{"id":16701,"date":"2015-01-07T14:08:52","date_gmt":"2015-01-07T21:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=16701"},"modified":"2015-01-07T14:08:52","modified_gmt":"2015-01-07T21:08:52","slug":"new-testament-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-28.html","title":{"rendered":"New Testament 28"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A map of Palestine in the time of Jesus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

John 3:22<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A really short reading today. \u00a0Just a single verse. \u00a0Which I\u2019ll give here, in its entirety:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Jud\u00e6a; and there he tarried with them, and\u00a0<\/span>baptized<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jesus and his disciples don\u2019t seem to be in Jerusalem, because their being in the holy city would have been mentioned as significant. \u00a0They\u2019re probably not in any\u00a0major town or city, for the same reason.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Which means that these baptisms were almost certainly performed down in the Jordan River. \u00a0It\u2019s the only serious stream in the area. \u00a0The most reasonable\u00a0place to find \u201cmuch water\u201d (John 3:23) out in the countryside of that arid region.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And \u2014 look at the map \u2014 that probably means southward<\/em> on the Jordan River, toward Jericho. \u00a0They were in Judea, not in Galilee.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
At Yardenit, where many tourist buses stop
(Click to enlarge.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Which means that the Yardenit baptismal site that\u2019s located just south of the Sea of Galilee and that\u2019s quite popular with tourists and Christian pilgrims is \u2014 notwithstanding\u00a0its large gift shop, its relatively lush and cool vegetation, its fine facilities, and the eager attentions of the Israeli kibbutzniks who own and run it \u2014 almost certainly not<\/em> the place of John\u2019s and Jesus\u2019 baptisms. \u00a0(John probably wasn\u2019t far away from where Jesus was, as is implied\u00a0in tomorrow\u2019s reading, John 3:23-36.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is a much more likely site to the south, in much drier territory. \u00a0In Judea. \u00a0(Or so close to Judea \u2014 just across the \u201cmighty\u201d Jordan \u2014 that the difference is minuscule.) \u00a0So far as I can recall, I first visited it a number of years ago with BYU\u2019s then-president Merrill J. Bateman and the president of the University of Jordan. \u00a0The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is really pushing the site, and I think their location\u00a0has a great deal to recommend it. \u00a0Of course, you can also see the site, more or less, from the Israeli side, since the River Jordan is the border between the two countries.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Learn more about the Jordanian site here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 John 3:22 \u00a0 A really short reading today. \u00a0Just a single verse. \u00a0Which I\u2019ll give here, in its entirety: \u00a0 \u201cAfter these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Jud\u00e6a; and there he tarried with them, and\u00a0baptized.\u201d \u00a0 Jesus and his disciples don\u2019t seem to be in Jerusalem, because their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Testament 28<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    John 3:22   A really short reading today. \u00a0Just a single verse. \u00a0Which I'll give here, in its entirety:   "After these things came\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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