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(B)
"Yardenit"
Baptismal Site
Thursday, December 26, 2013
(B)
"Yardenit"
Baptismal Site
Jordan River, Galilee Region of Northern Israel
Sixth Day of my Holy Land Trip, Mount Zion, Jerusalem
My Holy Land Trip
"Yardenit"
Baptismal Site
The place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Jordan River, southern shore of the Sea of Galilee:
The place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Jordan River, southern shore of the Sea of Galilee:
The place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Jordan River:
Peacock along the Banks of the River Jordan, where the place was Jesus baptized southern shore of Galilee:
Orange tree, where the place was Jesus baptized by John the Baptist, Jordan River:
Lemon tree, where the place was Jesus baptized by John the Baptist, Jordan River, southern shore of Galilee:
Lemon tree, where the place was Jesus baptized by John the Baptist, Jordan River, southern shore of Galilee:
Baptism ceremonies held at the site:
God has granted to the land of Jordan many special places. The north of the country can boast of the homeland of the Prophet Elijah, and in the northern and central regions they take pride in the fact that Christ performed many miracles there and preached in their towns. The south is also very proud that John the Baptist was martyred in “Mekawer” Castle, which is south of Madaba. In the Jordan River John baptized Jesus and there he met five of his disciples, including Peter. From here he set out preaching about the Kingdom of God, beginning the public part of his life.
Upon Mount Nebo, God revealed Himself to Moses, as He had previously revealed Himself at Sinai, and Moses stood and looked over the Promised Land stretched out in front of him. He saw the Jordan River before him, descending from the heights of Mount Hermon into the depths of the Jordan valley.
Jesus left Nazareth, until he reached Bethany beyond the Jordan and went to John for baptism. Jesus joined in the line of penitents asking for baptism, yet he was pure, free from all sin. He was the one who would say to the Jews, "Who among you can provide evidence that I have committed a sin." John knew of Jesus from the revelation and inspiration of the Holy Spirit (John 1:32). John, however, objected to baptizing Jesus saying, "I am the one that needs you to baptize me!" But upon Jesus' continued insistence, John acquiesced and baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. Therefore, the water of the Jordan River became holy and all the waters that flow along the baptism site were purified, reviving the souls of people at every place and time.
In the second Christian century, Melton who was the Archbishop of Serdees, said, "I traveled to the Orient. I saw the places mentioned in the Bible, and everything became full of spiritual meaning."
In the third century, these holy places became of interest from a scholarly perspective. The most important teacher of the time, Origen, came to Palestine for the purpose of studying and tracing the steps of Christ and the Prophets. In his writings, he mentioned Bethany across the Jordan, and he believed that it was the same as Bayt 'Abara (The Place of Crossing) where John was baptizing.
Yardenit is located at the
northern end of the lower or long Jordan River, near where it flows south out
of the Sea of Galilee. The Yardenit,
(meaning 'little Jordan' in Hebrew) is visited by hundreds of thousands of
Christian pilgrims every year, many of whom revere it as the baptismal site and
come to be baptized themselves. Some
pilgrims choose to have second baptisms or rededications at the Yardenit.
The place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Jordan River, southern shore of the Sea of Galilee:
The baptism of Jesus is
described in all four gospels. Christian
traditions differ regarding the site for the baptism of Jesus. Some prefer the Yardenit, while others favor
sites near Beit Shean and Jericho such as the Qasr al Yahud Baptism Site. Those favoring the Yardenit associate it with
a place called Beit Abara mentioned in the Gospel According John. They also note that Jesus went from Nazareth
or the Galilee to the Jordan to baptized and cite the Yardenit is located on
the Jordan close to the Galilee.
Beyond its religious
significance, the Yardenit, especially when not crowded, is a charming location
to drink coffee and enjoy shady, tranquil views of the lower Jordan River and
possibly even see some wildlife.
The place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Jordan River, southern shore of the Sea of Galilee:
On road 90 south
of Tiberias and just north of Kibbutz Degania - make the turn towards Kvutzot
Kinneret and the site is almost immediately on your left.
Jesus' Name
Doctrine is a nontrinitarian theology, characterised by a belief that baptism must be performed only "in the name of Jesus Christ", rather than the more common Trinitarian formula "in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit".
The place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Jordan River, southern shore of the Sea of Galilee:
The Jesus' Name doctrine includes the
"Oneness" of God.
