Homily 60 #

On Holy and Great Monday of Passion Week, a homily of our venerable father Ephraim the Syrian, concerning the righteous Joseph and how his brethren sold him to the Ishmaelites.

O God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed art Thou, ever delivering the seed of Thy righteous servants who have loved Thee. Grant also unto me, O Good One, that the streams of Thy grace may well up within me in abundance, that I may be able to write of that bright and great spectacle—the story of the righteous Joseph, that most honored man, servant and support of the aged patriarch Jacob!

This wondrous youth, even from his early years, foreshadowed both comings of Christ: the first, which came to pass through the Virgin Mary, and the second, which shall come in dread upon the whole world. Therefore, beloved lovers of Christ, let us rejoice in soul and give careful heed to the virtues of this beautiful youth.

I tell you, brethren, that he was fair in countenance, a wondrous fountain of chastity, and a victorious conqueror through marvelous triumphs. Thus he was a type of the future coming of Christ.

Let each of you cast out from his soul every earthly care, that he may receive these sweet words with love—for they are as honey and gladden the soul.

For as the Lord was sent to us, so was the youth Joseph sent forth from the bosom of Jacob to visit his brethren. But his brethren, lacking mercy, when they saw him drawing near unto them, began to devise evil against him—though he bore peace from their father. In like manner the Jews, ever hard of heart, when they beheld Christ the Savior, said: “This is the Heir; come, let us kill Him” (Matthew 21:38). Likewise, they said of Joseph: “Let us kill him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams” (Genesis 37:20).

And Joseph’s brethren, while eating together, resolved by their own will to sell him. So too the abominable Jews, as they ate the Passover, slew the Savior. The descent of Joseph into Egypt thus prefigured the descent of our Savior unto the earth.

And as Joseph, having entered the chamber, overcame all the power of sin and was crowned with a radiant crown of victory, even so did the Lord, the Savior of our souls, descend into hades and by His right hand overthrew the power of death.

And since Joseph conquered sin, he was cast into prison until the time of his coronation; likewise, our Lord was laid in the tomb, to take upon Himself the sin of the whole world.

Joseph abode in prison for two years in great affliction; but our Lord spent three days in hades, as one mighty, without suffering corruption. Joseph was brought forth from prison by the command of Pharaoh, as a true image, interpreting dreams and revealing the time to come. But our Lord rose from the dead, casting down hades, offering unto His Father our lowliness, and proclaiming the Resurrection and life everlasting.

Joseph sat upon the chariot of Pharaoh and received authority over all Egypt. But our Savior, the Everlasting King, ascended into the heavens on a radiant cloud, and sat down at the right hand of the Father, in glory upon the cherubim, as the Only-begotten Son.

And when Joseph reigned over Egypt and received dominion over his enemies, his brethren were brought before him unwillingly to stand at his judgment seat, and they were led in to bow before him with fear and trembling—the very one whom they had delivered up to die. And with fear they bowed down before Joseph, whom they had refused to let reign over them.

Joseph recognized his brethren, and with a single word revealed them as his would-be murderers. And when they realized it, they were seized with dread and overcome with shame, not daring to speak, nor knowing how to answer—acknowledging in that moment their sin, in the very hour in which they had sold him, believing, wretches that they were, that he had died.

Yet he whom they supposed to have perished in hades was found unexpectedly to reign over them.

So likewise, on the dread Day of Judgment, when the Lord shall come upon the clouds of heaven, seated upon the throne of His Kingdom, then all His enemies shall be brought bound by the angels before His tribunal—those very ones who refused to let Him reign over them.

For the lawless Jews thought that, if He were crucified, He would die as a man. They believed not, wretched men, that He is God, and suffered willingly, desiring to save our souls.

Even as Joseph said unto his brethren: “I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold; and lo, I now reign over you, though ye were unwilling,” so also shall the Lord show forth the Cross in a place of glory before those who had crucified Him. And they shall recognize Him, and see Him whom they crucified to be the very Son of God (Zechariah 12:10).

Verily, Joseph was a true type of his Master.

For truly, virtue blossomed in him from his youth, by his own will; therefore let us begin now to recount the good deeds of this godly child.

