On the palm branches (Homily 3a) (under the name of John Chrysostom)

Discourse of John, Archbishop of Constantinople, the Chrysostom, on the Palm Branches

Already the graces of the Lord's festival shine forth, already the messages of the all-praised feast run before, already Lazarus, having received the pledge of the universal resurrection, reclines at table with the Lord, already the mystery of the gift makes fragrant those who run to baptism, already the people who believed, having run to meet the Lord, cry out, saying, as you have just heard: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel. Blessed is he who comes, who is always coming and is with us and is in no way outside of the faithful. Truly that crowd recognized a royal entry; for just as in the present day, when a king has campaigned against a tyrant and returns with victory, all the citizens of his city meet him before the city, celebrating the victory with praises, and what leads them to this is not glorious love but a longing for victory celebration, in the same way also in the case of the Lord Christ, as of a trophy-bearing king, the whole multitude, both by their words and by the palm branches, were indicating, that the one who had arrived was a victor, or rather that the one being recognized was a god; for to God alone are fitting the voices which were then spoken, and are now read aloud, and lay bare divine mysteries to the understanding. Hosanna in the highest. What is "Hosanna in the highest?" That is, "Save, now, O you in the highest;" for "Hosanna" is interpreted as "save, now" in the Hebrew language. Hosanna in the highest. That is, as salvation above, and love for mankind below. O the knowledge of God of a crowd that has partaken of angelic ministry, treading the earth and traversing heaven, clothed in a body and pursuing the things of the bodiless, Jews in name and Christians in deed, worldly in conduct and apostolic in confession. From above these too, like Peter, received the revelation; for just as Peter, the chief of the apostles, not from his own study, but from divine revelation, said to the Lord: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, and the Lord, showing that not from his own reasonings but from the Father he received the revelation, blessing him, said: Blessed are you

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, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven, in the same way the crowd also, having received the revelation from above, cried out to the Lord with fitting voices, saying: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel. And it is likely for some to say: And from where will you prove to us that this Jewish crowd received the revelation from above? From where will I prove it to you? From the very words of the Lord. For, it says, when the chief priests and the scribes saw the children crying out in the temple and saying: Hosanna to the Son of David, they were indignant and said to Jesus: Do you hear what these are saying? And Jesus said to them: Yes; have you never read: 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have perfected praise?' And not only from the words of the Lord, but also from the extraordinary gathering and meeting of the crowds, and from the deeds which they were doing, not only crying out, but also cutting the branches of the olive trees and the fronds of the palm trees and carrying them in their hands, and spreading their garments beneath, and addressing him as savior and king and lord. From which it is clear to everyone, I suppose, that from above

In ramos palmarum (homilia 3a) (sub nomine Joannis Chrysostomi)

̓Ιωάννου ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου λόγος εἰς τὰ βαΐα

