{"id":73895,"date":"2019-05-05T20:42:46","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T02:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=73895"},"modified":"2019-05-05T20:45:17","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T02:45:17","slug":"was-jesus-baptized-at-this-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/05\/was-jesus-baptized-at-this-place.html","title":{"rendered":"Was Jesus baptized at this place?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Jordan's<\/a>
Looking from Israel across the Jordan to steps and trees and a church in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. \u00a0\u00a0(Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bill Hamblin and I published this column in the Deseret News<\/em> on 27 April 2018:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the most significant biblical sites in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is known as \u201cal-Maghtas,\u201d which, in Arabic, means \u201cbaptism,\u201d or \u201cimmersion.\u201d It sits on the eastern shore of the River Jordan, directly opposite an Israeli equivalent \u2014 only a few feet distant across the stream \u2014 that is known as \u201cQasr al-Yahud\u201d (\u201cthe castle of the Jews\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n

Traditionally, this is the point on the Jordan where the Israelites under Joshua are said to have miraculously crossed on dry ground into the Promised Land (Joshua 3:14-17<\/a>), the prophet Elijah was taken into heaven, and John the Baptist baptized Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n

The area was heavily mined on both sides of the Jordan after the Six-Day War in 1967, and it\u2019s only relatively recently that the Jordanian al-Maghtas and the Israeli Qasr al-Yahud have been reopened to tourists and pilgrims. (In the meanwhile, the Israelis established a northern baptismal site called \u201cYardenit,\u201d just south of the Sea of Galilee, that has little if any merit, historically speaking.)<\/span><\/p>\n

While the authenticity of al-Maghtas as the site of Jesus Christ\u2019s baptism cannot be established beyond doubt, there are some reasons to take it seriously.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is certainly true that ancient Christians were venerating the site by at least the A.D. 400s. For instance, a church dedicated to John the Baptist was built at al-Maghtas late in the fifth century, under the Byzantine emperor Anastasios. Significantly too, a Byzantine monastery commemorating the assumption of Elijah into heaven was built, not far away, at roughly the same time. Moreover, accounts from ancient pilgrims describe these sites and the buildings that once stood there.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the New Testament, John the Baptist preached and baptized in \u201cthe wilderness of Judea,\u201d and people came to him \u201cfrom Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan\u201d (Matthew 3:1, 5-6<\/a>; compare\u00a0Mark 1:5<\/a>). That seems to put John\u2019s activity at the southern end of the River Jordan, near Jericho, a very ancient town located on the river\u2019s west side just north of the Dead Sea.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, both\u00a0John 1:28<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0John 10:40<\/a>\u00a0identify the place where he was baptizing as located \u201cbeyond the Jordan\u201d \u2014 which, assuming that the vantage point of the gospel author was in Palestine, would put it on the eastern side of the river.<\/span><\/p>\n

The leaders of the Jews at Jerusalem sent priests and Levites down into the Jordan River Valley (which is far below sea level) to ask John who he was. Curiously, one of the questions they asked was whether he was \u201cElias\u201d or \u201cElijah.\u201d (He replied that he was not.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Why would they pose that particular question to him? His style of dress undoubtedly had something to do with it. John was clothed in garments of camel hair and skin (Matthew 3:4<\/a>;\u00a0Mark 1:6<\/a>), which recalls the very similar dress of the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:8<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Another reason, however, may be connected with the location itself:<\/span><\/p>\n

Elijah came originally from an area known as Gilead that lies east of the Jordan River. Today, it is known as Jal\u2018ad, and it sits squarely within the territory of northern Jordan.<\/span><\/p>\n

2 Kings 2:1-18<\/a>\u00a0tells the famous story of his ascent into heaven in a chariot of fire. According to the account, Elijah and his successor Elisha traveled from Jericho eastward to the river\u2019s bank. The Jordan miraculously parted before them, and they crossed over to the other side \u2014 manifestly, to the east side \u2014 on dry ground, reminiscent of the original crossing of the children of Israel (traditionally at the same location). After Elijah\u2019s ascension, the miracle was repeated: Elisha crossed the Jordan again on dry ground, traveling back westward and staying for a time in Jericho.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, John seems to have appeared at the very same place \u2014 on the eastern side of the Jordan River, not far from Jericho \u2014 where the similarly dressed Elijah had rather mysteriously disappeared roughly nine centuries before. (2 Kings 2:16-18<\/a>\u00a0records the futile search undertaken for Elijah by some of his contemporaries after he had been assumed into heaven.) In a sense, the first-century priests and Levites who asked to know whether John was Elijah were not asking an altogether unreasonable question.<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, it does not seem unreasonable to think that al-Maghtas, the baptismal site on the eastern or Jordanian side of the River Jordan, may actually be the place where Jesus accepted baptism at the hand of his cousin John in order \u201cto fulfill all righteousness\u201d (Matthew 3:15<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Jericho, Palestinian Territory<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

\u00a0 \u00a0 Bill Hamblin and I published this column in the Deseret News on 27 April 2018: \u00a0 One of the most significant biblical sites in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is known as \u201cal-Maghtas,\u201d which, in Arabic, means \u201cbaptism,\u201d or \u201cimmersion.\u201d It sits on the eastern shore of the River Jordan, directly opposite an […]<\/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-73895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWas Jesus baptized at this place?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Bill Hamblin and I published this column in the Deseret News on 27 April 2018:   One of the most significant biblical sites in the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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