Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel – The Meaning Behind Palm Sunday in the Orthodox Church

0:00 The name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit in one God.

0:04 Amen.

0:06 And at the same time, we pray for the Lord to unite at least the calendar where all Christians alike come together in the love of Christ, celebrate his birth, celebrate his triumphant entry which is today into Jerusalem, which is called Palm Sunday. And celebrate above all his resurrection, which is the ultimate miracle Christ had ever done on the face of this earth.

0:38 For it has never.

0:39 Been heard, never will be somebody dying and rising from the dead with their own authority. Jesus of Nazareth did it. So we pray for the unity at least of the calendar. It's very easy. We need to pray for the Lord to intervene, and intervene swiftly where we come and just unite this historical calendar, this liturgical calendar, which is also to do with history. We pray for this unity because it's it's very sad that one group celebrated today the resurrection of Christ and another group is celebrating Palm Sunday.

1:27 It's very sad.

1:30 But on the other hand, for all my beloved Catholics, all my beloved Christians, who celebrated the Sunday Resurrection. Today Christ has risen, truly has risen. Christos ansty alethos ansty almesm Hakpan come. But for the Christians who are celebrating Palm Sunday, a very blessed Palm Sunday to all of you and to all of us might be loved.

2:02 The Lord Jesus.

2:04 Asked to have disciples to go to the village and bring that donkey and the mule, and then the Lord Jesus sits on that mule and enters Jerusalem, which.

2:19 We call Palm Sunday.

2:21 The Lord Jesus is the Lamb of God who carries away the sins of the world. According to John the Baptist Testimony, behold the Lamb of God who carries away the sins of the world. This Lamb of God, and the Old Testament symbolically was represented by that Lamb of.

2:46 The Passover offering.

2:50 So the Lamb of the Passover, which the Lord God gave.

2:55 This instruction to Moses, that's.

2:58 Mighty Prophet of the Old Testament, who led the Israelite nation out of Egypt, an out of slavery and bondage of Pharaoh, into the desert of Sinai and eventually by Joshua.

3:17 Into the Promised Land.

3:19 But this event took at some time in history in Egypt, and this Slam of the Passover was offered according to God's instruction to Moses. And you find this in Exodus chapter twelve. Now when you read in Exodus chapter twelve, the slam of the Passover was chosen when it was twelve months old or one year, and it had to be without a blemish, without a stain nothing. It had to be pure clean, not one single stain on it, because it was symbolic for Christ, the sinless one, the true Lamb of God, without stay, without sin, without fault.

4:14 And this passover lamb used.

4:16 To be chosen on the tenth day of Nissan, according to the Jewish, or I should say, our beloved. The Jewish calendar now the month of Nissan. Also in Aramaic which I speak, we call it Nissan a Nissan. Same now Nissan, my beloved, is April, and the English calendar April. Now it used to be selected, this passover lamb used to be selected on the tenth day of Nissan, April, and it would be held for four days to be put to the test for four days, and on the fourteenth of Nissan would be slained as the pass of a lamb. Now, why the Lord God gave this order, this commandment to Moses that you choose the past of a lamb on the tenth day? Why not on the first day of April? Why the tenth because Might Beloved.

5:37 We can divide the year into two parts. There is the winter part, and there is the summer part. There is the cold, miserable part, and there is the beautiful, nice temperature part.

5:58 Nissan or April.

6:01 As the first month, passing the winter part of the year. See I'm talking about the Middle East, not Australia. Autumn starts October, November, December, and then winter comes January, February.

6:26 March, April. Spring.

6:29 Now what happens in spring. It is a new life. It is a new start. The flowers blossom, everything becomes lush, green and greenery.

6:40 The color green represents life.

6:43 So it is a new life and new start, a new way. Nissan is the sign of a new life, of a new start, prior to encountering Christ in our life, prior to meeting the Lord Jesus in our life, prior to knowing the Lord Jesus, all that.

7:08 Life that we came to know. We were all dead.

