Daughter of Zion and the Colt Set Free
…David” (Mark 11:10).
Let us take up the earlier saying again and press it like a prophetic breast, for it still has good things to give, milk and contemplation. For he says: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem” (Zechariah 9:9). And why “daughter of Zion” and not “Zion,” and “daughter of Jerusalem” and not “Jerusalem”? Listen with understanding, I beg you.
Just as plants, birds, four-footed beasts, and human beings have their names according to the difference of their form and power, so each stroke of the divine oracles has its own power and its own spiritual sense. So let us search out why the prophet calls the Jerusalem that now believes first “daughter of Zion” and then “daughter of Jerusalem.” For he says: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem” (Zechariah 9:9).
“Zion” means “thirsting.” She is the assembly of the righteous and the prophets who, from the beginning until the coming of Christ, thirsted to be united to the divine and worshipful substance of the Godhead and to be pleasing to it, as Peter, the chief of the apostles, says: “that they may become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). These, as they sought the Lord and thirsted for Him, were called Zion, as one of them said: “My soul has thirsted for God, the mighty, the living One” (Psalm 42:2).
But when they attained and drew near, or rather, appeared before Him and beheld His face (for so another version reads), they became Jerusalem, “seeing God and a watchtower of all knowledge.” He calls the faithful in the Lord the daughter of this Zion: those who thirst through faith and, by doing the commandments of the Gospel, seek to find the Lord who is hidden in them, as the Holy Spirit says: “This is the generation of those who seek the Lord, who seek the face of the God of Jacob” (Psalm 24:6). And when they attain Him, they are called the daughter of the Jerusalem we have named, for they behold God and look out over spiritual knowledge.
The prophet, begging God through the Spirit to show forth such a Zion and Jerusalem, says: “Remember Your congregation, which You acquired from the beginning” (Psalm 74:2). So, together with Zion, this mother of yours: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem” (Zechariah 9:9), and cry out in heavenly fashion with your mother: “Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 21:9).
And what does the Gospel say? “When they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage” (Matthew 21:1). For He was coming to the upper room so that the faithful might eat Him, “to the Mount of Olives” (Matthew 21:1), which is the faithful church from the people. “Then Jesus sent two of His disciples” (Matthew 21:1), who are the two choirs of the prophets and the apostles. For when the apostles made disciples of the nations (Matthew 28:19), they had with them the God-inspired oracles of the prophets, which bear witness to Christ, just as Ezekiel, great among the prophets, saw them: “a wheel,” he says, “within a wheel” (Ezekiel 1:16), flying and running.
Jesus says to them: “Go into the village opposite you” (Matthew 21:2); for He sent them into the whole inhabited world of the nations, because until then the nations stood opposed to the faithful church from the people. He sent them at the fitting time “into the village opposite,” the village of the nations, for it was ready to receive the two choirs of apostles and prophets already named.
They were sent “to bring the colt to Him” (Luke 19:35), and the colt is the nations, so that He might mount them and reign over them, as the psalmist says: “God has become King over the nations; the Lord sits on His holy throne” (Psalm 47:8). “On which no one has ever sat” (Mark 11:2; Luke 19:30): for the nations had neither God mounting and ruling over them, nor law, nor prophets. “Untie it,” He says, “and bring it to Me” (Matthew 21:2; Luke 19:30). For the apostles untied the nations from darkness, that is, from ignorance of God; from error, from sin, from slavery to an alien master, from “the power of darkness” (Colossians 1:13), from “the ruler of this age” (John 12:31). And they brought them to the Lord, their Creator and Maker.
