The Humility of the King (Old Testament Readings on the Eve of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem)

Abstract

The solemn entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem is described by the four evangelists. With the Lord's entrance into Jerusalem, the road to His suffering begins. The worship glorifies Christ as God and King - Victor and Saviour, but it also mentions the coming Passover and voluntary suffering. The feast, located after the Great Lent and preceding Holy Week and Pascha, has a distinctly eschatological character. Three Old Testament readings (paroemias) are read on the eve of Palm Sunday: Gen. 49:1-2, 8-12, Zeph. 3:14-19, and Zech. 9:9-15. The paper presents an interpretation of the pericopes through the writings of the Holy Fathers and the hymnography of the Orthodox Church. The theme of the humility of the King is a kind of "gateway" to the next Holy Week, when the Creator of heaven and earth will suffer and die at the hands of His creatures in order to conquer death and exalt the nature of Adam.