00:22Let us pray.
00:25Praise, honor, and glory be to you, O Christ, who, when standing before Pilate, kept silent at all the unjust
00:34accusations and slanders of the Jews, and as a gentle lamb that did not open its mouth, did not contradict
00:42them when they brought forward their charges against you.
00:46Give me grace never to be disturbed by the false accusations of others, but may I overcome every injury by
00:53silence and meekness.
00:55Give me the grace of perfect humility, so that I may never desire praise nor refuse any measure of contempt.
01:04Praise, honor, and glory be to you, O Christ, you, lamb without spot, against whom the pious Pharisees and scribes
01:14raged with obstinate hatred.
01:17For although Pilate testified that he found no cause of death in you, yet they would not be satisfied with
01:24anything except your death.
01:28Grant me grace to imitate your innocence and patience, that I may both lead a godly life, and for so
01:36doing, if I am spoken of evenly, that I may remain at rest in you, giving way to no indignation,
01:45but giving thanks to you in all adversity.
01:50Praise, honor, and glory be to you, O Christ, who will lead in the greatest of indignity, in the manner
01:59of a wicked criminal, through the middle of the city, from one judgment seat to another, and from Pilate to
02:06Herod and back again, amidst the noise and shouts of the people.
02:11Give me grace never, nor to be exasperated by slander, nor to be exasperated by slander, may I never feel
02:20any false shame at being despised, but may I receive everything in meekness, and endure all things in silence for
02:28your honor, that, by the assistance of your grace, I may in patience possess my soul.
02:36Praise, honor, and glory be to you, O Christ, who, when Herod asked you many vain and foolish questions, and
02:44when you were falsely wounded in different ways by priest and scribe, humbly kept a meet and becoming silence.
02:53Give me grace to restrain my tongue in a manner well pleasing to you, do not permit me to utter
03:00hurtful words, do not permit me to be taken up with fruitless stories, but give me grace to say what
03:07is right, profitable, and honest, according to your will.
03:13May I abhor the sin of evil speaking, and be always glad to think and speak well of any man.
03:23Praise, honor, and glory be to you, O Christ, who condemned by your silence the foolish curiosity of Herod, and
03:31who would not gratify his curious eyes by the performance of any miracle, because he did not have his own
03:39salvation at heart,
03:40and did there in this way teach us to avoid all ostentation before the great ones of this world.
03:49Pour into my heart a spirit of deep humility, mortify and quench within me any desire for vain glory.
03:58Grant that I may never do anything in order to gain praise of man, but may always act with a
04:04single eye upon the glory of your most holy name,
04:08and may come before you day by day in a true spirit of humility and meekness.
04:17Praise, honor, and glory be to you, O Christ, who didn't refuse to be set to nothing by Herod and
04:24his men of war,
04:26nor to be clothed in a white garment and to be mocked and laughed at as though a fool and
04:31a madman.
04:32Give me grace, O Lord, to choose rather to be an outcast with you than to be glorious in the
04:38world.
04:39May I think it better and more honorable to suffer reproach for your name than to prosper in the vain
04:46honors of the world.
04:49Give me grace that, truly acknowledging my own sins and my own unworthiness,
04:55I may be as nothing in my own sight, but may always despise and accuse myself and daily lament over
05:03my own weakness and wretchedness.
05:06Praise, honor, and glory be to you, O Christ, who was sent back with shame, clothed in a false garment
05:12from Herod the Pilate,
05:13and in all things obeyed your enemies going backwards and forwards according to their pleasure.
05:20Grant that I may not shrink from being despised, nor refuse obedience even to those who wish nothing but bad
05:29for me.
05:31Give me grace to have no feelings for the things of this world, but to think of and care for
05:36and love you alone.
05:39May you alone be my honor, my delight, my love, my glory, and my joy. Amen.
05:50O Lord, open our lips, and our mouths will sing your praise.
06:02O Lord, open our lips, and our mouths will sing your praise.
06:20O Lord, open our lips, and our mouths will sing your praise.
06:37O do your way into this peace with thanksgiving, and into this God's great praise, be thankful unto him and
06:53speak full of his name.
06:57For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth and joyeth from generation to generation.
07:20Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning,
07:36is now and ever shall be, world without any trouble.
07:48Amen.
08:17Praise him, Lord Jesus.
08:22Praise him, sun and moon.
08:28Praise him, all his stars and light.
08:34Praise him, all his days, and in waters that are above the banks.
08:46Yes and praise the name of the Lord.
08:53Lord Jesus, in the world, and him him, and his name King.
08:58He came from Helen, and they were created.