And see, He sits on them and reigns as upon the cherubim (Psalm 99:1), while they cry out and say: “Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (Matthew 21:9; Luke 19:38), for so Luke puts it. Why does he say, “Peace in heaven”? Did the angels not have peace in heaven? Yes, they certainly had peace among themselves, “the peace that surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7), as the most wise Paul says. They had peace in heaven, but they did not have it with human beings; heaven, then, kept its peace to itself. But when the…
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∆αυίδ.» 6 Ἀναλάβωμεν πάλιν τὴν φωνὴν τὴν προτέραν καὶ ὥσπερ μασθὸν προφητικὸν ἐκπιάσωμεν· ἔτι γὰρ ἔχει γάλακτος καὶ θεωρίας ἀγαθά. Φησὶ γάρ· «Χαῖρε σφόδρα, θύγατερ Σιών· κή ρυττε, θύγατερ Ἰερουσαλήμ.» Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν «θύγατερ Σιὼν» καὶ οὐ Σιών, καὶ «θύγατερ Ἰερουσαλὴμ» καὶ οὐκ Ἰερουσαλήμ; Πρόσεχε συνετῶς, παρακαλῶ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν βοτανῶν καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν καὶ τῶν τετραπόδων καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων κατὰ τὴν διαφορὰν τῆς μορφῆς καὶ τῆς δυνάμεως οὕτω καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα κέκτηται, οὕτως ἑκάστη κεραία τῶν θείων λογίων ἰδίαν δύναμιν καὶ θεωρίαν κέκτηται. Οὐκοῦν ἐρευνήσωμεν τί δήποτε τὴν νῦν πιστὴν Ἰερουσαλὴμ πρῶτον καλεῖ ὁ προφήτης «θυγα τέρα Σιών», ἔπειτα «θυγατέρα Ἰερουσαλήμ». Φησὶ γάρ· «Χαῖρε σφόδρα, θύγατερ Σιών· κήρυττε, θύγατερ Ἰερουσα λήμ.» Σιὼν ἑρμηνεύεται «διψῶσα»· ἔστι δὲ αὕτη ἡ συναγωγὴ τῶν δικαίων καὶ προφητῶν, τῶν ἀπ' αἰῶνος μέχρι τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας διψησάντων ἑνωθῆναι καὶ εὐαρεστῆσαι τῇ θείᾳ καὶ προσκυνητῇ οὐσίᾳ τῆς θεότητος, καθώς φησιν ὁ κορυφαῖος τῶν ἀποστόλων Πέτρος· «Ἵνα γένωνται θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως.» Οὗτοι, ζητοῦντες τὸν κύριον καὶ διψῶντες, ἐκλήθησαν Σιών, καθὼς εἷς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἔλεγεν· «Ἐδίψησεν ἡ ψυχή μου πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τὸν ἰσχυρὸν τὸν ζῶντα·» 7 Ὅταν δὲ ἐπέτυχον καὶ ἤγγισαν, μᾶλλον δὲ ὤφθησαν καὶ ἐθεώρησαν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ· οὕτω γὰρ λέγει ἑτέρα ἔκδοσις· ἐγένοντο Ἰερουσαλὴμ, «ὁρῶντες θεὸν καὶ σκοπευτήριον πάσης γνώσεως». Θυγατέρα δὲ ταύτης τῆς Σιὼν καλεῖ τοὺς ἐν κυ ρίῳ πιστούς, τοὺς διὰ τῆς πίστεως διψῶντας καὶ διὰ τῆς ἐργα σίας τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ζητοῦντας εὑρεῖν τὸν κύριον, τὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς κεκρυμμένον, καθώς φησι τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα· «Αὕτη ἡ γενεὰ ζητούντων τὸν κύριον, ζητούντων τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ θεοῦ Ἰακώβ.» Καὶ ὅταν ἐπιτύχωσιν, καλοῦνται θυγάτηρ τῆς προ ειρημένης Ἰερουσαλήμ, θεωροῦντες τὸν θεὸν καὶ σκοποῦντες τὴν πνευματικὴν γνῶσιν. Παρακαλῶν δὲ ὁ προφήτης διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος τὸν θεὸν ἀναδεῖξαι τὴν τοιαύτην Σιὼν καὶ Ἰερουσαλήμ, φησί· «Μνήσθητι τῆς συναγωγῆς σου, ἧς ἐκτήσω ἀπ' ἀρχῆς.» Οὐκοῦν