This doctrine rejects the mainstream Trinitarian belief of Three
Persons in One God, and holds that Father,
Son and Holy Spirit are three modes of a singular God. Those in Oneness churches believe that
"Jesus" is the correct and entire name
of God.
Adherents of the doctrine are sometimes referred to as Jesus-Only, but Oneness Pentecostals prefer
the phrase Jesus' Name. Pentecostal historian Bernie L. Wade generally considers the reference "Jesus-Only"
as a slur.
The place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Jordan River, southern shore of the Sea of Galilee:
Mark, Matthew, and Luke depict the baptism in parallel passages.
In the gospels, the accounts of Luke and Mark record the voice as addressing
Jesus by saying "You are beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased",
while in Matthew the voice addresses the crowd "This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–11; Luke 3:21–23)
After the baptism, the Synoptic gospels describe the temptation of Jesus, where Jesus withdrew to the Judean desert too fast for forty
days and nights.
In Matthew 3:14, upon meeting Jesus, John said: "I have need to be
baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" However, Jesus convinces John to
baptize him nonetheless. Matthew uniquely records that the voice from
heaven addresses the crowd, rather than addressing Jesus himself as in Mark and
Luke.
The place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Jordan River:
Luke uniquely depicts John as a family relative of Jesus, with
John's birth also announced by angel. Luke uniquely depicts John as showing
public kindness to tax collectors and encouraging the giving of alms to the poor (as in Luke 3:11). Luke records that Jesus was
praying when Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him. Luke
clarifies that the spirit descended in the "bodily form" of a dove,
as opposed to merely "descending like" a dove. In Acts 10:37–38, the ministry of Jesus is described
as following "the baptism which John preached. In John
1:29–33 rather than a direct narrative, John the Baptist bears
witness to the spirit descending like a dove.
Peacock along the Banks of the River Jordan, where the place was Jesus baptized southern shore of Galilee:
The Gospel of John (John 1:28) specifies
"Bethabara beyond Jordan", i.e., Bethany in Perea as the location where John was baptizing when Jesus began
choosing disciples, and in John
3:23 there is mention of further baptisms in Anon "because
there was much water there”
John 1:35–37 narrates
an encounter, between Jesus and two of his future disciples, who were then
disciples of John the
Baptist.[20][21] The episode in John
1:35–37 forms the start of the relationship between Jesus and his
future disciples. When John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God, the "two disciples heard him speak, and they
followed Jesus”. One of the
disciples is named Andrew, but the other remains unnamed, and Raymond E. Brown raises the question of his being the author of the Gospel
of John himself. In the Gospel of
John, the disciples follow Jesus thereafter, and bring other disciples to him,
and Acts 18:24–19:6 portrays the disciples of John as eventually merging with
the followers of Jesus.
According to the non-canonical Gospel of the
Nazarenes, the idea of being baptized by John came
from the mother and brothers of Jesus, and Jesus himself, originally opposed,
reluctantly accepted it. Benjamin
Urrutia avers that this version is supported by the Criterion of Embarrassment, since followers of Jesus would not have invented an
episode in which Jesus changes his mind and comes to accept someone else's
plan. Plus, the story came from the community that included the family of
Jesus, who would have guaranteed the authenticity of the narrative.
The Gospel of John (John 3:23) refers to Enon near Salim as one place where John the Baptist baptized people, "because there was much water
there".
Lemon tree, where the place was Jesus baptized by John the Baptist, Jordan River, southern shore of Galilee:
Separately, John 1:28 states that John the Baptist was baptizing in
"Bethany beyond the Jordan". This
is not the village Bethany just east of Jerusalem, but is generally considered to be
the town Bethany, also called Bethabara in Perea.
In the 3rd century Origen, who moved to the area from Alexandria, suggested Bethabara as the location. In the 4th century, Eusebius of Caesarea stated that the location was on the west bank of the
Jordan, and following him, the early
Byzantine Madaba Map shows
Bethabara as (Βέθαβαρά).
A favorite place for Christian pilgrimages to the
location of the baptism of Jesus on the Jordan River is near Jericho. Located
on the bank of the Jordan at Al-Maghtas
(baptism, or immersion in Arabic), this possible site was
found following UNESCO-sponsored excavations.
Lemon tree, where the place was Jesus baptized by John the Baptist, Jordan River, southern shore of Galilee:
Al-Maghtas was visited by Pope John Paul
II in March 2000, and he said: "In my mind I see Jesus
coming to the waters of the river Jordan not far from here to be baptized by
John the Baptist".
