These events took place in Bethabara, across the Jordan, where John was baptising (John 1:28).
The Jordan Valley (Emek ha-Yarden in Hebrew), this geographical region of Israel, forms part of the Great African Rift Valley, which stretches from Syria to Africa and is traversed by the River Jordan for a distance of 251 kilometres, from the Sea of Galilee to its mouth at the Dead Sea. This Jordanian rift forms part of the geological plate that extends from the north of Mount Hermon and descends to East Africa.
Originating in northern Israel, at the foot of Mount Hermon, the River Jordan flows vigorously towards the sun-drenched plains of Israel via three headwaters: Snir (Hasbani), Dan and Banias. It then flows on, forming several springs and streams, towards the Sea of Galilee, where, after lingering amidst the enchanting scenery of this lake, it re-forms its course and flows in bends and meanders teeming with wild vegetation through the Jordan Valley towards the Dead Sea, where it has been flowing for thousands of years.
The entire Jordan Valley forms a natural border between Israel and Jordan. Geographically speaking, the original site of the Baptism of the Lord is located in the Jordan Valley, 10 km south-east of the city of Jericho, the oldest city in the world, with over 10,000 years of history.
Along the course of the River Jordan, which springs directly from the mountains, lie the fertile plains of Israel, through which Jesus Christ and His disciples would have passed, via Caesarea Philippi: ‘Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ And He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus, answering, said to him: ‘Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’ (Matthew 16:13–18).
And still in the northern parts of Galilee, Jesus spoke to His disciples about the fact that He would have to go to Jerusalem and ‘suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and on the third day rise again’ (Matthew 16:21).
It was also here, in the region where the Jordan rises, that Christ the Saviour said to His disciples: ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is to come in the glory of His Father, with His angels; and then He will reward each person according to their deeds. Truly I tell you: there are some standing here who will not taste death until they have seen the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom’ (Matthew 16:28).
Thus, over the course of millennia of local history, the banks and valley of the River Jordan have witnessed several notable events recorded in the Old Testament. Thus, Naaman the Syrian was healed of leprosy in the River Jordan, through the intercession of the prophet Elisha, at God’s command: ‘Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean’ (2 Kings 5:10).
Furthermore, other references to the River Jordan in the Old Testament relate to Joshua the Prophet, who, following Moses’ death on Mount Nebo, took charge of the Jewish people and led them into the land of Canaan, as God had commanded him: ‘Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go’ (Book of Joshua 1:9). The Jewish people crossed into the Promised Land by wading through the River Jordan, the bank of which today is also associated with the original site of the Lord’s Baptism.
Wadi Al-Kharrar (Kharrar Valley), situated in northern Jordan, looks back through the ages to the history of the original site of the Lord’s Baptism, the place where John baptised. Two thousand years ago, all those who stopped here, weighed down by worries and sins, came to the cold waters of the Jordan to be baptised by John: ‘And they were baptised by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins’ (Matthew 3:6).
The churches, the caves, the water channels formed by the River Jordan, the green, wild area stretching along the river, the rustling of the water and the wind through the reeds all form the unique, unchanging backdrop to an event that took place 2,000 years ago, when John the Baptist came here from the mountains of Judea, from Even Sapir-Ein Karem. This man, of whom the Gospels say that ‘his clothing was made of camel’s hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist; his food was locusts and wild honey’ (Matthew 3:4), preached tirelessly: ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’ (Matthew 3:2).
The historian Eusebius of Caesarea, in his accounts of the eastern banks of the Jordan, mentions the existence of church buildings dating from the 4th century, from the time of the Holy Emperors Constantine and Helena. A cave hewn into the rock, perched above the ruins of some basilicas, bears witness to the lives lived here by unknown hermits, as well as by Saint John the Baptist with his disciples, and later, of Saint Mary of Egypt and the Venerable Saint Paraskevi of Iași. The history of Eastern monasticism, with its origins in third-century AD Egypt, tells of many ascetic fathers who, setting out from the Nile Valley, journeyed towards Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley, taking Jesus Christ himself and Saint John the Baptist as their model of life, wishing ‘to preserve the purity and holiness bequeathed to them by the apostles’1, and to wage the struggle ‘against the spirits of wickedness in the heavenly realms’ (Ephesians 6:12).
