ON THE RIVER JORDAN
A Why, among all the rivers of the earth, does Christ perform the mystery of baptism in the river Jordan? It is necessary to inquire into the nature of the river, so that from it you may learn the sequence of the initiation. The Jordan, beyond all other rivers, has two sources; for the Jordan does not come from a single spring. It has one source in Paneas, and another near Paneas; the one source is called Ior, and the other Dan; and as they proceed, they divide a little from each other, but at a certain place they come together and form one river. The ancients gave it the name of Jordan—the river born from the Ior and the Dan—having the sources divided at the beginning, and joined at the end. Again, beyond all other rivers, this one does not run into a living sea, nor does the water of a living sea receive it, but the Dead Sea receives it. This one alone, of all rivers, is joined to dead and stagnant waters.
The Jordan is a type of our mortal race, and hear how. From the beginning, our race has two roots: Adam, formed from the earth, and Eve, who came from his side; and there is not one manner and one way of its establishment. For the one was fashioned from the earth, having the earth as his source; but the other came from a side, having the side as her root—a different origin for him, and a different one for her. And they were for a time divided from one another according to the manner of their formation; but they came together into a matrimonial union, and the one body from both was completed, and those who were born were no longer born from a side or from the earth, but from intercourse. For, He says, the two shall be into one flesh. This, then, our formation, running into the sequence of nature, had death as its end. Our formation began from the earth and ended in death; and this formation was received by the Dead Sea—the deep, the subterranean, the abyss of the dead. For what the Dead Sea is to living waters, that is Hades to those who are dying. Wherefore Paul says: *Say not in thy heart, Who shall descend into the abyss?* that is, to bring up Christ from the dead (Rom. 10:7). Around this Jordan, then, which proceeds from living springs and ends in the Dead Sea, God performed every miracle, so that the living water might no longer run toward death.
Three times God divided this Jordan, so that its sequence might no longer be toward the Dead Sea, but run back to the ancient, living roots. It was cut at the time of Joshua the son of Nun; it was cut at the time of Elijah, B because he cut it with his mantle; it was cut by Elisha, when he turned and cut it. Joshua the son of Nun was the first to cut the Jordan; and hear how he cut it. He did not stand at the streams of the springs, but turned the water backward, as the Psalmist bears witness, saying: *What aileth thee, O sea, that thou fleddest? and thou, Jordan, that thou wast turned backward?* (Ps. 113:5). And the "backward" were the sources. The Savior, therefore, checking our race which was running into death, causes it no longer to run into death, but to return to the ancient, living roots, not to end in the Dead Sea. Mortal nature is therefore restored to its ancient form.
And no one is seen to have cut the Jordan without some symbol. Joshua the son of Nun cut it having the ark. Elijah had a mantle. Elisha, having again the mantle of the master, cut it. For since mortal nature did not suffice to stay the stream by itself, Jesus entereth first, bearing the designation of the Master, and bringing with him the ark, the symbol of the master’s body. And the Jordan is seen neither honoring that Jesus—I mean the son of Nun, the mere man—nor fearing the Jews, nor being ashamed of the priests. And that it might be shown that it does not give way to the people, but fears the ark, Joshua says: *Behold, the ark of the Lord of all the earth passeth over the Jordan. And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark… shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off* (Jos. 3:11, 13), not fearing the priests, but the ark. And whence this? Hear. David questions it, saying: *What aileth thee, O sea, that thou fleddest? and thou, Jordan, that thou wast turned backward?* To these things the creation answers, saying: *At the presence of the Lord the earth was moved* (Ps. 113:7). The presence of the Lord was the form of the ark. For what the ark was to the Law, with the tablets and the jar and the rod, that was the master’s flesh to the incomprehensible divinity, bearing the divinity as in an ark. Of this holy ark the blessed David said: *Arise, O Lord, into thy rest, thou and the ark of thy covenant* (Ps. 131:8). And see what he does: for the Jordan was dried up, not having lost the streams, but having returned to the ancient roots. C He took, he says, twelve large stones from the Jordan, and set them beyond the river; and he placed other twelve stones in their stead in the river (Jos. 4:8, 9). What does this mean, the taking away of twelve stones and the placing of other twelve instead? Because, as I have already said, he was checking mortal nature; or rather, he wishes to show that He raises up humanity from the depths, and brings it up to heaven. For the stones that had never seen a solar ray, nor received the sight of light, he brought into the light, and they were, as it were, stones snatched from the abyss.
