How, in what form, was this great work accomplished by our Lord Jesus Christ? Not with great glory, not with the glory that the Messiah would have received if He had been what the Jews believed and expected Him to be; if the purpose of His coming had been only to reign forever over the people of Israel, to place them above all other nations, and to become an earthly king.

After all, the Saviour said at Pilate's trial in response to Pilate's question whether He was a king: "You say... My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).

If He had sought the kingdom of this world, if He had desired to be the Messiah, the great king that the people of Israel had been waiting for, then, of course, He would not have entered Jerusalem in such a poor, humble form.

Were there not a great number of rich and noble people among those who believed in Him, among those who deeply revered Him, who could, at His first hint, furnish the entrance to Jerusalem as if it were the entrance of a king: give magnificent horses, chariots that would accompany crowds of people, as they accompanied great generals in Rome, who won glorious victories over their enemies? They were awarded the so-called triumph. This triumphant procession was full of great glory, full of brilliance. The triumphant stood on a luxuriously decorated chariot drawn by four magnificent horses, holding high his proud head, crowned with a laurel wreath, and received from everywhere signs of admiration and glorification. The troops marched ahead with thunderous music. And behind the chariots were the chained kings and leaders of the kingdom that the triumphant had conquered.

And could the Lord Jesus Christ have made His entrance in this way? Oh no, oh no!

All earthly glory is insignificant and vanishes like smoke, and all those who were honored with a triumph in Rome have long been forgotten by people. There is another glory, immeasurably higher than the glory of triumphants: there is the glory of valiant humility, meekness, and virtue, for these great spiritual qualities are immeasurably higher than all the merits of military and civil and all human glory, insignificant before the glory of the meek, humble, full of love and virtues.

The Kingdom of Christ was not of this world, it was the Kingdom of God. And his glory had to be the glory of God. And He gained this glory in His humble procession on a donkey, on which He sat, not proudly raising His head, but lowering it low and watering His holy cheeks with streams of tears.

It was now opportune to reveal Himself to the people of Israel as the humble and suffering Messiah, as the servant of Jehovah, as the Child Who is quiet and meek, Whom the Heavenly Father holds by the hand, Who "shall not break a bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax" (Isaiah 42:3).

Such was the Lord's entry into Jerusalem. Let us think about it, would anyone who had been in the place of the Lord Jesus at that moment of His glorious entry into Jerusalem, who would have aspired to earthly glory and honors, to royal power, would not have used the rapture of the people caused by the greatest miracle of the resurrection of the dead on the fourth day after death – would he not have used such popular enthusiasm in order to truly reign?!

О как легко мог это сделать Христос! О с каким страхом и смятением смотрели Его враги на славный Его вход в Иерусалим! Как трепетали, думая: неужели станет царем, неужели станет нашим властителем?

А Господу это не было нужно, ибо Царство Его не от мира сего.

Он восседал на осленке, сопровождаемом ослицей, и горько плакал… Почему, почему Он горько плакал?!

Это объясняют Его собственные слова, обращенные к Иерусалиму, которые услышали окружающие Его: «… о, если бы и ты, хотя в сей твой день узнал, что служит к миру твоему! Но это сокрыто ныне от глаз твоих» (Лк. 19, 42).

О, если бы ты, Иерусалим, в этот самый решающий для тебя день узнал, что служит к миру твоему: о, если бы узнал, что Я именно тот Мессия, Который пришел спасти тебя, что Я царь твой не земной, а Царь Небесный! Если бы ты знал!.. Но сокрыто это от очей твоих.