Today on this Palm Sunday we celebrate together the Divine Liturgy; and then we walk in procession with our palms to greet Jesus Christ as King, just as the Jews of Palestine greeted Him. The Gospel of John, chapter 12,verse 12, states that: “A great crowd who had come to the feast [that is, the Jewish feast of Passover] took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying: ‘Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.” Eusebius, the third-century Bishop of Caesarea and the first historian of the Church, explains that: “Hosanna . . . is translated ‘Save us now,’ and the Hebrew has ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord’ . . . and these words can only refer to the Christ . . .” [Eusebius, Proof of the Gospel 9.18].

How did Jesus respond to these many people in first century Palestine who were saying that He is the Messiah, the Christ, who had come to save them? Jesus had His apostles find a young donkey, a foal; and He came into the crowd riding this young donkey. Why did Jesus do that? He wished to fulfill the words of the prophet Zechariah, chapter 9, verse 9, in the Old Testament, which read: “Rejoice greatly, O daughters of Zion! . . . Behold your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey.”

Jesus was saying to the Jews of first-century Palestine and to us that He is the Messiah, the Christ for whom the people had been waiting and praying. Jesus Christ was bringing salvation, but not in the way the people had expected. They thought that a great military leader would overthrow the Romans. But instead, by riding a young donkey, Jesus Christ was saying that the way to salvation was through humility. That was true in first century Palestine; and it is true for each of us today. Humility and prayer lead to salvation and unity with Christ.

The Gospel of John explains: “His disciples did not understand this at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that this had been written of Him and had had been done to Him. The crowd that had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness.” St John Chrysostom points out how the belief of “the multitude of the Jews is sound while their rulers are [not sound].” [Homilies on the Gospel of John 66.1]. This is important, because the Jews, including the apostles, who believed in Christ were not following their leaders. These Jews, many of whom had witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus, were deciding for themselves how to live their lives and how to gain salvation.

At times, in our own lives in these highly secular times, we may be confronted with the same challenge: do we follow leaders into their anger and lies and an unfair distribution of wealth? Or do we seek Christ because He is the Truth; and we want to join our lives to His? This was not an easy choice in the first century; and it is not an easy choice today. A fifth-century Patriarch of Constantinople, Proclus, has pointed out in his sermon titled “On the Palm Branches,” that “it irritated the [Jewish] high priests and Pharisees to hear from the crowds [that Jesus was] ‘the King of Israel.’ The [Jewish leaders] were hearing what they did not wish to hear” [Homily 9.3]. And so it remains for us today: if we hear leaders who do not respect others simply because of the colour of their skin, or their poverty , or their religion, we too face a choice: Do we accept the false opinions of incompetent leaders or do we reach out to draw everyone as persons of equal worth to Jesus Christ? Do we join this Palm Sunday procession after the Divine Liturgy to express our faith in Jesus Christ or do we stand aside and let secular values and secular leaders fog over the Truth of Christ’s presence in our lives? We make that choice throughout our lives—in the friends we choose, in how we vote, in how we relate to those in need, in how and for whom we pray.

I and my family were committed Jews. I came to Christ in 1962 through the combination of reading the New Testament, prayer and the influence of Khouria Sylvia, my wife for the past 56 years. We often underestimate the importance that our Christian witness has on our non-Christian friends.  The most difficult experience of that journey was telling my family and Jewish friends that I was “moving on”—leaving behind their leadership and friendship to live with Jesus Christ and His Church. Never once in the past 57 years have I regretted that decision.

Khouria Sylvia and I did not become Orthodox Christians until 30 years later in 1992. Once again we have never regretted that decision, although many people with different values and different priorities were surprised. Somewhat like the people in Plato’s cave who have never seen the light, if you are living in darkness, it is difficult to find the fullness of the Light of Christ in our lives. It can take many years. I remember two important situations that started me on my journey to Christ, the first when I was age seven, and then when I was age eight. At school, in the middle of the class praying the Lord’s Prayer, I got up, walked to the front of the room and sharpened my pencil in the pencil sharpener. It was a loud pencil sharpener. When the Lord’s Prayer finished, the teacher told me never to do that again. I was not aware that I was doing anything wrong until she told me off. Many leaders and many people today in many countries are not aware they are doing anything wrong.

The next year my classroom teacher got married; and my mother took me to the wedding. It was held in huge church which was full of many people. That was the first time I had ever been in a church; and I remember thinking, “This is a beautiful place. There is peacefulness and friendship and love here. This is not what I was expecting.”

Today Christians are aware of the conflict that surrounded Jesus in first-century Palestine. We can see how some people, both Jews and non-Jews, accepted Christ, and others did not. That conflict between belief and unbelief reached a climax with the raising of Lazarus from the dead and the procession of the palms being laid before Jesus. Perhaps it is because of this fear and conflict set out in the gospel for today that the Church has chosen as the epistle the beautifully calm words of St Paul in the Letter to the Philippians, chapter 4, verses 4 to 9. Let’s listen to it again, as I close this sermon with the words of St Paul: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let [everyone] know your forbearance [that is, patience and self-control]. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication [that is, by humble and honest requests] with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do [it]; and the God of peace will be with you.”