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.

Since the Lord was close to suffering and knew that the disciples would be filled with sorrow, therefore He says: "You should not grieve in the least for My death." For if you yourself do not die, it will be of no use to you. And in general, any person who loves the present life and loves his soul, that is, fulfills its inappropriate desires, when he pleases it more than he should, and does not despise death, will destroy it. And whoever hates it, that is, does not serve it and does not bow down before it, will preserve it unto eternal life. Wishing to show how severe an aversion one should have to the lusts of the soul, He said, "Who hates?" We can neither see the faces nor hear the voices of those whom we hate: we must treat the irrational desires of the soul in the same way, that is, hate them with complete hatred. With the words: "Whoever hates his soul "in this world" shows the temporality of the matter. This commandment seemed murderous and inconsistent with the love of life. He softened it by adding: "in this world." I, he says, do not always command to hate the soul; but "in this unfaithful world" turn away from it, when it enjoins you to "do unlike" (Romans 1:28). He also adds to the benefit: "He will preserve it unto eternal life"; you will hate it for a time, but you will keep it alive forever for divine life.

Wishing to persuade them still more to despise the present life and encourage them against death, he says: "Whosoever serves Me, let him follow Me," let him be ready for death as I am. Then He offers consolation: "Where I am, there will My servant be." Where is Christ? In heaven. For the heavenly and the earthly are opposed to each other. Whoever loves to be on earth will not be in heaven, and whoever avoids earthly things and this world will be high in heaven. "Whoever serves Me, My Father will honor him." He did not say, "I will mail him," but, "Father." This shows His affinity with Him. For the true Father will honor him as a servant of His true Son. At the same time, this shows that He is not an adversary of God. For God the Father would not honor a servant who opposes Him. Therefore, let us not set the love of our soul in keeping it from dangers for the truth's sake, and not wishing to suffer evil for good; but if we are servants of Christ, we give it up in danger for the truth, and will undoubtedly be in the same condition as Christ is now; I do not speak in divine dignity, for He is God by nature, but in that with which human nature can be adorned; for He is God by nature, and we are gods by adoption and by grace.

My soul is now troubled; and what shall I say? Father! deliver me from this hour! But at this hour I have come. Father! glorify Thy name. Then came a voice from heaven: I have glorified, and I will glorify again.

What is He saying? He seems to contradict himself. Above, it seems, He prepared others for death and persuaded them to hate the soul, but now, near death, He is indignant. This is not fitting for one who exhorts to death, but averts from it. But if you examine carefully, you will find that His very indignation is an exhortation to contempt for death. Lest anyone think of saying that it is easy for Him to be so inquisitive about death and to persuade others to endure misfortunes, when He Himself is beyond human suffering and beyond danger, He shows that He Himself has experienced what is proper to people and is a partaker of our nature, although without sin. Therefore, although He, as a Man who loves life by nature, does not desire death and is indignant, yet He does not renounce it, since it is necessary for the salvation of the world. For this reason, he says, at this hour I have come, to receive death for all. This clearly teaches us that we, too, even if we are indignant, even if we grieve, yet we do not escape death for the truth. And I, he says, am indignant, for I am truly a man, and I allow human nature to reveal what is proper to it, yet I do not tell the Father that He should deliver Me from this hour; but what am I saying? "Father! glorify Thy name," that is, please Me to accept the cross and death for the salvation of all. Behold, He called death for the truth the glory of God. For this reason the Father also says: "I have glorified, and I will glorify again"; glorified by those miracles which Thou didst perform in My name before the Cross; "and I will glorify again," having performed miracles through Thee on the Cross itself; and after the burial I will make My name and Thee more glorious, by raising Thee up and sending down the Spirit.

The people who stood and heard it said, "This is thunder." And others said, "The angel spoke to him." Jesus answered, "This voice was not for me, but for the people." Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me. This He said, giving us to understand by what death He would die.

Since so many were coarse and ignorant, they took the voice for thunder, although this voice was articulate and very clear. For they soon forgot the words of the voice, retaining only its echo. Some remembered the very words of the voice: "And I glorified, and I will glorify again," however, not understanding what meaning of these words they thought that the angel spoke to Him, and therefore these words, as spoken by an angel, are incomprehensible to them. But Jesus says, "This voice was not for me, but for you." I had no need of teaching that the Father had glorified and would glorify His name. And you had to be taught that I am not an adversary of God, but act for the glory of the name of God. For if the name of God be glorified through me, how can I be an adversary of God? Therefore this voice was for you, that you might know that I am working for the glory of God, and if you cannot know for yourselves, you would know by questioning what you do not know.

The words: "now is the judgment of this world" apparently have no connection with the previous one. For what is their relation to the words: "I have glorified, and I will glorify again"? But there is no doubt that there is a connection. Since the Father from above said: "I will glorify," the Lord shows us the way to glorify. What exactly? That the prince of this world will be cast out and defeated, and for peace there will be judgment, that is, vengeance. These words have the following meaning: now is the judgment and vengeance for this world being carried out. Since the devil has put this world to death, making all men guilty of sin, but having attacked Me and found no sin in Me, he has brought Me under death on an equal footing with others, he will be condemned by Me, and thus I will avenge the world. Let him put death on the rest for sin; but what has he found in me like the rest, that he may put me to death? And so, now I am carrying out the judgment of this world, that is, vengeance for it. For having slain him who slew all, and then attacked Me, the innocent, I will avenge all those whom he slayed, and the cruel ruler (tyrant) condemned by My death will be cast out. The expression "cast out" is used in comparison with the way convicts are pushed out of the court in judicial places.