This blessed youth lived seventeen years in virtue, being raised in his father’s house, walking all his days in the fear of God, with good order and honor toward his parent. Seeing the wickedness of his brethren, he reported to his father but a little of the much evil he witnessed. For truly, virtue cannot grow alongside unrighteousness—it doth not mix. And for this cause they hated Joseph, because he was a stranger to malice. He was virtuous indeed, having within him the Holy Spirit, for he beheld dreams which were fulfilled upon him by the Most High God.

Now his father Jacob, not knowing the hidden envy that lay against Joseph, dwelt in meekness. And he loved Joseph greatly for the blossoming of good deeds which grew in him from his youth. When his brothers were pasturing the flocks in Shechem, Joseph chanced to be at home with his father. And Jacob, a loving father, was concerned for them as they tarried in Shechem. So Jacob said to his beloved son Joseph, “Go, my child, to thy brethren, and see how they fare, both they and the flock, and return quickly to me.”

Joseph, having received the command of his father, went to his brethren, bearing peace from the face of their father. But as he journeyed through the wilderness and found not his brethren with the flocks, he grew sorrowful for their sake. Then there met him a man, who showed him the way.

And when Joseph saw them from afar, he went with joy, loving them all. But as he approached, they saw him and, like wild beasts, desired to kill him. Joseph came forward like a gentle lamb, ready to fall into the hands of savage wolves.

When he drew near, he kissed them affectionately, bringing them peace from their father’s face. But they, rising up straightway like wild beasts, stripped from him the coat of many colors wherein he was clothed, and gnashed upon him with their teeth, as if to devour him alive—showing upon that holy youth a savage and merciless image through their varied malice.

Seeing himself in danger, and there being none to have mercy upon him, Joseph turned to supplication. With tears and groaning, he lifted up his voice and besought them, saying:

“Why are ye so enraged, I pray you? Let me go but a little, that I may offer prayer. O my brethren, my mother is dead; Jacob mourneth her still, day by day. Will ye now bring a second mourning upon our father, when even the first is not yet comforted? I beseech you all, do not tear me away from Jacob; do not bring down his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

I adjure you all by the God of our fathers—by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—who called Abraham aforetime and said: ‘Get thee out of thy land and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, and come into a land which I shall show thee, and I will give it unto thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand upon the shore of the sea, which cannot be numbered’ (Genesis 12:1–2; 22:17).

This is the Most High God, who gave patience to Abraham when he brought Isaac, his son, as a sacrifice—that his patience might be accounted unto him for praise. This is the God who delivered Isaac from death, and gave a ram in his stead for a sacrifice acceptable to Abraham. This is the Holy God who gave a blessing to Jacob from the mouth of Isaac, his father. This is the God who went down with Jacob into Haran, into Mesopotamia, whence Abraham came forth. This is the God who delivered Jacob from tribulation, saying that He would give him a blessing.

Let me not be cut off from Jacob, as Rachel was. Let him not weep for me as he wept for Rachel. Let not the eyes of Jacob grow dim, as he looketh for my return. Send me to Jacob, my father; receive my tears and let me go back to him.”

Thus, while he was adjuring them by the God of their fathers, they, being savage and pitiless, cast him into a pit, having no fear of God. And while Joseph clung to their feet, weeping and crying out, “My brethren, have mercy upon me!”, they cast him in.

And so Joseph, cast into the pit in the wilderness, wept bitter tears and cried out with a wretched voice, lamenting his father and saying with groaning from his throat:

“Look upon me, O father Jacob, and behold what hath befallen thy child! Lo, I am cast into a pit, as one dead. Thou thyself dost await my return to thee, O father, but now I lie in a pit like a criminal. Thou didst say to me: ‘Go and see thy brethren and their flocks, and return quickly.’ But lo, they were as savage wolves, and in wrath they tore me away from thee, my good father.

Never again shalt thou see me, nor hear my voice; no more shall I support thy old age, nor behold thy venerable gray hairs. For I am buried alive, worse than one dead. Thy child weepeth for thee, O father, and thy child lamenteth his father, for thus have I been torn from thy presence from my youth.

O that I had a dove to carry messages, that it might fly and tell thy old age of my weeping! My tears are spent, my throat is worn from sighing, and there is none to help me.

O earth, O earth, thou that didst cry unto God for the righteous Abel, slain unjustly—according to the ancient tradition from our forefathers, the earth cried out for the blood of the righteous—so now, cry out to Jacob, my father, and tell him plainly what hath befallen me from my brethren.”

