In Jordanem fluvium

On the River Jordan. Why, among all the rivers on earth, does Christ perform the mystery of baptism on the River Jordan? It is necessary to examine the nature of the river, so that from it you may learn the sequence of the initiation. The Jordan, more than all rivers, has two roots of springs; for the Jordan does not come from a single spring. It has one spring at Paneas, and the other near Paneas; and one spring is called Ior, the other Dan; and as they gradually proceed and are separated from each other, the springs, at a certain place, come together with each other, and form one river. The ancients gave it a name based on its roots, Jordan, the river born from Ior and Dan, having its roots split at the beginnings and joined at the end. Again, more than all rivers, this one does not run into a living sea, and living sea water does not receive it, but the Dead Sea receives it. This one alone, more than all rivers, joins with dead and stagnant waters. Now the Jordan is a type of our mortal race, and hear how. From the beginning, our race has two roots: Adam, formed from earth, and Eve, who came from a rib; and there is not one place and one manner of their constitution. For one was formed from earth, having the earth as his spring; the other came from a rib, having the rib as her root; a different origin for him, and a different one for her. And they were for a time separated from each other according to the manner of their formation.

They came together in marriage, and the one body from both was completed, and those who were born were no longer from a rib or from the earth, but from intercourse they were born. For, it says, the two shall be one flesh. So this our formation, running in the course of nature, had death as its end. Our formation began from 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 the living waters, that Hades is to the dying. Therefore Paul says: Do not say in your heart, Who will descend into Hades? that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. Around this Jordan, then, which flows from living springs and ends in a dead sea, all the miracle-working of God was accomplished, so that the living water might no longer run toward death. A third time God cut the Jordan itself, so that it might no longer have its course into the dead sea, but run back to its ancient living sources. It was cut in the time of Joshua son of Nun; it was cut also in the time of Elijah, when he cut it with his sheepskin; it was cut by Elisha, when he cut it on his return. First Joshua son of Nun cut the Jordan; and how he cut it, listen. He did not stop the streams of the springs, but turned the water backward, as the psalmist bears witness saying: What is it to you, sea, that you fled? and you, Jordan, that you turned backward? And the backward was the springs.

Therefore, the Savior, checking our race which was rushing toward death, makes it no longer rush toward death, but to return to the ancient living roots, not to end in the dead sea. So the mortal nature is restored to its ancient form. But no one appears to have cut the Jordan without some symbol. Joshua the son of Nun cut it, bearing the ark. Elijah cut it, bearing the sheepskin. Elisha cut it, again bearing the sheepskin of his teacher. For since the mortal nature was not sufficient by itself to stop the stream, Jesus enters first, bearing the name of the Lord, and bringing with him the ark, the symbol of the Lord's body. And the Jordan appears to have honored neither that Jesus—I mean the mere man, the son of Nun—nor to have respected the Jews, nor to have regarded the priests. And to show that it does not yield to the people, but respects the ark, Jesus says: Behold, the ark of the Lord who rules the whole earth passes through the Jordan. And it will be that when the feet of the priests carrying the ark enter, the Jordan will recede, not respecting the priests, but the ark. And how is this? Listen. David asks him, saying: What is it to you, sea, that you fled? And you, Jordan, that you turned back? To this, creation answers, saying: The earth was shaken from the face of the Lord. And the face of the Lord was the form of the ark.

What the ark was for the Law, for the tablets, for the jar, and for the rod, that the flesh of the Lord was for the incomprehensible divinity, bearing the divinity as in an ark. Concerning this holy ark, the blessed David said: "Arise, Lord, to your rest, you and the ark of your sanctification." And see what it does: that the Jordan dried up, not by losing its streams, but by returning to its ancient roots. "Joshua," it says, "took from the Jordan twelve great stones, and set them on the other side of the river; and he placed twelve other stones in their place in the river." What does this mean—that twelve stones were removed, and twelve others put in their place? Because, as I said earlier, he was checking the mortal nature; rather, he wishes to show that he draws humanity up from the depths and leads it to heaven. For the stones that had never seen a ray of the sun, nor received the sight of light, he spread out into the light, and they were drawn up from the deep to the land. Why did he take twelve stones from there? Because through the twelve apostles he was about to draw humanity up from mortal nature. Granted, he removed the stones that were below, in order to show to the sun, to the light, and to the people after this a clear sight of how they crossed the Jordan; for he also indicated the reason: "If your son asks you," he says, "saying, 'What are these stones?' tell him, 'We crossed the Jordan on dry land, God having held back the water before our faces.'" But granted, the stones that were brought up were placed so that they might be visible to those after this.

Why were those set in opposition placed there? He took from the depths those who had been sunk, and gave back to the depth pledges of salvation. The stones placed were pledges, those taken were security. And there is much contemplation about these things: why stones were placed, and why stones were removed. Christ both takes and gives. He came into the world and took up our body, giving us his own power. Through the apostles he sets twelve stones in opposition to the river, a pledge of salvation and a down payment of things to come. For he who has given someone something for a certain matter gives him a pledge for the future. Since this name was to be preserved for him again, when he was to be baptized by John, he anticipated and deposited the pledges of his manifestation, and set up the stones: those he took from there, the patriarchs whom he raised at that time; and those he set in opposition, the apostles, whom he gave in exchange for them. For in place of your fathers, sons were born to you. Thus he crossed the Jordan, and the Jordan becomes for Joshua son of Nun the beginning of the possession of the land. Until he crossed the Jordan, he did not inherit the promised land; until Christ crossed the Jordan, he did not begin to proclaim 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

He says: "I will remember you, Lord, from the land of the Jordan." For memory is indelible. Joshua, crossing in this way, cut the Jordan, showing the ark to it. Elijah cut it with his sheepskin, with a dead hide, and the living waters obeyed the deadness of the sheepskin. Elijah cut the Jordan with the sheepskin, and thus crossed over to ascend into the heavens. The blessed Elisha returned, taking his teacher's sheepskin, as he had asked him, saying: "Let the spirit that is upon you be double upon me." He says to him: "You have asked a hard thing; but if you see me being taken up, it will be yours." That is, to be deemed worthy to have a double operation of the Holy Spirit. Then he was taken up. The sheepskin was lifted and fell upon the disciple. He took a pledge and came to the river. He tried to cut the Jordan, and the water did not obey. Elisha, seized with perplexity, says: "Where is the God of Elijah, father?" And after saying this, he struck the water a second time, and the Jordan was divided. Why did the water not obey him at first? So that he might not think that it obeyed because of his former worth, which he had; but when he called upon God and says: "Where is the God of Elijah, father?" Why did he say, "Where is God?" Did the prophet not know that God is in heaven and on earth and everywhere? But because Elijah had said to him: "If you see me being taken up, it will be so for you.