Ηδη τῆς δεσποτικῆς πανηγύρεως προλάμπει τὰ χαρίσμα τα, ἤδη τῆς πανευφήμου ἑορτῆς προτρέχει τὰ μηνύματα, ἤδη τῆς καθολικῆς ἀναστάσεως ἀρραβῶνα δεξάμενος Λά ζαρος τῷ κυρίῳ συνανάκειται, ἤδη τῆς δωρεᾶς τὸ μυστήριον τοὺς τῷ βαπτίσματι προσ τρέχοντας εὐωδιάζει, ἤδη ὁ πιστεύσας λαὸς εἰς ὑπάντησιν τῷ κυρίῳ προσδραμὼν βοᾷ λέγων, καθὼς ἀρτίως ἤκουες· Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις, εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου, βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ὁ ἀεὶ ἐρχόμενος καὶ ὢν μεθ' ἡμῶν καὶ ἔξω τῶν πιστῶν μηδαμῶς γινόμενος. Ὄντως ὁ ὄχλος ἐκεῖνος βασιλικὴν ἐγνώρισεν εἴσοδον· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς παροῦσι βασιλέως ἐπιστρατεύσαντος τυράννῳ καὶ μετὰ νίκης ὑποστρέφοντος πάντες οἱ πολῖται τῆς αὐτοῦ πόλεως πρὸ τῆς πόλεως συναντῶσιν ἐγκωμίοις τὴν νίκην ἀμειβόμενοι ἄγει δὲ αὐτοὺς πρὸς τοῦτο οὐκ ἔνδοξος ἔρως ἀλλ' ἐπινίκιος πόθος, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ δεσπότου Χριστοῦ ὡς ἐπὶ βασιλέως τροπαιούχου ἅπαν τὸ πλῆθος καὶ ἐκ τῶν λόγων καὶ ἐκ τῶν βαΐων ἐμήνυον, ὅτι νικητὴς ὁ παραγενάμενος, μᾶλλον δὲ ὅτι θεὸς ὁ γνωριζόμενος· θεῷ γὰρ μόνῳ ἁρμόδιοι αἱ φωναὶ αἱ τότε μὲν λεχθεῖσαι, νῦν δὲ παραναγνωσθεῖσαι καὶ τοῖς συνετοῖς θεῖα μυστήρια παραγυμνοῦσαι. Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις. Τί ἐστιν Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις; Τουτέστι Σῶσον δὴ ὁ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις· τὸ γὰρ Ὡσαννὰ σῶσον δὴ ἑρμηνεύεται τῇ Ἑβραΐδι φωνῇ. Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις. Τουτέστιν ὡς ἄνω σωτηρία καὶ κάτω φιλανθρωπία. Ὦ ὄχλου θεογνωσία ἀγγελικῆς διακονίας μετεσχηκότος, γῆν πατοῦντος καὶ οὐρανὸν χωροβατοῦντος, σῶμα περικειμένου καὶ τὰ τῶν ἀσωμάτων μετερχομένου, Ἰουδαῖοι τὴν προσηγορίαν καὶ Χριστιανοὶ τὴν ἐργασίαν, κοσμικοὶ τὴν διαγωγὴν καὶ ἀποστολικοὶ τὴν ὁμολογίαν. Ἄνωθεν καὶ οὗτοι ὡς Πέτρος τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν ἐδέξαντο· ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ κορυφαιότατος τῶν ἀποστόλων Πέτρος οὐκ ἐξ οἰκείας μελέτης, ἀλλ' ἐκ θείας ἀποκαλύψεως ἔλεγε πρὸς τὸν κύριον· Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος, καὶ ὁ κύριος δεικνύων ὅτι οὐκ ἐξ οἰκείων λογισμῶν, ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἔλαβε τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν μακαρίζων αὐτὸν ἔλεγεν· Μακάριος εἶ

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, Σίμων Βὰρ Ἰωνᾶ, ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα οὐκ ἀπεκάλυψέ σοι, ἀλλ' ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ὁ ὄχλος ἄνωθεν τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν δεξάμενος ἁρμοδίους φωνὰς ἐβόα πρὸς τὸν κύριον λέγων· Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις, εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου, βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Ἔστι δέ τινας ὡς εἰκὸς εἰπεῖν· Καὶ πόθεν ἡμῖν ἀποδείξεις ὅτι ὁ Ἰουδαϊκὸς οὗτος ὄχλος ἄνωθεν ἔλαβε τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν; Πόθεν ὑμῖν ἀποδείξω; Ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν τοῦ κυρίου ῥημάτων. Ἰδόντες γάρ φησιν οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς τοὺς παῖδας κράζοντας ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ καὶ λέγοντας· Ὡσαννὰ τῷ υἱῷ ∆αυΐδ, ἠγανάκτησαν καὶ εἶπαν τῷ Ἰησοῦ· Ἀκούεις τί οὗτοι λέγουσιν; Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ναί· οὐδέποτε ἀνέγνωτε· Ἐκ στομάτων νηπίων καὶ θηλαζόντων κατηρτίσω αἶνον; Καὶ οὐκ ἐκ μόνων δὲ τῶν τοῦ κυρίου ῥημάτων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῆς παραδόξου τῶν ὄχλων συστροφῆς καὶ ἀπαντήσεως καὶ τῶν ἔργων ὧν ἐποίουν, οὐ μόνον κράζοντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς κλάδους τῶν ἐλαιῶν καὶ τὰ βαΐα τῶν φοινίκων κόπτοντες καὶ ταῖς χερσὶ φέροντες, καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν ὑποστρωννύοντες, καὶ σωτῆρα καὶ βασιλέα καὶ κύριον προσαγορεύοντες. Ὅθεν καὶ παντί που δῆλον ὅτι ἄνωθεν