It is appropriate, for that person rises up who is hastening to Christ. Faith precedes devotion. First Jacob rose up; later he sacrificed. The man who has searched out the knowledge of God offers a good sacrifice. Now at night in a vision God spoke to Israel, saying, ‘Jacob, Jacob.’ He said, ‘What is it?’ God said, ‘I am the God of your fathers, do not fear, go down into Egypt; for there I will make you into a great people, and I will lead you forever.’ ^[1]

On hearing this, let us learn in whatever we do, whether embarking on some project or beginning a journey, first of all to offer a sacrifice to the Lord in prayer and, by calling on his help to address the matter in hand, thus also imitate these good people’s godliness. He offered a sacrifice to the God of his father, Isaac, the text says, for you to learn that Jacob followed in his father’s footsteps and thus demonstrated the reverence for divine things that Isaac had. Because he took the initiative in showing his own right attitude in thanksgiving, at once he felt the influence of grace from on high. I mean, because he had in view the length of the journey and kept in mind his advanced age, Jacob was afraid that death might come upon him before the meeting and rob him of the sight of his son; so he offered prayers to God to grant him life enough to enable him to enjoy this final satisfaction.

It appears fitting indeed after these things, to contemplate and look into what God says to Israel himself through the vision and how he sends him to Egypt strengthening and encouraging him as if he were setting out to some struggles. For he says, Fear not to descend into Egypt. This is to say, you shall contend against principalities and powers and against the rulers of this world of this darkness^[1]—which is figuratively called Egypt—fear not, be not afraid. But if also you wish to know the reason that you ought not fear, hear my promise: For I will make a great nation of you there, and I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will recall you from there in the end.^[2] He therefore with whom God shall go down into the struggles is not afraid to go down into Egypt. He is not afraid to approach the struggles of this world and the battles with resisting demons. For hear the apostle Paul saying, I have labored more, he says, than all those, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.^[3] But also when dissension had been stirred up against him in Jerusalem, and he performed a most brilliant struggle for the word and preaching of the Lord, the Lord stood by him and said the same things that now are said to Israel. Fear not, Paul, Scripture says, for as you have testified of me in Jerusalem, so must you bear witness also at Rome.^[4]

But I think a still greater mystery lies hidden in this passage. For this statement disturbs me: I will make a great nation of you, and I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will recall you from there in the end.^[1] Who is it who is made into a great nation in Egypt and is recalled in the end? To the extent that it pertains to that Jacob of whom one supposes it to be said, it will not appear true. For he was not recalled from Egypt in the end, since he died in Egypt. But it will be absurd if someone says Jacob was recalled by God in that his body was carried back. But if it is accepted, it will not be true that God is not the God of the dead but of the living.^[2] It is not proper, therefore, that these words be understood of a dead body but that they apply to the living and vigorous.

Let us consider therefore whether there may be depicted in this statement a figure of the Lord who descends into this world and is made into a great nation, that is, the church of the Gentiles, and after all things were completed, returned to the Father. Or, whether it is a figure of the first-formed man^[3] who descends to the struggles of this world after he was cast out of the delights of paradise. The struggle with the serpent was set before him when it is said, You shall watch for his head, and he shall watch for your heel,^[4] and again, when it is said to the woman, I will put enmity between you and him, and between your seed and his seed.^[5]

Nevertheless God does not desert those placed in this struggle but is always with them. He is pleased with Abel; he reproaches Cain;^[6] he is present with Enoch, when he is invoked.^[7] He commands Noah to construct an ark of salvation in the flood;^[8] he leads Abraham from the house of his father and from his kinsmen;^[9] he blesses Isaac and Jacob;^[10] he leads the sons of Israel out of Egypt.^[11] He writes the law of the letter through Moses. He completes what was lacking through the prophets. This is what it means to be with them in Egypt.

But regarding the statement I will recall you from there in the end,^[12] I think this means, as we said above, that at the end of the ages his only-begotten Son descended even into the nether regions^[13] for the salvation of the world and recalled the first-formed man^[14] from there. For what he said to the thief, This day you shall be with me in paradise,^[15] understand not to have been said to him alone but also to all the saints for whom he had descended into the nether regions. In this man, therefore, more truly than in Jacob the words I will recall you from there in the end will be fulfilled.

But each of us also, in the same manner and in the same way, enters Egypt and struggles and, if he is worthy that God should always remain with him, he will make him into a great nation. For the number of virtues and the multitude of right-eousness in which all the saints are said to be multiplied and to increase is a great nation.

