This Holy Day, Palm Sunday, begins with the raising of Lazarus. Christ said with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” This voice was so loud that it thundered from one side of Hades to the other. And this time, it was an authoritative voice demanding Lazarus back. He was four days dead.
Remember the little girl, Jairus’ daughter? She had just died and Christ whispered, “Little girl, arise,” and her soul came back. Remember the young man that was being carried out — Christ touched the coffin and the young man arose. But now, Christ says in a loud and thunderous voice, and Lazarus returns to his body. Listen to the Glory prayer at Vespers: “Christ is coming to raise your dead by His voice. And when bitter and bottomless Hades heard that voice, it shook from fear; it gave forth a great groan and released Lazarus, still bound with grave clothes.” The body was smelling and decaying, but when the soul returns, order is restored. This is no doubt an image of the General Resurrection! Christ is victorious. Lazarus, who was dead, obeys the voice of Christ. Death had him, but could not keep him. Why? Because Christ was simply too powerful for death to hold him.
After this demonstration, after this victory, Christ enters Jerusalem. How does He enter? Fully arrayed in golden expensive cloths like a king? Or maybe He was clad in armour like a victorious warrior come from battle? No. He enters by fulfilling a prophecy: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zachariah 9:9) The people who love God rejoice for what they are witnessing. Christ enters in humility, riding on a donkey’s offspring. He who rides on the wings of the fiery Cherubim lowers Himself to that of riding an unclean animal. Today we are witnessing the condescension of God — God lowering who He actually is, to perform a redemptive act for our sake.
Why did He come to Jerusalem? For what purpose? To render judgment to the one who has gone against God and tried to taint His creation, the work of His pure hands — to render judgment to the ruler of this world. Listen to St. John explain this in his Gospel. But keep this in mind as Christ is entering Jerusalem: He has already won against death. There is nothing more that He needs to do. Remember the little girl Jairus’ daughter, the young man in the coffin, and now Lazarus who had been four days dead. The Jews believed that the soul hovered around the body for three days, then it went to the other place. So four days meant that the soul had left the body — it was in the grip of death. We have all heard that term death grip. Where did it come from? From this — that once death has a grip on you, no return is possible. He has proven, without a doubt, that He is stronger than death.
This is at Little Vespers: “When Thou didst raise Lazarus, the dominion of death was already doomed to destruction.” Once this happened, once they heard this loud voice, fear fell upon the demons and they released Lazarus. Once this happened they knew they were doomed. The entire realm of Hades realized that they had crossed the line and something was going to happen to them — and they didn’t know this, but Christ was gonna meet them face to face. It didn’t go well for them.
He says, “Father, save Me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” This is the purpose of His visitation to Earth — this was one of the reasons. But Christ does not stop there: “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
God has willed to bring His own creation back to Himself through the Son — and His method is the Cross. Through this redemptive act we have been given the ability to become sons of light: “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When we believe in this light, the light touches us, enlightens us, and we are able to follow Christ and become sons of Light. The light shows the way because the light is Christ. Do not let the darkness overtake you. Follow the light — it is a struggle, but you will know the way.
During this salvific event we are holding palm leaves and willow branches. Lucky for us Orthodox, every service is like a Bible study on steroids and because of this, we understand the meaning of holding this in our hands. We are proclaiming the Victory of the Resurrection. Each one of us who is holding the palm leaf is making a confession in front of everyone in church. We are confessing the truth of the General Resurrection, when Christ will come again. Holding the palm leaf is perfected praise — you don’t even have to say anything, just like “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast Thou perfected praise.” They confessed who Christ was by lining His path into Jerusalem with palm branches. The Vespers first hymn explains this feast very well: “Today the grace of the Holy Spirit hath gathered us together, and we all take up Thy cross and say: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”