Glory be to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!
That greeting especially rings true today, because not only are those in Jerusalem and Bethany offering up Glory to God, but the entire Orthodox world shouts with joy as our Lord makes his triumphant entry into Jerusalem…and more importantly, He makes a glorious entry into our hearts!
On this Palm Sunday, with our palms and pussy willows held high, we mystically stand in the midst of Jerusalem, being surrounded by the Children who have gathered and are dancing in the streets. Their joy has become our joy, as the Messiah has finally come this week to fulfill all the prophecies that have been spoken about Him since the beginning of Time!
Yesterday Morning at Lazarus Saturday Divine Liturgy, we were reminded and overjoyed at the news that mankind no longer has to live in the shadow of death. No longer do we have to live a life with no hope for the future! No more do we have to fear what will happen to us after we close our eyes in eternal rest! The fear of death has been destroyed, and with the rest of the world, we give Glory to God for His Love and Compassion towards His creation.
Dear Ones, how blessed are we to know, that the brightness of Palm Sunday is but a mere shadow, when compared to the Life-Giving Joy that is to come. On Sunday evening, the world goes from smiles and blessings, to witnessing the Greatest Evil perpetrated in the history of the human race. The Just One, who today rides on a donkey into Jerusalem with loud shouts of joy, will very soon be falsely accused by immoral priests. The source of all life, who brought His friend Lazarus back from the dead, will soon be accused by a corrupt court. He who “hung the earth upon the waters” will be considered immoral and outside of normal society.
On Good Friday, the greatest betrayal and atrocity…the greatest Human Evil… will become manifest as mankind takes the God of all…the One who humbled Himself out of love for us…and nails Him to the cross…then, like the rest of the Apostles and followers of Christ, they asked…”now what?"
There is a somewhat confusing moment in the Gospels we will hear this week, that I wanted to touch on today that comes from the last words of our Lord on the Cross. In agony, at the 9th hour, just before his falling asleep…our Lord will shout with a loud voice: "Eli Eli, Lama sablathni!”….”My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken me…”
So often, we hear these words and are confused. Why would Jesus, Who is God Himself, say that God has forsaken him? It seems at first glance like a statement of woe and sadness…but in fact, it is the exact opposite. Our Lord, as He is suffering on the Cross, surrounded by both those who hate him and those who are weeping for Him, used his last breath to remind everyone that what was happening was foretold long ago.
“Eli Eli Lama Sablathanai” are the very first words in Psalm 21 (in the Septuagint). At the time of Christ, there were no numbering of psalms, and people would identify them by saying the first few words of the Psalm. Christ wanted those around him to call to their memories the psalm which goes like this:
“My God, May God, Why hast Thou forsaken me? In Thee our father’s trusted; they trusted and thou didst deliver them. But I am a worm, and no man, scorned by men, and despised by people. All who see me mock at me, they make mouths at me, they wag their heads. They said: "He committed his cause to the Lord; let him deliver him, let him rescue him, for he delights in him…”
Jesus calls to remembrance how the Pharisees and Jewish Sanhedrin despised all that Jesus had done.
After a prominent Jewish man named Lazarus had died, Jesus somehow raised him from the depths of Hades itself. Rather than accept this news with tremendous joy, they didn’t want the status quo to change. They had to do something about this Jesus before people began to follow and worship him...STRIKE ONE.
Shortly after the raising of Lazarus, Jesus made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and the people shouted after Jesus rather than praise the High Priests. STRIKE TWO the Jewish Leadership thought…
Shortly after this uproar in the city, Jesus did the unthinkable! We went into the temple grounds and began flipping the money changers tables. There were a lot of unfair business practices that were set up at the time, that benefited the Jewish Elite…and Jesus called them out on it in a very radical way! STRIKE THREE…
We know the rest of the story…the Trial, the beatings, and finally, the Crucifixion.
“I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax, it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; thou dust lay me in the dust of death. Yea, dogs are round about me; a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet…I can count all my bones, they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my raiment they cast lots…".
Jesus points to this psalm to show those who love him that all of this sadness, affliction, and darkness was foreordained. Yet, as he hangs on the cross, Jesus doesn’t just share this message…but also gives hope to those who hear it…because the end of Psalm 21 shows a tremendous reversal…and foreshadows the triumph which is to come!
“I will tell of thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the congregation, I will praise Thee: You who fear the Lord, praise Him! All you sons of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you sons of Israel! For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; and has not hid his face from him, but has heard when he fired to him. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of nations shall worship before him. Posterity shells serve him; men shall tell o the Lord to the coming generations, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, that he has wrought it.”
With his last words on the Cross, Jesus speaks to those surrounding him about US, right here in Fenton Michigan in the year 2024. He says “Yes dear ones…I am suffering now…but know that this will lead to a moment where all will stand in awe of what God has accomplished!”
Isn’t that what we are doing now dear ones? We stand now at the precipice of Glory…the moment that God changed EVERYTHING for us. We watched as he literally snatched Lazarus from the grip of Hades.
We celebrate his triumphal entry into Jerusalem today. We will watch as He is ridiculed, beaten, tortured, and left outside the city gates to hang on the cross…yet we do that not with tears, but with the hope that Jesus reminded us of while in tremendous agony, that God will be victorious, and the nations will fall down before Him as He goes to battle to destroy death itself.
May we enter into this week with tremendous love, not only of one another, but also with He Who Willed to Suffer for us!