In Lazarum et in ramos palmarum

Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem, a discourse on Lazarus and on the palms. 1 Just as the immeasurable abyss abundantly pours forth the springs of waters, and the springs in turn release uncontainable rivers, and the rivers visit the earth and make it drunk, so that it may bear fruit: bread for food and wine for the cheer of men, and men, enjoying them, fulfill what is written: "The poor shall eat and be filled, and those who seek the Lord shall praise him"—so also the ineffable philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, from the immeasurable abyss of his goodness and philanthropy, wells up for us his holy feasts, in which he wrought our salvation. And he himself wells up the feast, but the grace of the Holy Spirit, which is active in the feast, fills "the rushings of the river"—I mean the God-bearing men, who possess "teaching within teaching"—and they visit the intelligible and rational earth of humanity, gladdening the holy Church, which is "the city of the great king" Jesus Christ, according to what is written: "The rushings of the river gladden the city of God." And the Church, rejoicing and taking delight from the abundance of the heart, praises and glorifies the Lord who reigns in her. Come then, let us also today speak what he himself proclaimed beforehand about himself through his holy prophets; let us investigate, according to our ability, the salvation which our king procured for us in this feast.

Let us consider for what reason they hailed him as king, not only men but also the angelic powers. The cause of the hymnody, then, was the raising of Lazarus according to the surface, as the Gospel says: "They plotted also to kill Lazarus, because many of the Jews were going over to him and believing in Jesus." And this is the cause of the doxology of the faithful according to the surface, but covertly and hiddenly it is the raising of the entire human nature. And just as the sign of Lazarus and that raising caused men to hymn Jesus, so also the sign of the raising of the entire human nature prepared the holy angels to glorify him; and as much as the resurrection of all is greater than the raising of Lazarus, so much greater was the glory then. And the consciousness of those crying out, being amazed at the miracle, moved them to glorify; but the divine economy, on account of the raising of the entire human nature, covertly moved not only men but also the holy angels to marvel at and glorify Jesus. For they saw, truly they saw and learned and were instructed in a wisdom which they did not know, the angelic powers, through the church of the faithful being manifested from the God who created all things, the wisdom hidden in him before the ages, I mean that of the teachings and promises and miracles of the Lord Jesus, as somewhere the divine Paul says.

So that now through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and powers. For the higher powers learn things which they have never yet seen nor heard; for they are creatures, and a creature is not without need of learning, nor do they know what is to come, unless they are initiated by the holy, venerable, and worshipful Trinity. Thus they learned and were confirmed in the resurrection of Adam, having seen the Lord raise the son of the widow; for the earth became like a widow when her firstborn son died. And seeing him again raise the daughter of the archisynagogos, they were persuaded that he would also raise Eve together with Adam. Again, when he raised the son of the foreign centurion, they were taught in this also, that he would raise the foreign nations. Behold three different kinds of the dead. But when he raised Lazarus, the corpse of the fourth day from the tomb, the one composed of four elements, the stinking, the rotten, the one dominated by worms, it was made known to the principalities and powers, both heavenly and earthly, that he would raise all humanity composed of the four elements, even if it stank in the sin of transgression, even if it rotted in the impiety of idolatry, even if, as if by worms, it was dominated and taken captive by demons to do their will. Therefore, seeing these things, the angels secretly and men openly were amazed, and were astounded, and began to cry out and say:

Hosanna in the highest, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest.” They praised him not only as a sign-bearer, but also as a king who had taken captive the entire captivity that had been held from eternity by the devil and death. For these and similar reasons the divine prophets proclaim him king. And since the aforementioned prophets are hosts of rational souls, and just as the months of the year nourish human bodies in turn, so they nourish the souls of the faithful in turn, or rather in common, according to each feast and always, and they intoxicate Christians with divine teachings, as one of them says somewhere: “They will be intoxicated with the richness of your house.” Come, let us listen, and they will relate to us, all who love the kingdom of the Lord, what the great Zechariah, the glorious among prophets, prophesies to us about it. Let us understand what the herald proclaims, running ahead of the kingdom long before the time. Come, let us enjoy, as rational banqueters, the words that issue from the mouth of God through the spiritual host Zechariah; for it fell to him to nourish us on this feast, as the Lord says that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that issues through the mouth of God.” For since sorrow is hateful among men, and joy is desirable, he begins by crying out from joy, saying: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion.” “Rejoice greatly,” cries the prophet to the captivity. “O depth of wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God.” Why “Rejoice”?

