Then, before the Lord's entry into Jerusalem, the time had not yet come to declare Him to be Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah. And now it's here. The Lord knew when to reveal His dignity as Christ to all the people, and the Lord's entry into Jerusalem had just that purpose: to reveal Jesus as Savior, Son of God, and Messiah. 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: "Thou sayest... 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 Lad 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 enthusiasm of the people in order to truly reign?!

Oh, how easily Christ could have done this! Oh, with what fear and confusion His enemies looked at His glorious entry into Jerusalem! How they trembled, thinking: will he really become a king, will he really become our ruler? And the Lord did not need this, for His Kingdom is not of this world. He sat on a colt accompanied by a donkey, and wept bitterly... Why, why did He weep bitterly?!

This is explained by His own words addressed to Jerusalem, which were heard by those around Him: "... Oh, that thou, too, though in this thy day thou knowest what shall serve thy peace! But these things are now hidden from thy eyes" (Luke 19:42). Oh, that thou, O Jerusalem, on this most decisive day for thee, knew what is for thy peace: oh, that thou wouldst know that I am the Messiah Who came to save thee, that I am not thy earthly king, but the King of heaven! If only you knew.. But this is hidden from your eyes.

The Lord knew that the people who rejected Him, who crucified Him on the cross, would have to endure for rejecting Him, for crucifying Him. He knew that Vespasian and Titus would come, encircle Jerusalem, and subject it to the unspeakable horrors of the siege, the description of which we read in the Jewish historian Josephus, a contemporary of these events. Indescribably terrible was the terrible siege of Jerusalem: mothers killed and boiled their children in order to eat them.

Jerusalem was destroyed so that not one stone was left in it. The temple of Jerusalem was destroyed, never to be rebuilt again. Christ wept over this. Oh, that thou, O Jerusalem, would know on this day what is for thy salvation... "But these things are now hidden from thy eyes." The people rejoiced, the people shouted, waving date branches: "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the Highest!" (Matt. 21:9).

The people spread their garments under the feet of the donkey on which He rode, and the children shouted, praising God. And in their black souls, the scribes, the Pharisees, the chief priests were tormented, indignant, and, unable to endure it, said to the Lord: "Rebuke, rebuke them: you hear what they are crying out." "And Jesus saith unto them, Yes! Have you never read: Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast ordained praise" (Matt. 21:16). And the evil people fell silent.

They wanted, they asked that the Lord forbid Him to be glorified. And what did the Lord answer? – "… if they are silent, the stones will cry out" (Luke 19:40). For such a great event as you are witnessing cannot be kept silent—even stones cannot be silent. And so the people rejoiced, and the scribes, the chief priests, and the Pharisees were torn apart with anger and indignation. Why did they hate the Lord Jesus, why did they crucify Him?

Because they considered Him a transgressor of the law of Moses. The law of Moses was for them an indisputable, absolute holy truth, and anyone who violated the law was considered the gravest criminal. They were indignant that the Lord Jesus Christ healed the sick on the Sabbath day; more than once, more than once, they expressed their indignation. I will remind you of one such incident: the Lord entered the temple and saw a man with a withered hand, commanded him to come out into the middle and, turning to the scribes and Pharisees, asked: "... What should I do on Saturday? Good or evil? to save the soul or to destroy it?" (Luke 6:9). They were angrily silent.