16:26perception of this approaching sacrifice. He had come cheerfully to the city where he was to share
16:32the fate of the prophets. It is absurd to draw from the narrative the inference that Jesus was
16:40actively looking for popular and national acceptance. He was not so misled. But it is
16:48remarkable that he should choose to receive the homage of the multitude almost on the eve of his
16:54betrayal and condemnation. In his apprehension the priesthood and the kingship of the Messiah were
17:03most closely connected. And to our minds there is no discordance between the sorrows Jesus was
17:09about to endure and the honours he now consented to accept. The occasion was well chosen and brings
17:16before us our Lord's independence of all human standards and preconceptions. Ours was a king
17:23whose royalty suffered no tarnishing of its splendour when he rode in majesty even though he rode to
17:31death. This was the scene of his ministry. In and near Jerusalem many of Christ's mighty works had
17:41been wrought, many of his discourses delivered, many of his disciples made. It was fitting that for once
17:50in this scene of his labours his claims should be publicly recognised and his honour publicly displayed.
17:58It was to be the scene of his martyrdom and sacrifice. It has often been noted as a witness to
18:05human fickleness
18:06that the same roads and public places should within a few days resend with incongruous
18:11shouts. Hosanna and crucify him. How true was the language of Pilate. They crucified their king.
18:23On the one hand it could not be that a prophet should perish out of Jerusalem. And on the other
18:29it was fitting that the city of David
18:30David should openly welcome and acknowledge David's son and David's Lord and the establishment of the predicted kingdom.
18:41There were amongst those who welcomed Jesus, his own followers and disciples, the villages from Bethany, the citizens of Jerusalem
18:49and the Galilean pilgrims who had come up to the feast.
18:54The multitude was surely a varied and representative crowd including Israelites of many classes and doubtless differing from one another
19:03in the measure of their knowledge of Jesus and their appreciation of his character and claim.
19:10As is often the case when Christ is extolled and praised, some were drawn into the general enthusiasm and rejoicing
19:18by the force of example and under the inspiration of feeling.
19:23The general welcome was an anticipation of the honour which shall be rendered to Jesus when every tongue shall acknowledge
19:31him to be Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
19:38The simple circumstances of this entry, so natural and almost childlike, are all significant of our Saviour's dignity and majesty.
19:48In the bringing of the Assis cult for him to ride, there was a fulfilment of the ancient prediction, and
19:56the act itself, according to the usage of the East, was becoming to royalty.
20:02In the spreading of their garments upon the pole's back, the strewing of the road with their clothes and with
20:07the branches of trees, there was a picturesque, if very simple, expression of their admiring reverence and loyalty.
20:19The unpremeditated chokes and exclamations with which Jesus were greeted were an expression of fervent popular sentiment, and yet there
20:28was also to some extent a confession of Jesus' desireship and an acknowledgement of his royalty.
20:37Let us consider the character in which they hailed him.
20:41He came in the name of the Lord. He brought in the kingdom of David.
20:47Drawn from Hebrew prophecies, these titles could not be used without a very special significance.
20:57Listen to how they hailed him. They called him blessed. They greeted him with the cry, Hosanna in the highest.
21:04It was enthusiastic and lofty language. But anything less would have been inappropriate, unworthy and unjust.
21:19At first sight, the treatment of the fig tree seems a little harsh. Jesus cursed it for not having any
21:26figs upon it, even though it was not the time of year.
21:31However, it was to be an example to the disciples and also a warning.
21:37For a farmer, a tree is only as good as the fruit it produces. It does not matter how pretty
21:42it might look.
21:43If there is to be no fruit, it has no use. And it might as well be dead, uprooted and
21:49burned.
21:51Jesus turns this picture around and compares it to the believer who produces no fruit.
21:56What use is he or she?
22:01Christians are called on to produce fruit, to do God's work here on earth, sometimes in big things and sometimes
22:07in the more mundane.
22:09But if we do nothing at all in God's name, what is the purpose?
22:14Even if there is only one life that we have touched in our lifetime, we have rewarded God's patience with
22:20us or perhaps through that one many may be brought to God.
22:28Jesus closed the passage by telling us something very important.
22:34Before you pray, forgive all those who have robbed you.
22:39An alternative translation of this verse suggests that it is impossible to be forgiven unless you have forgiven others.
22:49Unforgiven grievances burn in the heart and result in bitterness and anger.
22:55Clearly, this is not a good place to be and will get in the way of any relationship with God.
23:02So let us do as Jesus made us do and go and deal with our grievances and make our peace
23:08with our brothers and sisters
23:10before asking God to forgive us our own shortcomings.
23:19Let us pray.
23:23O God, whose never-failing providence orders all things both in heaven and on earth,
23:29we humbly beseech you to put away from us all hurtful things
23:34and to give us those things which are profitable for us.
23:38Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
23:41Amen.
23:47May the Lord bless us and keep us from all evil,
23:51bringing us to everlasting life.
23:54Amen.
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