Joshua 3:14-4:17
The Daily Office
As we and the Wise Men of Matthew's Gospel inch closer to Bethlehem, we hear today from an earlier journey of the people of Israel. Moses has died, but his successor Joshua now leads the Israelites over the Jordan River into the land promised them by God. Just as God made a path for Israel to escape Pharaoh and his army through the sea in Egypt, so God now dries up the Jordan River for the Israelites to begin their conquest of the Promised Land.
It is what we don't hear today that most grabs my attention: the inevitable return of the river. Israel will not be able to go back as easily as they came in to Canaan. The local peoples have no intention of sharing the land with the Israelites. In a time and land of scarce resources, there was only one rule of warfare: total victory or total destruction. And with the Jordan soon back to full depth, those will be the only two options for the children of Israel.
We have seen God revealed to us as a helpless infant. Wise men, then and now, must undertake a dangerous journey to find the Son of God revealed to the world. Soon, the Son of God himself will have to undertake a journey to the unknown of Egypt to escape the reaches of King Herod. To follow Jesus, we must undertake a journey, and there is no turning back. Whatever obstacles we will face, they are worth facing. For now we know that our lives will have meaning only in the light of He who became poor for our sake. As the old hymn goes: "I have decided to follow Jesus…Tho' none go with me I still will follow…The world behind me, the cross before me…No turning back, no turning back."
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