One cannot pass through these places without remembering Saint John the Baptist, ‘the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord”, as the prophet Isaiah said’ (John 1:23). Saint John the Baptist, of whom Jesus Christ Himself said, ‘Among those born of women, there is no one greater than John’ (Luke 7:28), began his preaching and proclaimed the coming of the Messiah during the reign of Tiberius, Caesar of Rome, and under Pontius Pilate, who was governor of Judea. Coming to the banks of the Jordan, Saint John spoke to his contemporaries about repentance, the true path of return to God: ‘I, for my part, baptise you with water for repentance, but the One who comes after me is mightier than I; I am not worthy to carry his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire’ (Matthew 3:11).
Archaeological excavations carried out at the site on the banks of the Jordan River, at a place called Qasr El Yahud, have brought to light several graves dating from the 4th to 6th centuries AD. The remains of men and women suffering from leprosy were found in these tombs; it is believed they had travelled to the River Jordan from Ethiopia and Egypt to be healed, thus demonstrating the curative properties of the waters of the Jordan 2.
The history of Eastern Christianity, and in particular that of the Middle East, continues to this day to recount the importance of the place known as Betabara (the house of crossing) or, on the Madaba Map in Jordan, also called Bethany, beyond the Jordan, for it was here that prophecies were to be fulfilled and miracles performed, with the coming of Jesus Christ to these parts: ‘At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptised by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptised by You, and yet You come to me?’ And Jesus replied to him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him to do so. And when Jesus had been baptised, as soon as He came up out of the water, behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him. And behold, a voice from heaven said: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:13–17).
Today, in the 21st century, we come to the banks of the River Jordan for the Jordan Procession, which takes place every year on 18 January, on the Eve of the Epiphany, according to the Gregorian calendar. The River Jordan breathes the same air, reflects the same sky, bearing constant witness to the Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ and to the miracle of the River Jordan’s return. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it attracts thousands of travellers from all over the world every year, day after day, driven either by curiosity or by devotion. Arriving by coach in the Jordan Valley at the site known as ‘Qasr al-Yahud’, amidst a throng of coaches, Israeli army and police vehicles, thousands of pilgrims and dozens of reporters equipped with sophisticated cameras and lenses, ready to capture the moment of the Procession.
On the banks of the Jordan, the Israeli authorities have recently constructed an ingenious structure made of stone and wood that facilitates a safe descent to the waters of the Jordan. For in the past, everything took place amongst the roots of the willow trees, and, mixed with the mud of the bank, the area became dangerous.
During the centuries of Ottoman occupation, visits to the Holy Places were rare and arduous, but towards the dawn of the nineteenth century, several explorers and writers also passed through the site of the Baptism of the Lord. Consequently, several European travellers explored the area, and some of them left accounts of these places. Among the most interesting is that of William Lynch, who, travelling in 1848 along the River Jordan to the Dead Sea, wrote:
‘How low the Jordan Valley lay… The Holy River! The beauty of this place contrasts with the parched, dry land that surrounds it like a swan in the desert. We arrived at Al-Maghdas, the bathing place of Christian pilgrims; this ford of the river has been consecrated by tradition as the place through which the Israelites passed with the Ark of the Covenant and where our blessed Saviour was baptised by John. My first act was to enter the waters of the Jordan, giving thanks to God for the priceless favour of having been allowed to visit this place. Perhaps before me—for not far from here lies Jericho, where the waters spring forth and the rose of the wilderness blooms—crowds of visitors to Israel will have passed through…(…) but, without a doubt, this is the Betabara of the New Testament, the place where Jesus Christ withdrew to be baptised, and this place is dedicated to Him and to the feast of the Baptism3”.
