Catholic Radio Dramas

The Crossing of the Jordan

From a homily on Joshua by Origen, priest (185 – 215)

The Crossing of the Jordan

The ark of the covenant led the people of God across the Jordan. The priests and the Levites halted, and the waters, as though out of reverence to the ministers of God, stopped flowing. They piled up in a single mass, thus allowing the people of God to cross in safety. As a Christian, you should not be amazed to hear of these wonders performed for men of the past. The divine Word promises much greater and more lofty things to you who have passed through Jordan’s stream by the sacrament of baptism: he promises you a passage even through the sky. Listen to what Paul says concerning the just: We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ in heaven, and so we shall always be with the Lord. There is absolutely nothing for the just man to fear; the whole of creation serves him. Listen to another promise that God makes him through the prophet: If you pass through fire, the flame shall not burn you, for I am the Lord your God. The just man is everywhere welcome, and everything renders him due service.

So you must not think that these events belong only to the past, and that you who now hear the account of them do not experience anything of the kind. It is in you that they all find their spiritual fulfillment. You have recently abandoned the darkness of idolatry, and you now desire to come and hear the divine law. This is your departure from Egypt. When you became a catechumen and began to obey the laws of the Church, you passed through the Red Sea; now at the various stops in the desert, you give time every day to hear the law of God and to see the face of Moses unveiled by the glory of God. But once you come to the baptismal font and, in the presence of the priests and deacons, are initiated into those sacred and august mysteries which only those know who should, then, through the ministry of the priests, you will cross the Jordan and enter the promised land. There Moses will hand you over to Jesus, and he himself will be your guide on your new journey.

Mindful, then, of all the mighty works of God, remembering that he divided the sea for you and held back the waters of the river, you will turn to them and say: Why was it, sea, that you fled? Jordan, why did you turn back? Mountains, why did you skip like rams, and you hills, like young sheep? And the word of the Lord will reply: The earth is shaken at the face of the Lord, at the face of the God of Jacob, who turns stones into a pool and rock into springs of water.

Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings

Origin, born in 185, witnessed the persecution of the Church in Alexandrian. Early on he evidenced a certain genius while leading a life of virtue. He was well educated and deeply devout in his faith. When his father was thrown into prison and condemned to a martyrs death, Origen wrote him a moving letter encouraging him to persevere courageously in the faith.

The family fortune had been confiscated by the imperial magistrates and Origen became a teacher and so helped support his mother and his six younger brothers. He sold his manuscripts and started a catechetical school which soon became a center of learning through his eloquent exhortations. Origin devoted himself to the study of philosophy, the scriptures and Hebrew.

He was sought out who heard of his teaching. He traveled to Rome, and was invited to Arabia by its governor who wanted to meet him. In 215 he traveled to Palestine, Greece and Caesarea where the Bishop of Jerusalem ordained him a priest. His ordination was invalidated when two councils were held at Alexandria, one of which pronounced a decree of banishment against Origen while the other deposed him from the priesthood. St. Jerome declares expressly that he was not condemned on a point of doctrine.

Before St. Augustine, Origen was the most influential theologian in the church. His threefold plan of interpreting Scripture (literal, ethical, and allegorical) influenced subsequent exegetical works. In spite of Origen’s fame as an apologist for Christianity, there was question as to his orthodoxy. His somewhat recondite blending of pagan philosophy with Christian theology led to his condemnation by Justinian in the Monophysite controversy. There is good reason to believe that he was often the victim of misquotation and unfair interpretation.