In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

During two thousand years already we, Christians, either seek for God or run away from Him. Sometimes the faith in our souls is changed by betrayal. So since ancient times until now, the same people, we, Christians, in the same Church, have been shouting either with joy, “Hosanna!” or with fury, “Crucify Him!” And our God sees and knows it. He knew it then in Jerusalem, He knows it now. He knows what the great city is expecting, he knows what the whole world is expecting and therefore He is weeping.

The Evangelist Luke writes about it the following, “And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it” (Lk.19, 41). Our Lord is weeping over us, and these tears of Christ are bitter reproach for all of us and simultaneously, and surprising though it may seem, these tears of our God are sign of hope. Only yesterday did the Lord weep over dead Lazarus and here is alive Lazarus! So we have a hope of life, so not everything has been lost for us.

Only exulting and rejoicing one shouldn’t forget why our God and Saviour is going to Jerusalem. He is going there to die. All horror of the event we celebrate today is that nobody standing along the road knows that the colt is carrying the Son of God to Golgotha, to death. What are people with palm branches there at the walls of Jerusalem and we, standing in this church with willow branches instead of palm ones, expecting from Lord Jesus Christ, what are we asking him for now, when the way of Tribulation of our Saviour to the Cross begins? We know what the multitude of people from Jerusalem and each of us standing here are asking Christ for. To put it bluntly “cushy job”. And it’s quite unimportant what concrete forms these general requests are embodied.

The citizens of Jerusalemn also wanted ordinary human happiness, quite lawful things: freedom from Roman invaders, religious and national freedom, bread and life for themselves and their children. They wanted the same things as we want. And these wishes were not unlawful. Just as are quite lawful our prayer requests to God and our Saviour. The trouble is that none of those who shouted “Hosanna!” didn’t understand that in order to be resurrected for a new life, to become free from Roman invaders or simply from sinful passions, one should “work till blood”, die for freedom, to be crucified with Christ. One should drink the Cup He is drinking.

The citizen of Jerusalem didn’t understand it. Five days didn’t pass when those who were shouting “Hosanna!” cried out furiously “Crucify Him!”

We must remember this awful mistake. We standing with willow branches, and thus testifying that we as they are meeting Christ must keep them from delusion.

We must understand that Christ is crucified again and again by our sins, our coldness, our calm indifference. We must understand that it is we but not long ago died inhabitants of hot Palestine who are expecting our “cushy job” from the Lord. But He calls us for trust and joint crucifixion. If we don’t understand it and don’t give credulously our heart, our life and fate to Him not being afraid and horrified by anything we have to do, then I am afraid we’ll cry out very soon “Crucify Him”.

In order to sin so, in fact it isn’t necessary at all to call for crucifixion. It is simply sufficient to forget it. To live in such a way as if in history there was no that awful execution on Golgotha, to live as millions of people live without asking ourselves a question “What does God want from me?”

And here on the eve of Passion days, when the ascending of God to the Cross begins, we must try to understand that sin and death are our doing. And having realized it, let’s recall with a new power and hope the tears of our Saviour because four day Lazarus rose from the dead by these tears, this love, this pity for a person. And we will rise from the sin by these tears. And the world will be also saved by these tears. Amen.