CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER NINE
T H E J O R D A N
H OW JOYFULLY the Jordan clasps Christians in its embrace—that river which glories in having been sanctified by the baptism of Christ! Certainly that Syrian leper was deceived in preferring some unknown waters of Damascus to the waters of Israel,1 when those of our river Jordan have been utterly proven, consecrated, and submissive to God— whether when they miraculously parted to leave a dry path for Elijah and for Elisha,2 or in an earlier age for Joshua and for all the people.3 Furthermore, what river can claim pre-eminence over the one which the Trinity has dedicated to itself by its manifest presence? The Father was heard, the Holy Spirit seen, and the Son baptized.4 No wonder then that [the Jordan's] very power, which Naaman sensed in his body at the bidding of the prophet,5 the entire faithful people experience in their soul at the command of Christ.
2 Kings 5:12.
2 Kings 2:8, 14.
Josh 3:15; 4:18.
Lk 3:22.
2 Kings 5:14. See Bernard's sermon for Easter 3; SBOp 5:103-109; CF 52 (forthcoming); and Sentences, Series 3.88; SBOp 6/2:130-135; CF 55:277-284.