Today, the site is comfortably laid out, yet few are those who can touch the waters of the Jordan on this day. After making its entrance to the sound of African drums, brass instruments and trumpets, the band of Palestinian Christian-Orthodox musicians announces that the Patriarch of Jerusalem will arrive shortly to celebrate the Great Aghezma service, which takes place on the Eve of the Epiphany. It is not long before the air vibrates, the crowd gathers, and the authorities prepare for the arrival of the Patriarch of Jerusalem and all of Palestine. Following the Great Aghezma service, the Patriarch descends to the riverbank and casts the cross three times into the churning waters of the Jordan. This ritual signifies that Jesus Christ stepped into the waters of the Jordan, sanctifyingand blessing it so that all who are baptised and sprinkled with holy water may be healed of bodily and spiritual ailments, and become ‘sons of light’ (John 12:36–47).
The bells of the Church of St John the Baptist on the Jordanian bank ring out at length, piercing the silence of the wilderness and reminding everyone of the Troparion of the Lord’s Baptism: ‘By being baptised in the Jordan, O Lord, You revealed the worship of the Trinity…’.
The Jordan turns back from its course, revealing to those present the miracle of Epiphany (the Manifestation). This miraculous event took place 2,000 years ago on these lands, at this bend in the River Jordan, known as Bethany beyond the Jordan, so as not to be confused with Bethany, the village of Lazarus. The locals in the time of Saint John the Baptist called this place Bethabara (beit – house; abara – ford/crossing, in Hebrew). And even today, on this day of the Epiphany, the River Jordan flows back to its source. For a few moments, or sometimes for days, it flows back to its origins, to its headwaters in the region of Galilee, at the foot of Mount Hermon in northern Israel.
As far back as the 5th century, monastic communities are recorded on these banks of the Jordan, which bear witness to the Baptism of Jesus in the ‘rapids of the Jordan’. In memory and in honour of these worthy and memorable figures, and in the centuries that followed, there were monks and nuns who dared to brave the wilderness, the cold of the nights and the unbearable heat of the desert, living in complete solitude and prayer, following the example of Jesus Christ, who had spent 40 days fasting and praying on the Mount of Temptation. The monks who had settled in the Jordan Valley did the same. By the end of the 19th century, there were over 20 hermits living in the caves of the Jordan Valley. In 1935, the Romanian Hermitage on the Jordan was built, with other monastic settlements of the Greeks, Ethiopians, Syro-Jacobites and Armenians in the vicinity. Between 1947 and 1953, the Romanian hermitage was led by Saint John Jacob, who, after a few years, withdrew to the wilderness in the Hozeva Valley, for ‘blessed is the life of the hermits who are consumed by divine longing’. The ruins of the old Romanian hermitage of ‘St John the Baptist’ on the banks of the River Jordan lie 45 kilometres from Jerusalem, 8 kilometres from the oldest city in the world, Jericho, and 25 kilometres from Mount Nebo in Jordan, the place where Moses stopped with the Jewish people as they came out of the Egyptian wilderness. Owing to the holiness of the place, many hermits have lived here for centuries.
After being baptised by John, Jesus Christ went into the wilderness for forty days and forty nights (Matthew 4:1–11), on Mount Carantania or the Mount of Temptation. This site is situated near the Jordan Valley, 3 kilometres away, close to the city of Jericho.
From the cable car that carries pilgrims up and down Mount Carantania, one can admire the unspoilt beauty of the city of Jericho, flanked to the east by the mountains of Jordan and the waters of the River Jordan. The low-lying huts of the Bedouin Arabs, nestled amongst lush greenery, citrus groves and palm trees, and the open-air museum preserving the archaeological remains of the first Jericho fortress, are all scenes that seem to have been plucked from an old postcard from an antique bookshop. Above all, however, lies the mystery of these places, shrouded in the fragrance of the Middle East, destined to carry the testimony of this day of the Epiphany through the centuries. It is the day of the Lord’s Baptism, the day on which the waters of the Jordan are consecrated and blessed, for the Lord’s Baptism is the Feast of enlightenment, purification from sin and the world’s reawakening to a new beginning, time and again: ‘As many as have been baptised into Christ have clothed themselves with Christ. Alleluia!’