Why did he take twelve stones from there? Because through the twelve apostles he was going to raise up humanity from mortal nature. But let it be: he took away the stones that were below, in order to show to the sun and to the light, and to the men who would come after, a clear sight of how they crossed the Jordan; for he even signaled the cause: *If thy son asketh thee, saying, What are these stones? say to him, That we crossed the Jordan on dry land, the Lord having stayed the water before our face* (Jos. 4:6, 7). But so be it, the brought-up stones were set up so that they might appear to those who come after; but the stones set in their stead—why were they set in their stead? He took from the depths those who were submerged, and gave to the abyss, in return, pledges of salvation. The stones that were placed are pledges; those taken are security. And the theory concerning these is great, and why stones were placed, and why stones were removed. Christ both takes and gives. He came into the world, and took our body, having given us His own power. Through the apostles He places in the river twelve stones, a pledge of salvation and an earnest of things to come. For he who has given something to someone for a matter, gives him a pledge for the future. Since, therefore, this name was to be kept for Him again, when He was about to be baptized by John, He took beforehand the pledges of the manifestation, and set up the stones: those which He took from there, the patriarchs, whom He raised then; and those which He set in their stead, the apostles, whom He gave in exchange for those. *For instead of thy fathers, sons were born to thee* (Ps. 44:17). Thus he crossed the Jordan, and the Jordan becomes for Joshua the son of Nun the beginning of the possession of the land. Until he passed the Jordan, he did not inherit the promised land; until Christ passed the Jordan, He did not begin to preach the kingdom. The Jordan is the beginning of the possession of the land, the Jordan is the beginning of the possession of the kingdom of heaven. For this reason the prophet says: *I will remember thee, O Lord, from the land of Jordan.* For the memory is...
Elias divided the Jordan with his sheepskin and crossed over, that he might ascend into heaven. The blessed Elisha returned, having taken the sheepskin of his master, after he had petitioned him, saying: "Let the spirit that is in thee be doubled in me." He said to him: "Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou seest me taken up, it shall be so for thee" (4 Kings 2:9, 10). That is to say: "Thou shalt be deemed worthy to have a double operation of the Holy Spirit." Then he was taken up. The sheepskin was raised on high and fell to the disciple; A he received the pledge, and arrived at the river: he attempted to divide the Jordan, but the water did not obey. B Struck with dismay, Elisha says, "Where is the God of Elias?" and after the second time he smote the water, and the Jordan was divided. Why, therefore, did the water not obey the first time? Lest one might think that it had obeyed on account of his own previous dignity which he had possessed, but he invoked God and said: "Where is the God of Elias?" But why did he say, "Where is God?" Did the prophet not know that God is in heaven and on earth and everywhere? But because Elias had said to him, "If thou seest me taken up, it shall be so for thee." ****
ON THE PHARISEE AND THE HARLOT. Delivered on the Holy and Great Wednesday.
