“‘I baptize with water,’ John replied, ‘but among you stands One you do not know. He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’ All this happened at Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.”
This place, Bethany beyond the Jordan, according to ancient pilgrim accounts, was the place that St John the Baptist performed his ministry and is the site were Jesus was baptized by John. However, due to the tumultuous history of conflicts in the region, this site became lost.
Rediscovering the “Lost” Pilgrimage Site
“The modern history of Bethany beyond the Jordan began in 1897 when a scholar from Jerusalem traveled to the ancient town of Madaba and accidentally happened upon a mosaic map from the 6th century which had been covered under plaster for hundreds of years… [H]ere we have the map of the middle east.”[i]
Confusion between the name Bethabara and Bethany led some to place the site of the baptism on the west bank of the Jordan, despite the description of Bethany beyond the Jordan, that it, outside of Judea.[ii]
It is now held that Bethany beyond the Jordan is on the East Bank of the Jordan river based on scripture and tradition, ancient pilgrim accounts, and archaeological evidence. It was only after a peace agreement between the Israeli government and Jordan in 1994 that archaeological exploration of this area was made possible again. It is a fascinating story of how they were able to determine and find the location of the earlier changes marking the sacred site for pilgrimage throughout the generations.[iii]
English: A map identifying many of the sites one can find on the (Madaba) mosaic map. Date: 6 June 2013. Osseman, Dick (Dosseman). “Madaba Map.” WikimediaCommonas, June 28, 2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madaba_map.jpg.
Uncovering Bethany Beyond the Jordan
See the fascinating video made in 2007 detailing how the site believed to be the baptism site of Jesus was “rediscovered” after being lost for many centuries.[iv]
Let us also go down with Christ and rise with him
St. Gregory of Nazianzus’ sermon of the Baptism of the Lord praises the gift of new life in Christ through baptism:
Christ is bathed in light; let us also be bathed in light. Christ is baptised; let us also go down with him, and rise with him.
John is baptising when Jesus draws near. Perhaps he comes to sanctify his baptiser; certainly he comes to bury sinful humanity in the waters. He comes to sanctify the Jordan for our sake and in readiness for us; he who is spirit and flesh comes to begin a new creation through the Spirit and water.[v]
Nothing gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and salvation of men
Today let us do honour to Christ’s baptism and celebrate this feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and salvation of men, for whom his every word and every revelation exist. He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of him who is the light of heaven. You are to enjoy more and more the pure and dazzling light of the Trinity, as now you have received – though not in its fullness – a ray of its splendour, proceeding from the one God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.[vi]
Visit Bethany beyond the Jordan
Read the White Paper
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Image Credit:
Desidero, M. “Sapsaphas Madaba.” Wikimedia Commons, February 27, 2007. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sapsaphas_Madaba.jpg. English: Site(s) of Baptism on Madaba Map; M. Disdero, Madaba 21/02/2007
[i] Uncovering Bethany Beyond the Jordan. YouTube. YouTube, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gOrx3d8f4I.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] St Gregory, of Nazianzus. “From a Sermon by Saint Gregory of Nazianzus: The Baptism of Christ.” Office of Readings – Baptism of the Lord, second reading. Accessed January 7, 2024. https://www.liturgies.net/Liturgies/Catholic/loh/christmas/baptism/officeofreadings.htm
(Oratio 39 in Sancta Lumina, 14-16, 20: PG 36, 350-351, 354, 358-359)
[vi] Ibid.
Posted for the Baptism of the Lord
January 8,2024