That which is said is also fulfilled in the saint: I will recall you from there in the end.^[1] For the end is considered to be the perfection of things and the consummation of virtues. Indeed, for this reason also another saint said, Recall me not in the midst of my days.^[2] And again the Scripture bestows testimony on the great patriarch Abraham since Abraham died full of days.^[3] This statement, therefore, I will recall you from there in the end, is as if he had said, Since you have fought a good fight, you have kept the faith, you have finished the course,^[4] I will now recall you from this world to the future blessing, to the perfection of eternal life, to the crown of justice which the Lord will give in the end of the ages to all who love him.^[5]

But let us see how also the statement after that should be understood: And Joseph shall put his hands upon your eyes. I think many mysteries indeed of secret understanding are hidden within the veil of this statement. It belongs to another time to approach and touch upon these mysteries. Now, meanwhile, it will not appear to be said without reason, since it has appeared also to some of our predecessors that a certain prophecy seemed to be designated in this statement. Since indeed that Jeroboam who made two golden calves that he might seduce the people to worship them^[1] was from the tribe of Joseph, by this he blinded and closed the eyes of Israel, as if his hands were placed on them, lest they see their impiety, of which it is said, Because of the impiety of Jacob are all these things, and because of the sin of the house of Israel. But what is the impiety of Jacob? Is it not Samaria?^[2]

But if someone perhaps asserts that those things that are said by God about a future form of piety ought not be turned to a censurable function, we will say that just as the true Joseph, our Lord and Savior, put his physical hand on the eyes of the blind man and restored his sight that he had lost, so also he put his spiritual hands on the eyes of the law, which had been blinded by the corporeal understanding of the scribes and Pharisees. He restored sight to them, that to these to whom the Lord has opened the Scriptures^[3] spiritual vision and understanding might appear in the law.

And would that the Lord Jesus might put his hands on our eyes too, that we too might begin to look not at those things which are seen but at the things which are not seen.^[4] And would that he might open for us those eyes which contemplate not present things but future, and might reveal to us the aspect of the heart by which God is seen in spirit, through the Lord Jesus Christ himself, to whom belongs glory and power forever and ever. Amen.^[5]

Our God himself also exhorts that people with his own prophecy and promises them advancement in the faith, the fruit of his gift, for he says to them, Joseph shall put his hand on your eyes. It was not that the holy patriarch was troubled as to who should close his eyes, although in the clear understanding of it a natural love is also being expressed. For we often desire to embrace those whom we love. How much more, when we are about to depart from this body, do we take delight in the last touch of our beloved children and find consolation in such a provision for our journey. Yet in a mystical sense we may take it to mean that afterward the Jewish people are going to know their God. For this is a mystery, that the true Joseph places his hands over the eyes of another, so that he who before did not see may now see.^[1] Come to the Gospel, read how the blind man was healed, when Jesus put his hand on him and took away his blindness. Indeed, Christ does not put his hand on those who are going to die but on those who are going to live or, if on those who are going to die, rightly so, because we first die in order that we may live again.^[2] For we cannot see God unless we die to sin previously.

See how whatever the good man longed for the Lord promises him, and in fact much more. That is to say, in his generosity he exceeds our requests out of fidelity to his characteristic love. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, he says. Because Jacob dreaded the length of the journey, accordingly he says, Have no regard for the weakness of your old age—I will make you into a great nation there. I will accompany you and make everything easy for you. Notice the considerateness of the expression: I will go down with you to Egypt. What could be more blessed than to have God as traveling companion? Then he spoke the consoling thought that the old man had particular need of: Joseph’s hands will close your eyes in death. That dearly beloved son of yours will personally prepare your body for burial, and his hands will close your eyes in death.

So, quite happy and free from all concern, Jacob took to the road. Consider at this point, I ask you, with what cheerfulness the good man makes the journey, being so reassured by God’s promise.

Therefore seventy-five souls go down into Egypt, just as it is written,^[1] and this in the mystical sense is the number of forgiveness. For after such great hardness, after such great sins, they would be considered unworthy unless there were granted them the forgiveness of sins. Judah—that is, the confession of sin—goes to meet Joseph. The people of the Jews that is to come sends him ahead as a forerunner of itself. So also the true Joseph, that is, the witness and interpreter of the Godhead, comes to meet those who before were in the possession of unbelief, because now their confession precedes them. For Christ is the interpreter of the Godhead, because no one has at any time seen God, except the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father; he has revealed him.^[2] It is he who in the last times will receive the people of the Jews, by then in an advanced age and grown weary, and do so, not according to its merits but according to the election of his grace; and he will put his hand on its eyes to take away its blindness. And so he postponed its healing, so that the people who earlier did not think it should be believed might be the last to believe and might lose the prerogative of earlier election. On this account also the apostle says, that a partial blindness has befallen Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles should enter, and thus all Israel should be saved.^[3] And thus it is that the deeds of the patriarchs are symbols of events to come. Indeed, Jacob himself speaks to this effect to his sons: Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear Israel your father.^[4]

Therefore Jacob went down to Egypt together with seventy-five people,^[1] and his son Joseph came to meet him. After seeing him Jacob said, I see you, son, now I can die willingly.^[2] When Simeon, that venerable old man, called a father because of his age and not because he could father children, saw Christ because of whom he was still kept in this world as in Egypt, even though he was extremely old, said, Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation.^[3] David’s Psalm 75, which coincides with the number of the people, proclaims, God is known in Judea, and his name is great in Israel.^[4] Since Israel means he who sees God, it is necessary that every person enlightened by grace, Jew or Greek, is freed from the slavery of Egypt, even though Pharaoh, that is, the devil, oppresses him with a heavy yoke.