7:15 That life without Christ, that life without knowing Christ, that life without having Christ in the midst of it. That life was a vanity because we were all dead until we had the encounter with.

7:33 Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

7:38 Now, the Lord Jesus lived on the face of this earth thirty three years and a half. The Lord Jesus lived on the face of this earth thirty three is.

7:49 And a half. Now, the three is, that's.

7:54 Where he revealed his divinity. But the thirty is it was kind of a quiet, hush hush. The Holy Bible doesn't talk about those thirties, the Lord Jesus raising the dead, healing the Sikh, casting out demons, doing wonders a miracles. Only God can do that. What this was not mentioned in the Holy Bible about the first thirties. When did the Holy Bible mention that Christ is truly God revealed in the flesh in the.

8:27 Last three ys of his life.

8:31 Now why thirty is there was no mention because since he is the passover Lamb, and what does passover mean? He is passing over with us from darkness to light, from death to life, from sin to holiness, from slavery to being sons of the Almighty God being free.

8:53 This is the passing over. We were all blind.

8:57 Now we see he is the lamb who pasted us over from darkness to light, from the grave to life, from death to everlasting life, from slavery to being free.

9:09 As sons of the Almighty God. Since he is the pass of the.

9:14 Lamb, he needed to be put to the test for the first thirty years.

9:19 Of his life.

9:22 Now, the Lamb of the passover was chosen on the tenth day. Now what is number ten? Represent the ten commandments? And what is three times ten thirty? That is the thirty years of the Lord. The Lord Jesus came to fulfill the commandment of God on my behalf and your behalf, on every human being's behalf. Why because no human being was able to fulfill God's commandment except Jesus, the perfect Man.

9:59 He fulfilled the ten commandments, the law of God, in other words, and he fulfilled it with the three He fulfilled it for the body, He fulfilled it for the soul. He fulfilled it for the spirit. And that's what makes up the human being. Body, soul and spirit three times ten thirty. His thirtyes were a test to see if Jesus the man was going to stand firm, fulfill all God's law break not even a single one.

10:35 He passed the test.

10:37 That's why his ministry started after thirty because if he did not, if he did not fulfill the law for himself, he can't save us. If he breaks the law, how can he save us. So he had to be put to the test first before he comes to show us the way and redeem us and save us. He parsed the test at the age of thirty thirty onwards. His ministry started now on the tenth day of April. This is his first part of his life thirties, and that lamb would be held for four days and would be slained on the fourteenth of April. The other four days is the ministry life. Because the Lord Jesus he ministered for three and a half years, so three and a half he entered the fourth year, and in the fourth year.

11:37 He was crucified.

11:41 So Christ there he is fulfilling the law. He was put to the test the three and a half is he was to.

11:51 Be slained at the end of it.

11:53 The Lamb of the Passover would be held for four days, and then on the fourteenth day would be slained. Days are the four years. Three and a half is entering the fourth year, and on the fourth year.

12:04 What happened.

12:05 He was lamed on the cross, the Savior and the redeemer of the entire world.

12:18 Nissan April.

12:22 That's when spring starts, and spring is where life begins.

12:31 Everything that was dead in winter now is coming alive.

12:36 Prior to reaching, prior to knowing Christ, all of us lived in winter.

12:43 We were all dry dead.

12:47 There was no life in us even though we lived, but we were dead because without Christ there is no life. Even if you live away from Christ, you are dead. When we received Jesus, when he came seeking the lost sheep, when he came seeking the dead soul in sin winter, he brought it into spring.

13:13 Spring is the beginning of life.

13:15 That's why the Lamb of the Pastover was slained in April, because just like April is the beginning of life. So as Christ is the source of life, he brought us into life April to lead us into summer strong in faith, hot in faith, because without life, how can you believe?

13:55 Without life? How can you do without life, how can you go and come?

14:02 Christ came to give us life, and.

14:06 This slam of God.