The baptism of Jesus is generally
considered as the start of his ministry, shortly after the start of the
ministry of John the Baptist. Luke
3:1–2 states that: In the fifteenth year of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea ... , the word
of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
There are two approaches to determining when the reign
of Tiberius
Caesar started. The
traditional approach is that of assuming that the reign of Tiberius started
when he became co-regent in 11 AD, placing the start of the ministry of John
the Baptist around 26 AD. However, some scholars assume it to be upon the death
of his predecessor Augustus Caesar in 14 AD,
implying that the ministry of John the Baptist began in 29 AD.
Baptism ceremonies held at the site:
The generally assumed dates for the
start of the ministry of John the Baptist based on this reference in the Gospel
of Luke are about 28-29 AD, with the ministry of Jesus with his baptism
following it shortly thereafter
Most modern scholars believe that John the Baptist performed a baptism on Jesus, and view it as a historical
event to which a high degree of certainty can be assigned. James Dunn states that the historicity of the baptism and crucifixion of Jesus "command almost universal assent". Dunn states that these two facts
"rank so high on the 'almost impossible to doubt or deny' scale of
historical facts" that they are often the starting points for the study of
the historical Jesus. John
Dominic Crossan states that it is historically certain that Jesus was
baptised by John in the Jordan.
In the Antiquities of
the Jews (18.5.2) 1st-century historian Flavius Josephus also wrote about John the Baptist and his eventual death
in Perea.
The existence of John the Baptist
within the same time frame as Jesus, and his eventual execution by Herod Antipas is attested to by 1st-century historian Flavius Josephus and the overwhelming majority of modern scholars view Josephus' accounts of the activities of John the Baptist as authentic. Josephus establishes a key connection between
the historical events he recorded and specific episodes that appear in the
gospels. The reference in the Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus to John's popularity among the crowds (Ant
18.5.2) and how he preached his baptism is
considered a reliable historical datum. Unlike
the gospels, Josephus does not relate John and Jesus, and does not state that
John's baptisms were for the remission of sins. However, almost all modern scholars
consider the Josephus
passage on John to be authentic in its entirety and view the variations
between Josephus and the gospels as indications that the Josephus passages are
authentic, for a Christian interpolator would have made them correspond to the
Christian traditions.
One of the arguments in favor of the
historicity of the baptism of Jesus by John is that it is a story which the early Christian
Church would have never wanted to invent, typically referred to
as the criterion of
embarrassment in historical analysis. Based
on this criterion, given that John baptized for the remission of sins,
and Jesus was viewed as without sin, the invention of this story would have
served no purpose, and would have been an embarrassment given that it
positioned John above Jesus. The
Gospel of Matthew attempts to offset this problem by having John feel unworthy
to baptize Jesus and Jesus giving him permission to do so in Matthew 3:14–15.
The gospels are not the only
references to the baptisms performed by John and in Acts 10:37–38, the apostle
Peter refers to how the ministry
of Jesus followed "the baptism which John preached". Another argument used in favour of the
historicity of the baptism is that multiple accounts refer to it, usually
called the criterion of multiple
attestations. Technically, multiple attestations do
not guarantee authenticity, but only determines antiquity. However, for most scholars, together
with the criterion of embarrassment it lends credibility to the baptism of
Jesus by John being a historical event
God has granted to the land of Jordan many special places. The north of the country can boast of the homeland of the Prophet Elijah, and in the northern and central regions they take pride in the fact that Christ performed many miracles there and preached in their towns. The south is also very proud that John the Baptist was martyred in “Mekawer” Castle, which is south of Madaba. In the Jordan River John baptized Jesus and there he met five of his disciples, including Peter. From here he set out preaching about the Kingdom of God, beginning the public part of his life.
Upon Mount Nebo, God revealed Himself to Moses, as He had previously revealed Himself at Sinai, and Moses stood and looked over the Promised Land stretched out in front of him. He saw the Jordan River before him, descending from the heights of Mount Hermon into the depths of the Jordan valley.
After Moses passed away, Joshua, the son of Nun, crossed with
the Israelites into the Promised Land.
