and brought all their natural qualities to Him as a whole burnt offering. The
King rides upon such souls, and enters the holy city of God, bringing holy
souls into it also. Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is the King of Israel that
cometh.
Amen.
Orthodox
Heritage Vol. 10, Issue 05-04
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