But those savage men, after casting Joseph into the pit, sat down to eat and drink with joy, as though they had conquered a city. Thus did they recline in delight. And as they were eating and drinking with great gladness, they lifted up their eyes and beheld Ishmaelite merchants coming on the road to Egypt, their camels laden with spices. And they said among themselves, “Far better is it for us to sell Joseph to these foreign merchants, that he may die in a strange land, and let not our hand be upon our brother.”

Then they drew their brother out of the pit, like a wild beast, and taking the price for him, sold him to the merchants, remembering neither their father’s sorrow nor his grief.

As the merchants traveled, they came to the place of the hippodrome, where the tomb of Rachel stood—for there she died on the road near the hippodrome, when Jacob was returning from Mesopotamia. And when Joseph saw the tomb of his mother Rachel, he ran to it and fell upon the grave. Lifting up his voice, he cried and wept bitterly, saying from the anguish of his soul:

“Rachel, my mother! Arise from the dust and behold Joseph, whom thou didst love! See what hath befallen him! Lo, he is led by foreigners into Egypt, sold by strange hands as a criminal. My brothers have sold me naked into slavery, and Jacob knoweth it not, that I have been sold. O mother, open thy tomb to me and receive me into it! Let thy grave be a shared bed for thee and for me.

O Rachel, receive thy child, that I perish not in death! Receive me, Rachel, I who have been torn unjustly from Jacob, as once I was torn from thee. Hearken, my mother, to the sighs of my heart and my bitter weeping, and receive me into thy grave. My eyes can no longer shed tears, and my soul can no longer cry with groaning.

O Rachel, Rachel! Wilt thou not hear the voice of thy son Joseph? Lo, I go now under constraint, and thou wilt not receive me. I called to Jacob, and he heard not my voice. Now I call to thee, and thou also wilt not hear me. Let me die here at thy grave, that I may not go to a strange land like a thief!”

When the Ishmaelites who had purchased Joseph saw him run to the grave of his mother Rachel, they said among themselves: “Lo, this youth seeketh to bewitch us with enchantments, that he might escape us. Let us bind him fast, lest he bring grief upon us all.” Then they came near to him and said:

“Arise now and cease thy enchantments, lest we slay thee at the grave and lose the gold we gave for thee.”

And Joseph arose, and they all saw that his face was swollen from bitter weeping. Each of them began gently to ask him:

“Why weepest thou so bitterly, since seeing this tomb that standeth by the hippodrome? But now, having put away fear from thy heart, speak to us boldly. What is thy matter? And why hast thou been sold?

The shepherds who sold thee told us: ‘Guard him well, that he flee not from you upon the way.’ And so we are innocent, since we have told thee. Speak then the truth: whose servant art thou? Art thou of the shepherds or of another, a free man?

And tell us plainly, why didst thou fall so earnestly upon this tomb? We have bought thee and are thy masters. Speak to us all that concerneth thee. For if thou hide anything from us, to whom else wilt thou speak? Thou art our slave. The shepherds said thou wouldst seek to flee from us and make us sorrowful. But take heart, and tell us plainly: what is thy case? For thou appearest to us as one who is free.

We do not desire to treat thee as a slave, but to love thee as a brother. We see in thee great nobility and great understanding in thy good conduct. Thou art worthy to stand before kings and to receive honor among nobles. Thy virtue will soon place thee in great authority. Be then a known friend to us, wheresoever we shall bring thee. Who would not love such a youth—noble of birth, fair in countenance, and full of wisdom?”

Then Joseph answered them with a sigh and said:

“I was not a slave, nor a thief, nor an enchanter. Neither have I sinned, yet I was sold to you. I was the beloved son of my father, and also greatly loved by my mother. These shepherds are my brothers. My father had sent me to see whether they were well, for he is a loving father and was anxious for them, as they had delayed long in the mountains. Therefore did he send me to inquire about them.

But they seized me and sold me into slavery, violently casting me away from my father in envy, for they could not bear to look upon the love wherewith my father loved me. And this tomb here that standeth—belongeth to my mother. For when my father returned from Haran to the place where he had dwelt before, and as he passed this way, here my mother died and was buried in this tomb.”

Hearing these things, they wept and said:

“Fear not, O youth, for thou goest to great honor in Egypt. Thy countenance itself showeth thy noble birth. Be steadfast now in patience, changed though thou be by the envy and hatred of thy brethren who sold thee.”