14:08 The past of a lamb enters today Jerusalem. Sitting on a mule, the back of a donkey or a mule, might beloved, is a sign of the cross. So the Lord Jesus, sitting on the back of that mule is the lamb being crucified. He enters Jerusalem already to be slained on the cross, mule, might beloved.

14:36 Why did he sit on the mule.

14:39 Because mule is a product of a male horse and a female donkey. Mule is a product of a male horse and a female donkey. This is why mules never produce, because they don't have gender. They are barren. They can't have babies. The Lord Jesus, he said to the disciples, bring me the donkey and bring me the mule. Symbolically, symbolically, Might Beloved, the donkey is already conquered. The donkey is controlled.

15:25 The mule, you cannot control, is a wild animal. So symbolically, the donkey represents the Israelite nation and the mule represents the pagan world. The donkey represents the Old Testament nation, and the mule represents the New Testament nations.

15:49 We were that wild mule barn.

15:57 Why baron, because we walked away from the true Living God. But the donkey, which is symbolic for the Old Testament Church, they were already conquered because God chose them from the beginning, sent his law, and through his prophets and patriarchs, he dealt with them for.

16:21 Centuries on end. They became pets. But we were the wild one. But this Lamb of the Passover is what John three sixteen talks of. And saw.

16:38 God loved the whole world that he gave his only begoden son, so that whoever believed in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. So Jesus Christ came as the lamb of God who carries away the sins of the entire world. And the entire world is two circles. One circle is the Israelite nation. The other circle is the none Israelites, the pagan world. So Christ came for all the Israelite nation. It was that donkey, which he conquered from the very beginning by giving them the laws.

17:13 But none Israelites.

17:15 Us we were that wild mule barn, unable to bear any fruits, because we were godless. He came and sat on the mule, entered Jerusalem on a mule, on a donkey. Because the donkey was already conquered in the Old Testament. He came for the New Testament. Now, he said, on the wild mule that has no fruits, that is barren.

17:44 And when he conquered the New Testament church, the baron became fertile. Saints came out of the New Testament church. The wild mule came.

18:02 A pet.

18:04 The donkey, my beloved, represents humility. The horse represents pride. When a horse walks, lifts its head up high and then walks.

18:20 A shower. Of a donkey when it walks, tilts the head down humility.

18:32 The Lord Jesus says, you want to follow me, you want to serve me in my house because today's gospel. The Lord enters the temple and he says, my house is a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves, a then of thieves. The Lord's house, Christ's house is to do with glory, the Father's house in John two nine, because he said he said it twice one. It is the beginning of his ministry, and one at the end of his ministry.

19:05 The beginning of his ministry, he.

19:07 Said, my father's house, you have turned it into a market place, buying and selling. But at the end of his ministry, which is today Palm Sunday, he.

19:16 Said, my house, not my father. My house is a house.

19:19 Of prayer, but you've turned it into a den of thieves. What is to do with the Father is love? But what is to do with the Son Jesus Christ of Nazareth is glory? And what is Christ's glory? The cross?

19:33 What is the cross? Self denial? What is self denial? Humility?

19:40 The Lord says, when you follow me, when you come and wish to serve me in my own church, in my own house, if you do not deny yourself, you will be stealing my glory and accrediting.

19:55 It to your own self.

19:58 A Christian, that, sir, and the house of the Lord for their own benefits is a thief.

20:05 And the side of Christ.

20:08 When people glorify you as Christians, not Christ, you become thieves.

20:15 You've stolen Christ's glory.

20:18 So when somebody comes and says well done, you say, no, nothing is of me. It is all of Christ's If it wasn't for him.

20:27 I was dead.

20:29 I was in the pigs field, I was swimming in filth, I was swimming in sin.

20:34 I was swimming and living in winter.

20:38 Came the pass of a lamb and took me into spring April, where the flowers blossomed, and the grass become very green, and the sky becomes beautiful. The sun comes out and I can feel the warmth of the sun, where in winter miserable. The sun comes out, but there is no heat. It's cold, it's freezy, and the sun goes down very quickly, but in summer stays for too long.

