On Lazarus and the Palm Branches · §8 · Hesychius of Jerusalem

A Holy Temple for Christ

…all who sell and buy among us, and that, instead of a den of robbers (Matthew 21:13), He may make us a holy temple, like the temple of old, in which Christ dwells and walks (2 Corinthians 6:16); so that He may grant light to the blind in us, make the deaf hear and the lame walk (Matthew 11:5), and raise the dead with Lazarus—for where life dwells, there is resurrection—so that with Lazarus and the crowds and His disciples, with infants and nursing babies, and with the holy angels, we may cry aloud, shouting: “Hosanna in the highest; blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 118:26; Matthew 21:9), Christ, Lord and God, “the King of the ages” (1 Timothy 1:17). To Him be glory, honor, and worship, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Greek

πάντων τῶν πωλούντων ἐν ἡμῖν καὶ ἀγοραζόντων, καὶ ἀντὶ σπηλαίου λῃστῶν ποιήσῃ ἡμᾶς, κατὰ τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἱερόν, ναὸν ἅγιον ἐν ᾧ οἰκεῖ καὶ περιπατεῖ Χριστός, ἵνα τοῖς τυφλοῖς ἡμῶν φῶς χαρίσηται, καὶ τοὺς κωφοὺς ποιήσῃ ἀκοῦσαι καὶ τοὺς χωλοὺς περιπατῆσαι, καὶ τοὺς νεκροὺς μετὰ Λαζάρου ἐγείρῃ–ὅπου γὰρ οἰκεῖ ζωή, ἐκεῖ ἀνάστασίς ἐστιν–, ἵνα μετὰ Λαζάρου καὶ τῶν ὄχλων καὶ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ μετὰ νηπίων καὶ θηλαζόντων, καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων κράξωμεν βοῶντες· «Ὠσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις· εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου», Χριστὸς κύριος καὶ θεός, ὁ «βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων»· αὐτῷ δόξα, τιμὴ καὶ προσκύνησις, ἅμα τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. 6

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Hesychius of Jerusalem's sermon on Lazarus and the palm branches, in a fresh English translation of the whole homily. The raising of Lazarus is the sign that Christ will raise all humanity; Zechariah's call to the daughter of Zion to rejoice is read phrase by phrase; and the hearers are urged to carry palms of faith, hope, and love and to become a holy temple for Christ.

Hesychius of Jerusalem (fl. c. 412–450) preached this homily on Lazarus and the palm branches. The Greek heading names him as priest of Jerusalem; the homily was once credited to Titus of Bostra. It is a different sermon from his Homily II on Saint Lazarus.

Hesychius reads the raising of Lazarus as the sign that Christ will raise all humanity, and so explains why men and angels hailed Christ as King when He entered Jerusalem. He then reads Zechariah’s call, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion,” phrase by phrase, together with the colt, the garments, and the branches of the Gospel story.

At the end he urges his hearers to bind themselves to Christ, to carry palm branches of faith, hope, and love, and to follow Him into the temple, so that He may drive out the sellers within them and make them a holy temple instead of a den of robbers.

Fresh English translation from the Greek text of PG 93.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 93 (Greek)

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