μετὰ ταύτης τῆς μητρός σου Σιών, «Χαῖρε σφόδρα, θύγατερ Σιών· κήρυττε, θύγατερ Ἰερουσαλήμ», ἐπουρανίως μετὰ τῆς μητρός σου βοῶσα· «Ὠσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις, εὐλο γημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου.» 8 Καὶ τί φησι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον; «Ὅτε ἤγγισαν εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ ἦλθον εἰς Βηθφαγή». Ἵνα γὰρ φάγωσιν αὐτὸν οἱ πιστοί, ἤρχετο ἐν τῷ ὑπερῴῳ, «πρὸς τὸ ὄρος τῶν Ἐλαιῶν», ὅ ἐστιν ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ πιστὴ ἐκκλησία. «Τότε ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀπέστειλε δύο τῶν μαθητῶν» αὐτοῦ, οἵτινές εἰσι δύο χοροὶ τῶν προφητῶν καὶ ἀποστόλων· μαθητεύοντες γὰρ τὰ ἔθνη οἱ ἀπόστολοι εἶχον μεθ' ἑαυτῶν τὰ θεόπνευστα τῶν 3 προφητῶν λόγια, τὰ μαρτυροῦντα τῷ Χριστῷ, ὃν τρόπον ἐθεώρησεν αὐτοὺς Ἰεζεκιὴλ ὁ μέγας ἐν προφήταις· «Τροχός», φησίν, «ἐν τροχῷ», πετόμενος καὶ τρέ χων. Λέγοντος πρὸς αὐτοὺς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ· «Πορευθέντες εἰς τὴν κατέναντι κώμην»· ἀπέστειλεν γὰρ αὐτοὺς εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκου μένην τῶν ἐθνῶν, ὅτι ἐναντίοι ἦσαν τέως τῆς ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ πιστῆς ἐκκλησίας. Καιρῷ γὰρ εὐθέτῳ ἀπέστειλεν αὐτοὺς «εἰς τὴν κατέ ναντι κώμην» τῶν ἐθνῶν· ἑτοίμη γὰρ ἦν δέξασθαι τοὺς προει ρημένους δύο χοροὺς τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν. «Καὶ ἀγαγεῖν πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν πῶλον», οἵτινές εἰσι τὰ ἔθνη, τοῦ ἐπιβῆναι καὶ βασιλεῦσαι ἐπ' αὐτά, καθώς φησιν ὁ ψαλμῳδός· «Ἐβασίλευσεν ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη, κύριος κάθηται ἐπὶ θρόνου ἁγίου αὐτοῦ». «Ἐφ' ᾧ οὐδείς ποτε ἀνθρώπων κεκάθικεν»· οὐδὲ γὰρ θεὸν εἶ χον ἐπιβαίνοντα καὶ βασιλεύοντα ἐπ' αὐτά, οὐδὲ νόμον οὐδὲ προ φήτας. «Λύσαντες αὐτόν», φησίν, «ἀγάγετέ μοι»· ἔλυσαν γὰρ τὰ ἔθνη οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἀπὸ τῆς σκοτίας, τουτέστι τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἀγνωσίας, ἀπὸ τῆς πλάνης, ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου, ἀπὸ «τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ σκότους», «τοῦ ἄρχοντος τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου». Καὶ ἤγαγον πρὸς τὸν κτίστην καὶ δημιουργὸν αὐτῶν κύριον. 9 Καὶ ἰδοὺ κάθηται ἐπ' αὐτὰ καὶ βασιλεύει ὡς ἐπὶ τῶν χερου βίμ, κράζοντα καὶ λέγοντα· «Ὠσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις, εὐλογημέ νος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου· εἰρήνη ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις»· οὕτω γάρ φησιν ὁ Λουκᾶς. «Εἰρήνη ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ», τίνος ἕνεκεν λέγει; Οὐκ εἶχον οἱ ἄγγελοι εἰρήνην ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ; Ναί, καὶ πάνυ εἶχον ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὴν εἰρήνην, «εἰρήνην τὴν ὑπερ έχουσαν πάντα νοῦν», καθώς φησιν ὁ σοφώτατος Παῦλος. Εἶχον εἰρήνην ἐν οὐρανῷ, ἀλλὰ μετὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οὐκ εἶχον· ὁ οὐ ρανὸς εἰρήνην λοιπὸν εἶχε καθ' ἑαυτόν. Ὅταν δὲ εἶδον οἱ