Place Where Christ Was Baptized
There has been much speculation concerning the exact spot of the baptism of Jesus by John. It was either at the Ford of Jordan, “right against Jericho,” where Israel crossed dry-shod, or, as Dr. Thomson holds, as far up the Jordan as the Ford of Damiah—the nearest point, if Jesus “came from Nazareth of Galilee” by vale and brook, that leads from Sâlem to the river (“and John was baptized in Enon, near to Salem”). The bathing place of the Latin pilgrims is nearly due east from Jericho in Judea, and beyond the ruined convent of St. John. It is this part of the Jordan we see in the picture. It is “over against Jericho” and about four miles above the place where the Jordan empties into the Dead Sea.
John had been baptizing in the River Jordan perhaps about six months, when, in the winter of A. D. 27, according to the harmony of Dr. Andrews, Jesus left Nazareth and came to the River Jordan and was baptized, This was a remarkable period of the world’s history. The fullness of time had come. The world was ready for the new kingdom and for the King. * * * * In the spring of 1894 the Jordan was swollen with the winter rains and in many places was out of its banks. The birds were singing in the fringe of the forest which lines either bank of the river and the reeds and trees were in full bloom. How sacred is the place where He was baptized who came to open a ministry of power under which men are to be “baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire!”
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