Every time is suitable for anyone wishing for repentance; for it is permitted to every man, if he wills, even in the spring to send forth the germs of a good life, in summer to gather the sheaves of salvation, in autumn to examine the damages and corruption of the soul, in winter to flee the winter of iniquities, and in any season of the year to provide for a conversion to better things; in the night of sin to decline the night, and in the day to run to the light of a pure conscience, and to flee for refuge to the Creator. But the present time, fortified by abstinence and fasting, is more opportune for repentance, though not for all. For a certain voice sounds forth almost like this: "If anyone comes to me, I will lead him to the common Creator." Let us, then, equip ourselves with the wings of faith and repentance, that we may fly toward our Maker, and let us, as the firstborn sons of the Church, and you, who lie like fetuses in the womb of the Church, desiring to arrive at a blessed and painless birth C (a), and to be sons of Him who struggled for us (for the grace of faith is necessary even for you who are about to attain the same goods): let us, indeed, wash away with tears the royal tunic which we have defiled; and you, that you may be able to put it on and keep it pure from every stain; for without pure faith no one can attain to the benignity of God. My words are confirmed both by other things and by that harlot, who, holding faith and repentance like two lamps, and running to the heavenly bridegroom, in one day became the bride of Christ. But because I have mentioned that blessed harlot, whom I call by this shameful name in the meantime; that we may know what she formerly was, and what she was afterward, I wish to bring her into the holy Church; that through her we may learn how we ought to approach Christ, that we may be washed from our sins. For what she did are clear instructions of what we ought always to do: and the Savior's conversation with her will be a consolation to sinners. For who, hearing that a woman defiled with six hundred stains, because she fled to Him, and poured forth burning drops of tears at His feet, attained the merit of virginity, would not display the same manner, that he might pluck the same fruit? Who, contemplating her transformation and reward, would not assume the same purpose, that he might attain an equal retribution? For what else is a harlot than a plague and a manifest affront to nature? Than a public triumph over the female sex, a destruction of bodies and souls, a pestilence that uses pleasure, a whited sepulchre, an insatiable mouth of hell, the threshold of death adorned, a voluptuous poison, a bold impudence, a shameless modesty, a beautiful destruction, a bait for scheming lust, a snare for youths, a trafficker of her own members, a deep of wickedness, a desired shipwreck, a common calamity in every sin, a wanton workshop, a teacher of every iniquity, a conciliatrix of enmity with God, the mistress of the fire of eternal hell? Nevertheless, she who was the minister of so many and so great evils, because she loved chastity beyond custom, is commemorated as written in the books of the Gospels. Unrolling these, let us enjoy her history, as she herself, hearing Christ, produced fruit. "A certain man of the Pharisees asked Jesus that He might eat with him. And having entered into the house of the Pharisee, He reclined" (Luke D 7:36). Who saw the servant nourished by the one served? Who saw such height descending to such humility? O great astonishment! O divine indulgence! He did not say to the Pharisee who invited Him: "Do you invite Me to a meal, who invite all men to the heavenly meal? Do you invite Me to a meal, who sated the whole people with five loaves? Do you invite Me to a meal, who give food to all flesh?" The Savior said none of these things; but sitting in silence, He reclined in the house of the Pharisee. He knew, indeed, with what meal He was to be refreshed; He knew that the harlot was about to run to Him, that she might attain salvation; and He was looking around on every side, observing the hunt, and almost shouting to those reclining: "I am about to eat food which you will see shortly thereafter; I am about to eat food, namely, the salvation of the woman about to come. For My food is the conversion of men; My food is the life of My servants; My banquet is the repentance of sinners; My pleasure is the release of the condemned; My banquet is the redemption of the captives." While the Savior was saying these things on His couch, both with His eyes and His demeanor, He says, "Behold, a woman in the city, who was a sinner." According to the scope of the heavenly King, the hunt is offered: the hunter had sat down prepared, and the prey was hastening to Him. "And behold, a woman in the city, who was a sinner": two grave evidences of wickedness. Tell us, evangelist, her name, write the woman's name, that we may learn how she was called. She had the sin itself for an appellation, and her name was from her evil work. She, seeing that Jesus was reclining in the house of the Pharisee, said to herself: "Inside is Christ, the spring of benignity, the fountain of mercy: inside is Christ, who heals by a word, and cures by a voice: inside is Christ, who is celebrated by the angels, and passes His life with men as one of them: inside is Christ, who sits with the Father, and is a guest of the Pharisee: inside is Christ, who feeds all by His divinity, and is fed by His humanity: inside is Christ, who tolerates the Pharisaic table, and who fills every table with good things; and He has deigned to enter the tabernacle of the Pharisee, the sinless one has deigned to feast with sin. I am filled with good hope concerning my evil deeds: for He who appeared such toward the Pharisee, will certainly be mild and benign toward me."