Why did sacred Scripture indicate the number to us precisely? So that we might be in a position to know how God’s prediction took effect that said, I will make you into a great nation there. You see, from those seventy-five persons the people of Israel grew into six hundred thousand. You notice how it was not idly or to no purpose that it taught us the number of those that went down to Egypt, but for us to know from how few that great number came and not to lose confidence in God’s promises. I mean, when you consider that after the death of Jacob and Joseph the king of the Egyptians went to such lengths to reduce their numbers and prevent them from growing, be amazed and overcome at God’s providence and the fact that his wishes can never fail, no matter how many people try their utmost.

Let us see what Moses says after these words: And Israel dwelt, the text says, in Egypt, in the land of Goshen. Now Goshen means proximity or nearness. By this it is shown that although Israel dwells in Egypt, it is nevertheless not far from God but is close to him and near, as he himself also says: I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will be with you.^[1]

And therefore, even if we appear to have gone down into Egypt, even if placed in the flesh we undergo the battles and struggles of this world, even if we dwell among those who are subject to Pharaoh, nevertheless if we are near God, if we live in meditation on his commandments and inquire diligently after his precept and judgments^[2]—for this is what it means to be always near God, to think the things which are of God, to seek the things which are of God^[3]—God also will always be with us, through Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom belongs glory forever and ever. Amen.^[4]

Many mean-spirited people, when we exhort them not to be overly concerned about burial or to give highest priority to having the remains of the dead brought back from foreign parts to their native land, quote this story to us, claiming that the patriarch also gave attention to it. First of all, however, as I said before, it must be remembered that the same set of values is not to be looked for at that time as it is with people of today. Second, the good man wanted this done not without reason but to let his descendants have a glimpse of the real prospect of returning themselves some day to the Promised Land. . . . I mean, for proof that future events become visible to the eyes of faith, listen to Jacob already calling death sleeping; he said, remember, I want to sleep with my forebears, Hence Paul also said, By faith these people passed on without having received what was promised but having seen it from afar and greeted it.^[1] How? By the eyes of faith. So let no one think Jacob’s instruction came from meanness of spirit. It was due to the times and the vision of the return that would be theirs. Acquit the good man of any blame.

I mean, today when there has been a deepening of our values in the wake of Christ’s coming, it would be proper for someone to be blamed for worrying about things such as burial. Let him not think it a misfortune for someone to end his days in a foreign land or to pass from this life in solitude. After all, it is not such a person who deserves to be thought unfortunate, but the one who dies in sin, even if he dies in bed, at home, in the bosom of his family. . . .

For proof that nothing of the kind causes any harm to the virtuous person, learn that good people generally—I mean the prophets and the apostles—with few exceptions were buried we know not where. Some, you see, were beheaded; others were stoned and so departed this life; others suffered countless punishments of different kinds for the sake of religion, while all were martyrs for Christ. No one would dare say about such people that their death was without honor; instead, it would be in keeping with those words of sacred Scripture, Honorable in the sight of the Lord is the death of his holy ones.^[2] Just as it called the death of holy people honorable, so listen also to Scripture calling the death of sinners wretched: The death of sinners is wretched.^[3] . . . So even if one ends one’s life at home, in the presence of wife and children, with relatives and friends at hand, but in fact one is bereft of virtue, such a person’s death would be wretched. . . . Even if the person endowed with virtue falls among brigands, even if he becomes the food of wild beasts, his death would be honorable. Tell me, after all, was not the son of Zacharias beheaded? Was not Stephen the first to be bedecked in the martyr’s garland, stoned and so ended his life? Peter and Paul too: was not one beheaded, while the other, on the contrary, underwent the punishment of crucifixion and departed this life in that manner? Are they not for that reason in particular celebrated and eulogized everywhere in the world?

With all this in mind let us neither lament those who meet their end in exile nor declare blessed those who depart this life at home. Instead, following the norm of sacred Scripture, let us declare blessed those who have passed away after a life of virtue and lament those who have died in sin. . . . It behooves us, then, as we ponder these truths, to be attentive to virtue and strive in this present life as though in a gymnasium so that, once the contest is over, we may succeed in donning the bright crown and not have futile regrets. As long as the contest lasts, you see, it is possible, if we wish it, to shake off indifference and cling to virtue so as to succeed in attaining the crowns laid up for us.