Homilies on Joshua, Homily 4

To the sinner, indeed, every land is an enemy, as it is written of the Egyptians: the land fought against them, the rivers fought against them, the very air fought against them. But to the righteous man, things that seem inaccessible are made level and easy. The righteous man crosses the Red Sea as if on dry land; but the Egyptian, if he tries to cross, will be drowned, nor will the water become a wall for him on the right hand and on the left. The righteous man, even if he enters a terrible and vast desert, has food supplied to him from heaven. So too in the Jordan, the ark of the covenant was the leader of the people of God. The priestly and Levitical order stands still, and the waters, as if showing a kind of reverence to the ministers of God, check their course and are heaped up in a mass, granting the people of God a way that does them no harm. And do not wonder when these things done for the former people are told to you; to you, Christian, who through the sacrament of baptism have passed through the streams of the Jordan, the divine word promises things far greater and loftier: it promises you a way and a passage through the very air. For hear Paul saying of the righteous: “We will be caught up,” he says, “in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” There is nothing at all that the righteous man need fear; all creation serves him. Listen, then, to how God makes him this promise through the prophet too, saying: “If you pass through fire, the flame will not burn you, for I am the Lord your God.” Every place, then, receives the righteous man, and every creature gives him the service it owes. And so that you do not think that these things were done among those of former times, but nothing of the kind is done in you who now hear them: all are fulfilled in you according to their mystical meaning. For you who have recently left the darkness of idolatry and desire to come to hear the divine law, you are now for the first time leaving Egypt. When you were added to the number of the catechumens and began to obey the instructions of the church, you crossed the Red Sea; and, placed in the stations of the desert, you give your time daily to hearing the law of God and to seeing the face of Moses unveiled by the glory of the Lord. But if you come to the mystic font of baptism, and, in the presence of the priestly and Levitical order, are initiated into those venerable and magnificent sacraments which are known to those who are permitted to know them, then too, having crossed the Jordan through the ministry of the priests, you will enter the land of promise, in which Jesus receives you after Moses and himself becomes the leader of your new journey. And you, mindful of such great and mighty works of God, that the sea was divided for you and that the water of the river stood still, will turn to them and say: “What happened to you, sea, that you fled, and you, Jordan, that you turned back? You mountains, why did you skip like rams, and you hills like lambs of the flock?” And the divine word will answer you and say: “At the presence of the Lord the earth was shaken, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool of water and the cliff into springs of water.”

How many things were done before! The Red Sea was crossed on foot, manna was given from heaven, springs burst out in the desert, the law was given through Moses, many signs and wonders were done in the desert, and nowhere is Jesus said to have been exalted. But where the Jordan is crossed, there it is said to Jesus: “On this day I begin to exalt you in the sight of the people.” For Jesus is not exalted before the mystery of baptism; but his exaltation, and his exaltation in the sight of the people, takes its beginning from there. For if all who are baptized into Christ are baptized into his death, and the death of Jesus is completed in the exaltation of the cross, rightly then is Jesus first exalted for each of the faithful when he comes to the mystery of baptism; for so it is also written that God exalted him and gave him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. Yet the people are led by the priests and makes its way to the land of promise under the guidance of the priests. And who among the priests today is so great and so qualified that he deserves to be enrolled in that order? For if there is anyone such, the streams of the Jordan will yield to him and the very elements will revere him: part of the waters of the river will spring back and be held in check behind, while part will flee in rapid flow into the salt sea. Yet I think that even this is not written without a mystical reason, that part of the waters of the Jordan sinks into the sea and flows away into bitterness, while part remains in sweetness. For if all who are baptized kept the sweetness of the heavenly grace they had received, and none turned to the bitterness of sins, it would certainly not have been written that part of the river was plunged into the depths of the salt sea. And therefore it seems to me that in these words the variety of the baptized is signified. For we often see it happen (I mention it with grief) that those who receive holy baptism, when they give themselves again to the affairs of the world and the temptations of lust, and drink the salt cup of greed, are formed in that part of the waters which flows down into the sea and perishes in the salt waves; while the part that remains steadfast and keeps its sweetness signifies those who hold unwaveringly the gift of God they have received. And rightly is there one part of those who are saved, because there is one bread which came down from heaven and gives life to this world, and one faith, and one baptism, and one Spirit with which all are given drink in baptism, and one God, the Father of all. Meanwhile there is the priestly and Levitical order, to show the way to the people of God which has gone out from Egypt. For they are the ones who teach the people to go out from Egypt, that is, from the errors of the world, and to cross the vast desert, that is, to pass through the various kinds of temptation and not be harmed by the serpents, which are the bites of demons, and to avoid the poisons of evil suggestions. And if anyone perhaps has been struck by a serpent in the desert, they are to show him the bronze serpent hung on the cross: whoever looks on what that serpent signified will escape the devil’s poisons through it. It is the priestly and Levitical order that stands by the ark of the covenant of the Lord, in which, without doubt, the law of God is carried, so that they may enlighten the people of God, as the prophet says: “Your word, Lord, is a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths.” This light is kindled by the priests and Levites. But if anyone of this order puts the lamp that has been lit under a basket, and not on a lampstand so that it may give light to all who are in the house, let him consider what he will do when he begins to give an account to the Lord of light for those who, receiving no light from the priests, walk in darkness and are wrapped in the obscurity of sins.

