Principles-“Who is this?”- 24/4/2016

   Tomorrow, Copts of Egypt will celebrate Jesus Christ’s entry into Jerusalem which is called “Palm Sunday” and “Yew Sunday” or “Branch Sunday”. This day is connected with Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem riding a donkey, while the crowd was waiting for Him carrying palm branches and crying out greatly that the whole city  was moved, The Bible says,  “And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, ‘Who is this?’ ” . Thus, Jesus’ entry had a great effect on people. You can see people who gave Him all their love, in return there were other who knew nothing but hatred. On Palm Sunday, many groups of people had several aims and welcomed Jesus accordingly.

   Love is one of the most important life principles ever. It is the strength that helps people to grow, build and do miracles. If it is found in man’s love, then it would be an evidence of his real connection with God, a sign of his great human nature that God bestows on him and a step on the right path toward the real success.

Those who love Jesus:

The Disciples:

   The disciples were the closest persons who really knew Jesus and followed Him leaving everything else in complete obedience. Being disciples of Jesus grew its seeds of love in their hearts especially when they saw Him doing good deeds to all wherever He went. So, when Jesus entered Jerusalem, they were moved by their love and spread their clothes which were all they owned laying them on the donkey so that Jesus sat on them. Other spread their clothes on the road to honor Him as mentioned in the Bible, “They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road.”

The Crowd:

   The simple crowd loved Jesus Christ as they experienced His undying love when He had: healed the sick, resurrected the dead, opened the eyes of the blind and done great and done great deeds to them. Some of them welcomed Him by spreading their clothes, while other showed their love and joy greeting Him and chanting while waving palm and olive branches.

   However, there were other people captivated by their selfishness and love of money, one of them was,

 Judas Iscariot

   He is one of the 12 disciples of Jesus. He may be one of those who gave up their clothes for Him, however his love was not genuine as another love was in his heart, that is, love of money that induced him to sell his Master by 30 of silver!! What really reveals genuineness of someone’s love is his choice when he has to choose between his personal interest and his sincerity for others. Judas thus ruined his life once he missed the real meaning of true love and walked in the way of deceiving His Master’s.

The Pharisees:

   Their hatred was clear from beginning as their meetings with  Jesus involved only arguments and talks aimed at resisting and opposing His teachings. Selfishness, love of power and authority were their only motives to resist all who represent a threat to them. Thus, they were induced to reject Jesus Christ and His teachings. On Palm Sunday, the Pharisees were disturbed because of the public gathering and their crying out during Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem. Some of them said, ” ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.’ “. ” The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”; then  conspiracy and evil plots began to be arranged  to get rid of Jesus.

   Let’s adopt the message of love for all on Palm Sunday as with love we can do miracles, contribute and construct. It is a life message.

Anba Ermiah,

General Bishop& President of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center