Those who came to the Lord were more well-intentioned than others, unconscious and violent; for they came not only for Jesus, but also to see Lazarus. Since a truly great miracle had taken place, many wished to be spectators of the resurrected one, perhaps in the hope of learning something from Lazarus about those who were in hell. The Pharisees are so inhuman that they want to kill not only Jesus, but also Lazarus, because he served as a reason for salvation for many through a miracle performed on him, leading guileless people to faith. In the same way, the beneficence of Jesus became a crime for them. They were especially vexed that, on the occasion of the feast, everyone went to Bethany, learned about the miracle and saw with their own eyes the resurrected one.

On the morrow, a multitude of people who had come to the feast, hearing that Jesus was going to Jerusalem, took palm branches, went out to meet Him, and cried out, Hosanna! blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, King of Israel!

The Lord, having withdrawn for a short time into the wilderness in order to appease the fury of the bloodthirsty, again openly enters Judea and shows Himself before all. At last the time had come to suffer, and He should not have hid Himself, but given Himself up for the salvation of the world. See, then, what was the sequence of suffering. The Lord resurrected Lazarus, preserving by the end this miracle, the most important of all the others; because of this, many flocked to Him and believed. Because many believed, the envy of the enemies increased. This was followed by plots against Him and the cross.

The people, hearing that Jesus was coming, met Him with glory, no doubt for the sake of the miracle over Lazarus, giving Him more honor than befitted a common man. For they no longer took Him for a prophet, because to which of the prophets did their fathers give such honor? That is why they exclaimed: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" for "hosanna" means: "save." Thus this word was translated into Greek by the seventy interpreters in Psalm 117 (v. 25). For in the Hebrew language it reads: "Hosanna", but in the Greek: "O Lord, save!" To save belongs only to God, and to Him it is said: "Save us, Lord our God!" Thus, those who cried out to Christ with the words of David show, first, that He is God; then that He is God in the proper sense. For they say: "To come," and not to one who is led. The latter is something slavish, and to go is autocratic. The words, "in the name of the Lord," express the same thing, that He is the true God. For they do not say that He comes in the name of a servant, but in the name of the Lord. They also imagine that He is not an adversary of God, but has come in the name of the Father, as the Lord Himself says: "I have come in the name of My Father, and another shall come in his own name" (John 5:43). They also call Him the King of Israel, perhaps in dreams of a sensual kingdom; for they expected that some king of nature higher than human nature would arise and deliver them from the dominion of the Romans.

And Jesus, having found the colt, sat on it, as it is written, Fear not, O daughter of Zion. Behold, thy King cometh seated on a colt (Zech. 9:9). His disciples did not understand this at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that it was written about Him, and they did it to Him.

The other Evangelists say that the Lord said to His disciples: "Loose them, and bring them unto me" (Matt. 1:21:2; Mk. 11:2; Lk. 19:30). And here John doesn't mention any of that, but just says, "Jesus found the colt." However, there is no disagreement between the evangelists. Others spoke at length, but John said more briefly, "Jesus, having found a colt." When the disciples had untied him and brought him in, Jesus found him and sat down on him. In this circumstance, He also fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah, who said: "Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion! behold, thy king cometh unto thee, sitting on a colt" (Zech. 9:9). Since the kings of Jerusalem, for the most part, were unjust and greedy, the prophet says: "Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion! The king of whom I predict to you is not like that, but meek and humble-minded, and not in the least proud. This is also evident from the fact that He came sitting on a donkey. For He did not enter accompanied by an army, but came on one donkey.

The Lord's sitting on a donkey was also a type of the future. This animal, unclean according to the law, was the image of the unclean people of the Gentiles, on whom Jesus, the Word of God, sits, subduing this rebellious and coarse, like an ass, new people, whom He leads up to the true Jerusalem after it has become tame and obedient to Him. For did not the Lord raise up to heaven those pagans who became His people and submitted to the preaching of the Gospel?