And why "rejoice greatly and be glad"? Because the one who returns you has come, just as the father of the king who returns you foretold, saying: "When the Lord returns the captivity of Zion, we were as if comforted; then our mouth was filled with joy and our tongue with exultation." 5 "Rejoice," he says, because you are returning from the captivity of demons and the exile of this age to the upper Jerusalem, which your father Abraham awaited, as somewhere the blessed apostle Paul says: But you "have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem and the myriads of angels, to the festival and assembly of the firstborn enrolled in the heavens, and to the judge God of all and the spirits of the righteous who have been perfected." Hence "pain, grief, and groaning have fled," where the dwelling place of all the rejoicing righteous is. Then "rejoice and be glad" and "rejoice greatly, daughter" of this Zion, clearly. "And why," he says, "should I rejoice greatly, O prophet?" "Rejoice," because that terrible one will no longer take you captive, "greatly," because not as the rest

kings, but the one who rescues you is an eternal king, and his kingdom is eternal, as the angel Gabriel says to his mother and virgin Mary: "And of his kingdom there will be no end." And just as his kingdom is eternal, so your salvation is eternal. Therefore: "Rejoice greatly; proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem." What shall I proclaim, O prophet? Proclaim to your king, who came down from the heights of heaven to save you, thanksgiving, doxology, hymnody. Proclaim: "Hosanna in the highest, whence you came to save me, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord." And observe for me how the evangelist proclaims Christ in a twofold manner: for in saying "Hosanna in the highest," he indicates the high nature of divinity, while in saying "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord," he signifies the substance of humanity, the blessed seed by which blessed Abraham was blessed, so that in his seed all the nations of the earth might be blessed: "For blessed," he says, "is the coming kingdom of our father David.

Let us take up again the former voice and, like a prophetic breast, squeeze it out; for it still has the good things of milk and contemplation. For it says: "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem." And why "daughter of Zion" and not Zion, and "daughter of Jerusalem" and not Jerusalem? Pay attention intelligently, I beg you. For just as the names of plants and birds and quadrupeds and humans are possessed according to the difference of form and power, so also each letter of the divine oracles possesses its own power and contemplation. Therefore let us investigate why the prophet now first calls the faithful Jerusalem "daughter of Zion," then "daughter of Jerusalem." For he says: "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem." Zion is interpreted "thirsting"; and this is the assembly of the righteous and prophets, who from eternity until the coming of Christ thirsted to be united with and to please the divine and worshipful substance of the Godhead, as the chief of the apostles Peter says: "That they might become partakers of the divine nature." These, seeking the Lord and thirsting, were called Zion, as one of them said: "My soul thirsted for the strong, living God." When they attained and approached, or rather were seen and beheld his face—for so another version says—they became Jerusalem, "seeing God and a watchtower of all knowledge.

He calls the faithful in the Lord the daughter of this Zion, those who thirst through faith and seek through the labor of the commandments of the Gospel to find the Lord, who is hidden within them, as the Holy Spirit says: "This is the generation of those seeking the Lord, seeking the face of the God of Jacob." And when they succeed, they are called the daughter of the aforementioned Jerusalem, beholding God and contemplating spiritual knowledge. And the prophet, exhorting through the Spirit for God to reveal such a Zion and Jerusalem, says: "Remember your congregation, which you acquired from the beginning." Therefore, with this mother of yours, Zion, "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem," crying out in a heavenly manner with your mother: "Hosanna in the highest, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord." 8 And what does the Gospel say? "When they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage." For the faithful to consume him, he came into the upper room, "to the Mount of Olives," which is the faithful church from the people. "Then Jesus sent two of his disciples," who are two choirs of the prophets and apostles; for the apostles, discipling the nations, had with them the divinely inspired

The oracles of the prophets, which bear witness to Christ, in the manner in which Ezekiel, the great among the prophets, beheld them: "A wheel," he says, "within a wheel," flying and running. Jesus saying to them: "Go to the village opposite"; for he sent them to the whole inhabited world of the nations, because they were at that time opposed to the faithful church from the people. For at the opportune time he sent them "to the village opposite" of the nations; for it was ready to receive the aforementioned two choirs of apostles and prophets. "And to bring to him the colt," which are the nations, for him to mount and reign over them, as the psalmist says: "God reigned over the nations, the Lord sits upon his holy throne." "Upon which no man has ever sat"; for they had neither God mounting and reigning over them, nor law, nor prophets. "Having loosed it," he says, "bring it to me"; for the apostles loosed the nations from darkness, that is, from ignorance of God, from error, from sin, from slavery to the alien, from "the power of darkness," "of the ruler of this age." And they brought them to their creator and maker, the Lord. And behold, he sits upon them and reigns as upon the cherubim, crying out and saying: "Hosanna in the highest, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven and glory in the highest"; for thus says Luke. "Peace in heaven," why does he say this? Did the angels not have peace in heaven?

Yes, and they had peace within themselves, "a peace surpassing all understanding," as the most wise Paul says. They had peace in heaven, but they did not have it with men; heaven, then, had peace by itself. But when the angels saw all humanity being raised through the sign of Lazarus, and the nations being loosed like the colt and coming to be ruled by their creator, then heaven too was reconciled with men, and they cried out with one voice and said: "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest." "And they placed their garments upon the colt," which signify the grace given by him to them among the nations, and through it "they mounted Jesus upon them"; and not only this, but also through their own virtues, as the evangelist indicates, saying: "Others spread their garments on the road." And this hints at their own virtues, which they yoked to grace, as the divine Paul clearly says: "Having been justified by faith, let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have gained access by faith to this grace, in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God." Thus far concerning grace. "But not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces testing, and testing produces hope.

Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us. And the phrase "they spread them on the ground" means that their virtues were seen bodily, openly, and perceptibly before the nations, just as the apostle says in another place, speaking to this: "What you saw in me and heard and received, do." But let us return to the matter at hand. "The crowds that preceded him and those that followed cried out," with praises and branches of olive trees and palm branches, which signify the practical work of the outer man, and palm branches, which indicate the spiritual and practical and gnostic and pure work of the inner man. "They cried out, saying, 'Hosanna in the highest.'" For truly all the crowds of the righteous, prophets, and priests, who are those preceding and those following, cry out in faith and say, "Hosanna to the son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest." As the evangelist says, "All this happened so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, 'Say to the daughter of Zion.'" To whom do you say, "Say," O prophet? Behold, you proclaim; behold, you speak. I, he says, desired to see and hear, and not I alone but also many prophets and righteous ones. But I also say to those who are found and are being taught, who see and hear the king of Zion, that they may speak and proclaim, "Say to the daughter of Zion.

Behold, your king comes to you." And he did not say simply "he comes," but "he comes to you," that is, to become yours and to dwell in you. "Behold, your king comes to you, righteous and saving," saving from the slavery of the enemy those who believe in him. 11 "Gentle and mounted upon a foal, the offspring of a beast of burden," that is, humble-minded, and in his humility "destroying the chariots of the kingdom of Ephraim," that is, of the devil who reigned over Israel and over the nations. He also destroyed, even literally, the kingdom of the people of the Jews; for until Christ came, the anointing and the kingdom of the Jews existed, and then it ceased. "And a horse," he says, "from Jerusalem," that is, all the pride of their rule, through his humble foal. And the patriarch Jacob, blessing Judah and revealing the blessing to his fathers Abraham and Isaac, which is Christ, says: "Binding his foal to the vine." For to the vine that migrated from Egypt, that filled the whole earth with the teaching of its prophets and righteous ones, he bound the unclean nations; for the foal is unclean in the law, and so are the nations. "Binding his foal to the vine." Why? So that they might receive from it the law and the prophets and the knowledge of God in them, that is, Christ, who is the blessing of the nations and their purification. For he says:

And with the vine-tendril, the foal of his donkey," the tendril being the shoot from the vine, which is Christ, having sprouted from the vine of the synagogue that came out of Egypt, as Jacob himself says to him: "From a shoot, my son, you arose." And the nations were bound in him unloosably. Therefore, let us also be bound to Christ unloosably. If we at all strive to be saved and to benefit from his feasts, he will raise us up together with Lazarus from our dead works, those done without him. Thus, let us dine with him in Bethany, which is interpreted as "house of obedience"; thus, let us fittingly gather our thoughts from the captivity of forgetfulness together with the senses of the body, crying out and saying: "Hosanna in the highest; blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord," to enter into his own Jerusalem, not to suffer as then, but to save her and be glorified by her, as David addresses her, saying: "Praise, Jerusalem, the Lord; praise your God, Zion." He said a second time: "praise" and "praise" with soul and body, "because he has strengthened the bars of your gates," which are faith, hope, love, study, long-suffering, endurance. "He has blessed your sons in you," who are the faithful infants who received the Lord with the branches, that is, with new fruits, those suckling the milk of Christ's teaching; for believing in him, they immediately praise, hymn, and glorify, as it is written:

From the mouths of infants and sucklings you have fashioned praise." Let us become a holy vehicle for him instead of an unclean foal, so that he may mount upon us. Let us yoke to him the chariot of our reasonings, "and he will reign" over us "for the ages, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Let us take up a cheerful manner of life as a branch of olive, "to gladden our face with oil," as the psalmist says, and again: "Serve the Lord with gladness." Let us again take up, in the inner man, the divine and spiritual work, as the fronds of date-palms, and let us follow him, giving thanks; and instead of whiteness, right, undefiled, and simple faith; instead of sharpness, patient hope, which stings and slays every thought that rises up to take us captive from the knowledge of God; and instead of the sweetness of the date-palm, sweet love, which is composed of the aforementioned faith and hope and the rest, so that the saying may be fulfilled in us: "The righteous shall blossom like a date-palm.

like a cedar in Lebanon it will be multiplied." Let us follow him into the holy city, let us enter with him into the temple, so that he may overturn the tables of the money-changers within us, and drive away from us the demons selling doves, the reasonings that fly in error, together with all who buy and sell within us, and make us, instead of a den of robbers, according to the ancient temple, a holy temple in which Christ dwells and walks, so that he may grant light to our blind, make the deaf hear and the lame walk, and raise the dead with Lazarus—for where life dwells, there is resurrection—so that with Lazarus and the crowds and his disciples, and with infants and sucklings, and with the holy angels, we may cry out shouting: "Hosanna in the highest; blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord," Christ, Lord and God, the "king of the ages"; to him glory, honor, and worship, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.