But soon after their entrance
into the Holy Land the people turned from the worship of God and took to worshipping
strange gods. God sent to them many prophets to bring them back to true belief
in His oneness and observance of His commandments. One of the most famous
prophets was Elijah, who lived during the time of the rule of King Ahab in
Israel. Ahab and his wife oppressed Elijah, and when Elijah grew old, God
inspired him to leave and settle in what is today Jordan. So he left with his
appointed successor, Elisha, who carried on his spirit and message. When they
arrived at the River Jordan, Elijah struck it with his cloak and parted the
waters of the river. He and Elisha crossed the dry land, and as they were
speaking together upon the other side of the river, a fiery chariot came and
carried Elijah into the heavens. (2nd Kings: 2)
Again, hundreds of years passed and John the Baptist appeared at
Bethany (Bayt ‘Anya) on the far side of the Jordan River (John 1:28 & John
10:40). He continued the path of faith and took the mesage from Moses –
representative of the Holy Law – and from Elijah – representative of the
prophets of the Old Testament (Luke 1:17). John was the last prophet in the
manner of the Old Testament prophets and the first prophet of the New
Testament. He called the people to repent in preparation for the arrival of
Christ, the Redeemer, and began to baptize in the Jordan River and the
surrounding springs. The baptism he administered was a symbol of repentance and
belief in God. Fleeing the authorities because of his sermons, he made for
Bethany beyond the Jordan. He would sleep and rest in a cave close to the
springs of “Saphsaphas” (what is today known as the Valley of Kharrar). The
Bible states that here people from Jerusalem, Judea and the surrounding regions
of the Jordan flocked to John for baptism. Jesus visited John here.
Then the Jews in Jerusalem
sent some of the Scribes and Pharisees to question John, and John said to them,
“I am not the Messiah, I am only a voice crying out in the wilderness saying,
‘Follow the path of God and make firm His path.’” (John 1:24)
Jesus left Nazareth, until he reached Bethany beyond the Jordan and went to John for baptism. Jesus joined in the line of penitents asking for baptism, yet he was pure, free from all sin. He was the one who would say to the Jews, "Who among you can provide evidence that I have committed a sin." John knew of Jesus from the revelation and inspiration of the Holy Spirit (John 1:32). John, however, objected to baptizing Jesus saying, "I am the one that needs you to baptize me!" But upon Jesus' continued insistence, John acquiesced and baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. Therefore, the water of the Jordan River became holy and all the waters that flow along the baptism site were purified, reviving the souls of people at every place and time.
As Jesus was coming out of
the water, he saw the heavens open up and the Holy Spirit descending like a
dove. He heard a voice from above say, "You are my beloved son with whom I
am well-pleased." Then the Spirit took Jesus into the wilderness where he
remained for forty days, and where Satan tempted him. In the wilderness Jesus
dwelt among the wild beasts, but the angels looked after him.
After Jesus came back from
the wilderness to Bethany beyond the Jordan, He found John sitting with two of
his students. When John saw Jesus he said to his students, "This is the
Lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world." (John 1:29) Hearing
this, the two students decided to follow Jesus and were in turn followed by
three others, among them Peter.
Jesus carried the torch of
faith from John the Baptist, the torch that had also been carried by Moses,
Elijah and the other prophets. From Bethany beyond the Jordan Jesus declared
the good news of God, saying, "The Hour draws near and the Kingdom of God
is at hand! So, repent and have faith in the good news of God!"
After returning to Jerusalem,
a dispute arose between Jesus and the Jews during the festival of the
renovation of the Temple. When this happened Jesus fled back across the Jordan
to Bethany where John was still baptizing. The people warmly received Jesus and
many came to him from the surrounding towns and villages, from Salt, Amman,
Madaba and Hisban. They brought their sick to him. He cured them, and many
people came to believe in him.
From Bethany beyond the
Jordan, Jesus returned to Jerusalem only to have to flee again, this time to
Ephraim (al-Tayyibah) near Ramallah. Later he returned to Jerusalem on Palm
Sunday, and the events of his passion, death and resurrection would follow.
In the second Christian century, Melton who was the Archbishop of Serdees, said, "I traveled to the Orient. I saw the places mentioned in the Bible, and everything became full of spiritual meaning."
Third
Century AD
In the third century, these holy places became of interest from a scholarly perspective. The most important teacher of the time, Origen, came to Palestine for the purpose of studying and tracing the steps of Christ and the Prophets. In his writings, he mentioned Bethany across the Jordan, and he believed that it was the same as Bayt 'Abara (The Place of Crossing) where John was baptizing.