21:15 Everything is His. When I preach, it is the Lord when I sing, It is the Lord when I write a book. It is the Lord when I pray and somebody gets healed. It is the Lord when I talk and somebody gets touched by what was said to them. It is the Lord who changes the heart. It is the Lord who changes your mind. It is the Lord who lifts you up. It is the Lord who is the good God, and nothing comes out of him but good.

21:54 Everything is the Lord. Don't ever try to steal the glory of Christ. And the only time you will steal it when you are a boastful Christian, only thinking of yourself and thinking that you are something or someone special. Don't ever do that, my son, my daughter, You humble yourself, and no matter how high the Lord lifts you up, you put your head at his feet and say, Lord, I am nothing but a sinner. I am nothing but a useless, hopeless servant. Everything I do, it is through you.

22:34 It is by your grace.

22:36 It is your mercy that carries me Lord, nothing else, no one else but you.

22:41 Lord. When I'm glorified, I need.

22:44 To give it back to Christ lest I be found a thief stealing Christ's glory. Christ never stole the glory from his dad. Why because he did not live for himself. Everything he said, everything he did was for the glory of a father.

23:01 And now the.

23:01 Lord says, just like I did it for my father, you need to do it for me. Just like I denied myself so that my dad gets glorified, I am now expecting you to deny yourself so that your Messiah, your King of Kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, is glorified. To serve in the house of the Lord requires humility. And you know why, Unity at least of the calendar hasn't come about yet. We are still immature when it comes to love and humility.

23:43 We need to mature more.

23:45 The day we truly love the Lord from the heart, and the day we truly humble ourselves before the Lord. Unity is very easy. I say, this is my throne, and nobody sits on it, there will never be unity. So with love and humility, all church leaders need to get off from those high thrones and sit on the floor.

24:18 Everybody just walks away from that throne, sits on sit on the floor. And have you ever heard somebody sitting on the floor and falling?

24:27 Nobody falls.

24:28 It's the safest place ever on the face of this planet Earth. The floor stunning. Sit on the floor, so beautiful, so gorgeous. When you sit on the floor and you eat, the food becomes delicious. You know why, because when you are on the floor and everyone around you sitting on the floor, there is no one bigger, there is no one higher.

24:52 Everyone is equal.

24:53 When we are equal, we tend to be nice towards one another.

24:57 The moment I.

24:58 Lift up myself and I see you below me, I'll be a nasty person, not a nice one. Learn from the Lord on how to sit on that donkey. Humility. This is your triumph, this is your victory when you're humble. This is how you overcome Satan. Because Satan lacks one thing, if we can just say that for the sake of argument, he definitely lacks humility. So when you're humble, you burn him, you blow him up to smithereens, because he can overcome you with everything except humility.

25:46 He doesn't have it.

25:50 So when you walk in the footsteps of your Lord Jesus, you will step on say it.

25:55 Christ was humble on earth. That's why he was victorious.

26:04 Let us bow our heads as we recite this prayer of a solution and the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen, Our good garden full of mercy, Our good garden full of mercy, whose grace and mercy is poured upon all poor, My Lord, the compassion of the delightfulness of your love upon your servants. And again transform them in the hope of renewal to the life of repentance. Renew in them your Holy Spirit, by whom they are sealed for the day of salvation. Purify them by your compassion from all flesh and spiritual blemishes, and assure the hope of their faith by the aid of your grace, and instill the walks of their behavior and the paths of righteousness. Please them,

26:44 along with the saints in your kingdom by the assurance of the hope of their faith and the adoption as your children. And in the joy of your absolving mysteries. Empower them by the aid of your mercies, to observe your commandments and fulfill your will to confess worship. Praise your Holy name, the Lord of all, Father and Son and Holy Spirit Forever. Amen, God, bless you all, and Happy Palm Sunday.