Homilies on Joshua, Homilia I
The name Jesus above every name§1
1God gave the name that is above every name to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That name above every name is Jesus. Therefore in the name of Jesus every knee bows — of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth. Through many generations no one was called by it. Moses wrote Genesis: Abraham and many righteous men — yet none deserved to be named Jesus: not Abel, not he who began to call on the name of the Lord, not Enoch, not Noah, not Abraham, not Isaac, not Jacob, not even Moses faithful in all God’s house. I first find the name Jesus in Exodus: Amalek came and fought Israel, and Moses said to Jesus at Rephidim. That is the first naming. Moses confesses he cannot lead the army; he calls Jesus: Choose for yourself strong men. Where I first learn the name Jesus, I also see the mystery: Jesus leads the army.
Latin · §1
Donavit Deus nomen, quod est super omne nomen, Domino et Salvatori nostro Iesu Christo. Est autem nomen, quod est super omne nomen, Iesus. Ideo in nomine Iesu omne genu flectitur caelestium et terrestrium et infernorum. Multis generationibus a nullo cognominatum est. Moyses scripsit Genesim: Abraham et iusti plurimi, sed nullus Iesus meruit nominari. Iesu nomen primo invenio in Exodo: Venit Amalec et expugnabat Israel, et dixit Moyses ad Iesum in Raphidim. Moyses confitetur non posse se exercitum ducere; vocavit Iesum: Elige tibi viros potentes. Ubi primum disco nomen Iesu, ibi mysterium video: ducit exercitum Iesus.
Moses’ hands and Jesus the helper§2
2When Moses lifted his hands, Israel prevailed; when he let them fall, Amalek prevailed. Jesus grows strong and conquers when Moses raises his hands. The people were beaten by Amalek when Moses’ hands hung down — when the law ceased among them who, seeking to establish their own righteousness, were not subject to the righteousness of God. Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Jethro are left to judge the people; Jesus is not left behind but follows Moses up the mountain and stood by Moses — not as second or inferior, but as helper and protector. When he was sent to spy, his name is written Hosea (Ause); when he returns and lifts the fallen people, Moses names him Jesus. When Moses’ face was transfigured and Israel could not bear the sight, Jesus not only looks on the face but remains inside the tabernacle, privy to the mysteries.
Latin · §2
Et factum est, cum extolleret Moyses manus suas, invalescebat Israel; cum deiceret, invalescebat Amalec. Tunc invalescit Iesus et vincit, quando Moyses erigit manus. Cessante lege apud illos demissae sunt manus Moysi. Nadab et Abiud et Eleazar et Iothor derelinquuntur ut iudicent populum; Iesus non derelinquitur sed sequitur Moysen in montem et assistebat Moysi — non ut secundus, sed ut adiutor. Cum exploratum missus, nomen eius Ause scribitur; cum redit et erigit populum, a Moyse Iesus nominatur. In transfiguratione vultus Moysi, Iesus in interioribus tabernaculi mysteriorum conscius perseverat.
The book paints Christ’s sacraments§3
3Where does all this look? This book does not so much report the deeds of Nun’s son as depict the sacraments of my Lord Jesus. He it is who, after Moses’ death, took the command; he leads the army and fights Amalek; what was foreshadowed on the mountain with outstretched hands he nails to his cross, triumphing over principalities and powers. Moses died — for the law ceased, since the law and the prophets were until John. Hear the Gospel: They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them — naming Moses as the law. Hear the Apostle: a woman is bound to the law while her husband lives; if the husband dies she is free — the woman being the soul held under Moses’ law. Therefore the law must die, so that those who believe in Jesus may not incur the charge of adultery.
Latin · §3
Liber hic non tam gesta filii Nave indicet quam Iesu mei Domini sacramenta depingat. Ipse post mortem Moysi suscepit imperium, ducit exercitum et confligit adversus Amalec; quod in monte manibus extensis adumbrabatur, affigit cruci suae triumphans principatus. Defunctus est Moyses — cessavit lex, quoniam lex et prophetae usque ad Iohannem. Habent Moysen et prophetas — Moysen legem nominans. Mulier vivente viro alligata est legi; si mortuus fuerit vir, soluta est — mulierem animam nominans. Necesse est legem mori, ut qui credunt in Iesu nequaquam adulterii crimen incurrant.
Jordan, ark, and Rahab’s soul§4
4Jesus my Lord and Savior has taken the principate. Compare Moses’ deeds with Jesus’ rule. When Moses led Israel from Egypt there was no order in the people, no observance among the priests; they crossed the salt sea with a wall of water on right and left. When my Lord leads: priests go before, the ark of the covenant is borne; not the sea but the Jordan — not in panicked flight but with priests shouldering the ark, with trumpets sounding a heavenly mystery. He who came to break down the middle wall of partition made both one: one part of the water stood, the other flowed to the sea. Prepare food for the journey — works that accompany us as faithful provision for the way ahead. Once we cross, manna ceases; whoever has not prepared food cannot follow Jesus into the land of promise. First fruits in the land: from the region of palms, and unleavened bread — the palm of victory, and, casting out the leaven of malice, the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Jesus sends spies to Jericho’s king; a harlot receives them — each soul was a harlot while it lived in fleshly desires; it receives the angels he sent before his face to prepare his way, and lodges them not in low places but on high.
