The River Jordan

Our first glimpse of the River Jordan

Our first encounter with the River Jordan didn't impress us.  Our tour bus stopped by a narrow stream within a foliaged river bed.

In modern times, 70 to 90% of the water in the River Jordan is siphoned off for agricultural and other human uses.

The nearby Golan Heights, captured from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967 seemed more intriguing because of what lies just beyond.

Later in our cruise, we would see refugees from Syria in small boats fleeing to Europe by sea.

However, Israel understands the value of religious tourism, so they have preserved the first three kilometers near the Sea of Galilee.  My sister-in-law, Pastor Cheryl, mentioned that Calvary Chapel of Orange County, California, donated money to Israel to build baptismal sites for Christian pilgrims on the River Jordan, which a Los Angeles Times article from 1990 confirms.

Calvary Chapel hosts regular trips to the Holy Lands as "an important part of the ministry."

A friend of mine from high school mentioned she was baptized there by Pastor Chuck Smith, but you can also buy a baptismal kit for $20 on site.

I didn't buy the kit, but I did bring my swim trunks.

If you look closely, that's me in the River Jordan.

While our tour bus was air conditioned, every stop left us in 95 degree heat, so by the time we reached the River Jordan baptismal spot, a refreshing dip in the green water sounded great.

It's not the kind of place where you splash around, but being in the water where John baptized Jesus is awesome.  Having grown up attending the Brethren Church in Seal Beach, I was taught that we each can develop a personal relationship with God that requires no intermediary clergy, so I took the opportunity to baptize myself, pushing my own forehead back to submerge my head in the water a couple of times while praying.

The baptism of Jesus, where His ministry initiated, has great significance in Christianity, so great that the second book of the Bible, the Gospel of Mark, skips past the Christmas story altogether.

Mark boldly begins by declaring Jesus to be the Son of God and Messiah, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah, and then talks about John the Baptist.

As primitive as the cave homes of Nazareth may have been, they apparently represented far too lavish a life style for John the Baptist, a wild man who wore camel hair clothes and ate locusts with wild honey.

He preached "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins," and something about this troglodyte brought the masses from all over Judea, as far away as Jerusalem, to confess their sins and be baptized in the Jordan River.

“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.  But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

Matthew Chapter 3, Verses 11, 13 to 15, Holy Bible New International Version

Wes in River Jordan left of center,
and girl in baptismal clothes in foreground on right

The Book of Luke kicks off with a narrative about John the Baptist's parents, who were well beyond the age when couples have children.  They received the good news of their soon-to-be-son from the angel Gabriel six months before Elizabeth's cousin Mary learned about Jesus in a similar manner, which was fitting since John was sent to prepare the way of the Lord.

The River Jordan made a wonderful last stop on our 11 1/2 hour day of touring, but actually I skipped over our time in Capharnaum and the Mount of Beatitudes in order to follow the time line of Jesus, so I will still be writing at least one more post about Israel.