The palm trees may have signified that He, having resurrected Lazarus, became the conqueror of death; for the palm was given in battles to the victors. Perhaps they also expressed the fact that the one who is glorified is a heavenly Being who has come from above. For the palm tree of other trees alone reaches, so to speak, the very sky, puts out leaves at a height, has white kernels in the leaf, but in the trunk and middle, up to the top, it is rough and inconvenient to climb it, because it has thorns on the branches. In the same way, he who strives for the knowledge of the Son and the Word of God will find it not easy, but difficult, ascending through the labors of virtue, but, having reached the height of knowledge, he will be illumined by the bright light of the knowledge of God and the revelation of ineffable mysteries, as if by the whitest kernels of a palm tree.

I beseech thee, marvel at the Evangelist, how he is not ashamed, but openly speaks of the former ignorance of the Apostles. The disciples, he says, did not understand this at first, but then they understood how Jesus was glorified. By glory he means the ascension that followed suffering and death. Then, no doubt, after the descent of the Holy Spirit, they knew that it was written about Him. That it was written, they may have known, but that what was written pertained to Jesus was hidden from them, and not without benefit. Otherwise they would have been tempted by His crucifixion, when He Whom the Scriptures call King suffers in this way.

The people who had been with Him before testified that He had summoned Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead. That is why the people met Him, for they heard that He had performed this miracle. And the Pharisees said among themselves, "Do you see that you do not succeed in anything?" the whole world follows Him.

The people who saw the miracle of Lazarus testified and preached about the power of Jesus. For this reason those who heard about the performance of this miracle, that is, believed, met Him with glory; if they had not believed, they would not have changed so quickly. The Pharisees, who say, "You see, you do not succeed in anything," do not say this out of guile, for they were not among those who slandered the Saviour, but appear to be well-disposed, only implicitly, because they do not dare to openly oppose those who are raging against the Lord, they try to calm them down with the consequences of the deed, saying, as it were: "What profit does it profit you that you build so much over this Man?" No matter how much you plot evil, He grows more and more, and His glory increases; for the world, that is, all the people, follows Him. Therefore, having no success, leave your shackles and do not sin in vain.

Of those who came to worship on the feast were some Greeks; they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and besought him, saying, "Lord! we want to see Jesus. Philip goes and tells Andrew about it; and then Andrew and Philip told Jesus about it. And Jesus answered and said unto them, The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Verily, verily, I say to you, if a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it will bear much fruit.

Because of the beauty of the temple and the miracles handed down by the Jews, many of the Greeks also came to worship. They were close to becoming strangers, that is, to accept Judaism. When word of Jesus reached them, they approached Philip and asked him to give them the opportunity to see Jesus. Philip, in humility and decency, speaks to Andrew as if he were higher than himself. Andrew does not take up the report, does not decide it by himself, but, taking Philip with him, dares to report to Jesus (such good order and mutual love prevailed between them). What about the Lord? Since He had commanded His disciples not to go on the way to the Gentiles (Matt. 10:5), and now He saw that the Gentiles themselves were already coming to Him (for the Greeks who wanted to see Him were undoubtedly pagans), and the Jews were building His snares, He said: "It is time at last to go to suffering, for the time of the Cross has come, that the Son of Man may be glorified." What is the use of not receiving the Gentiles who come to us, and of imposing oneself on the Jews who hate and persecute? And so, since the Gentiles come to us, now is the time to be crucified. Therefore, I will allow the Jews to finish their schemes and allow them to crucify Me, so that they will later be crucified without any excuse, since I will graciously leave them as crucifiers and murderers and turn to the Gentiles who have already begun to come to My teaching. For it would be very unjust to give nothing to the Gentiles, who thirst for the word and salvation, and to give abundantly to the Jews, who trample on what is given to them and plot evil against the Benefactor. Then, so that the disciples would not be offended by the fact that He was dying when the Gentiles also began to come, He said: "This very thing, that is, My death, will increase the faith of the Gentiles even more." For as a grain of wheat bears much fruit when it is sown and dies, so my death will bear much fruit for the faith of the Gentiles. Therefore, let no one be offended, because My death does not hinder the joining of the Gentiles, but let him be convinced by the example of the seed that My fall in My death will increase the number of believers. For if this is the case with the grain, how much more will it be with Me. For, having died and risen again, through the resurrection I will manifest My power even more, and then all will believe in Me as God.

He who loves his soul will destroy it; but he who hates his soul in this world will preserve it to eternal life. Whosoever serves me, let him follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be; and whosoever serves me, my Father will honour him.