Latin · §4
Iesus Dominus et Salvator meus suscepit principatum. Cum Moyses educeret de Aegypto, nullus ordo; transeunt aquam maris salsam, murus aqua dextra laevaque. Cum Dominus meus ducit: sacerdotes praecedunt, arca Testamenti portatur; non mare sed Iordanen — cum sacerdotibus arcam portantibus, in tubarum cantibus. Qui venit solvere medium parietem saepis fecit utraque unum. Praeparate vobis cibos ad viam — opera velut viaticum. Transactis ripis desinit manna. Primi fructus: de regione palmarum et azyma. Mittit Iesus exploratores; hospitio suscipiuntur a meretrice — anima quae meretrix fuit donec in carnis cupiditatibus viveret.
Flax, the world’s prince, and the sun standing still§5
5I do not take without mystery the flax stalks in which the spies hid — flax is priestly clothing; you are a holy nation, a royal priesthood. The harlot enters enmity with Jericho’s king — flesh lusts against the spirit; the world hates you. That hostile king is the prince of this world; he cannot seize Jesus’ spies because they travel the mountains: I lift my eyes to the hills; whence comes my help?. Moses never said Let the sun stand; Jesus did — Sun, stand over Gibeon, and moon over the valley of Aijalon — and Scripture adds that God never so listened to a man. My Jesus still makes the sun stand in his coming: while we wrestle against principalities and powers, the sun of righteousness stays with us — Behold, I am with you all days until the end of the age.
Latin · §5
Nec lini stipulam in qua exploratores delitescebant absque sacramentis accipio — linum indumentum sacerdotale; vos gens sancta, regnum sacerdotale. Meretrix inimicitias subit adversus Hierichontium regem — caro adversus spiritum. Rex inimicus — princeps huius mundi — non potest obtinere exploratores quia per montes iter faciunt. Moyses non dixit Stet sol; Iesus: Stet sol super Gabaon et luna super vallem Aelom. Iesus meus solem stare fecit modo in adventu: dum bellum gerimus adversus principatus, sol iustitiae adsistit — Ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem saeculi.
Every place your feet subdue§6
6See what Jesus promises his soldiers: Every place you set the soles of your feet shall be yours. To them it meant Canaanite regions; to us it means diabolic nations of opposing powers against which we sweat in this life’s contests. However many of those nations we subdue underfoot, we receive their provinces as Jesus distributes them. They were once angels in God’s kingdom — How you have fallen, Lucifer, who rose in the morning!. If I can conquer him and the Lord crushes Satan under my feet, I may deserve Lucifer’s place in heaven. Anger, pride, envy, greed, lust each have goading angels; unless you defeat those vices in yourself and drive them from the land already sanctified by baptism’s grace, you will in no way receive the fullness of the promised inheritance.
Latin · §6
Repromittit Iesus: Omnis locus quemcumque subdideritis vestigiis pedum vestrorum vester erit. Nobis adversariarum potestatum gentes diabolicae. Quantascumque subdiderimus, ipsorum regiones Iesu distribuente capiemus. Lucifer cecidit; si eum vincere potuero et Dominus conterat Satanan sub pedibus meis, locum Luciferi accipere merebor. Ira, superbia, zelus, avaritia, libido angelos incentores habent; nisi vitia in temet ipso viceris et de terra baptismi exterminaveris, plenitudinem hereditatis non accipies.
The land rests — second circumcision§7
7Under Moses it was not said what is said under Jesus: The land rested from wars. Only by the Lord Jesus’ power can our land — where we struggle — cease from battles. Within us are Canaanites and Perizzites; therefore meditate on the Lord’s law day and night. Many of you sleep not only by night but all day in worldly business or fleshly delights, and scarcely come to church on feast days — some who come attend to stories, not God’s word. Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. You have fasted? It is as if you left Egypt and followed Moses; but now Jesus has taken you from Moses and circumcises you a second time at the hill of foreskins — not only casting off idol-worship but also greed, a subtler idolatry. Today I have rolled away from you the reproach of Egypt. If you receive this second circumcision of the vices, Egypt’s reproaches are wiped away and you inherit the heavenly kingdom through the true Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
Latin · §7
Sub Moyse non est dictum quod sub Iesu: Cessavit terra a proeliis — solius Iesu virtute terra nostra cessare poterit. Intra nos Chananaei et Pherezaei; meditemur in lege die ac nocte. Exsurge qui dormis et exsurge a mortuis. Iam te a Moyse suscepit Iesus, qui te secundo circumcidat in colle praeputiorum — non solum idolorum cultus sed avaritia, quae est idolorum subtilior cultus. Hodie abstuli a vobis opprobrium Aegypti. Si secundam circumcisionem acceperis vitiorum, Aegypti abstergentur opprobria et hereditatem regni caelestis accipies per verum Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum, cui est gloria in saecula saeculorum. Amen.