See, then, what it says: “The people,” it says, “were two thousand cubits away from the ark of the covenant.” But the priests and Levites were near, very near indeed, so that the ark of the Lord and the divine testimony were carried on their shoulders. Blessed are those who are found worthy to be near to God. But remember what is written: “Those who draw near to me draw near to fire.” If you are gold or silver and draw near to the fire, you will shine through the fire far more brilliantly and brightly. But if you are aware that on the foundation of faith laid in you, you have built wood, hay, straw, then if you draw near to the fire with such a building, you will be consumed. Blessed, then, are those who are near, who are so near that the fire gives them light and does not burn them. Yet Israel too will be saved, but it will be saved from a distance, and will make its way not by its own strength but by the help and providence of the priests.

When, then, do they come to the crossing of the Jordan? For I have noticed that this too is not marked without cause, that the time should also be marked: “On the tenth day,” it says, “of the first month.” This is the very day on which the mystery of the lamb was commanded in Egypt. On the tenth of the first month these things were celebrated in Egypt; on the tenth of the first month they enter the land of promise. This seems to me very blessed: that on the very same day on which one has escaped the errors of the world, he should be found worthy to enter the land of promise too, that is, on this day on which we live in this world. For our whole present life is designated as one day. And therefore we are taught through this mystery, that we should not put off our acts and works of righteousness until tomorrow, but today, that is, while we live, while we remain in this world, let us hurry to fulfill everything that leads to perfection; and so at last we will be able to enter the land of promise on the tenth day of the first month, that is, the blessedness of perfection. And if you observe carefully, you will find that very many other things in the narrative of the Scriptures are summed up in this day. To avoid extending our sermon about each of them further than we wish, this is to be understood about the fact that this day is so often repeated: that although there is for us one general perfection, yet each single kind of virtue that we undertake to develop, if we can fulfill it wholly and perfectly, has also its own perfection. For example, if someone with a quick temper desires to acquire the virtue of gentleness, he will certainly stumble at first in many things, until, through long reflection, he turns long practice into second nature. And when he has obtained what he set out to obtain, he attains the perfection of gentleness, yet this does not mean that he possesses the perfection of all the virtues. So, then, many perfections are found in the single virtues. But the general perfection is that which contains in itself the sum of all perfections. That is why many things done on this day are summed up, to signify that many perfections tend to one end, as the prophet too says: “My soul has long lived as a stranger.” And again: “While they say to me every day: Where is your God? I remembered these things and poured out my soul within me; for I will go into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God, with the voice of joy and thanksgiving, the sound of those celebrating a feast.” For after the labors and temptations we have endured in the desert of this life, after the crossing of the Red Sea, after the streams of the Jordan, if we are worthy to enter the land of promise, we will come there with joy and celebration, following the priests of the Lord Christ our Savior, to whom is glory. Amen.