Baptisms in Jordan and Decapolis – Day Four

Wednesday was more or less a travel day. We left Tiberias early in the morning with a scheduled stop at the “River” Jordan.

River is the key word, or actually, incorrect word here. As our guide explained, the Nile is a river. The Euphrates is a river. Jordan is just the Jordan.

May be, but it is forever famous in biblical and world history. John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ in the Jordan. Mark memorialized it:

“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when He came up out of water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove, and a voice came from the heaven; Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.”

Mark 1, 9-11

A minister from our group did the honors and a handful of fellow travelers donned swim wear with white robes (rented for $20) and the group took stairs down to the water. Over the next 30 or so minutes, each was ceremoniously immersed in the water, confirming their faith.

A few others went down to the water and put hands and feet in – in their own personal and private way.

From there we took a short jaunt to Bet She’an, a Roman city once known as the capital of the Decapolis. We saw the very well-preserved ruins of an ancient amphitheater that held 6,000 and was home to Roman theatrical productions. Overall, the city covered a large area and had things like an arena for chariot races and public and private bath houses.

Right after that was lunch, a delicious schnitzel – chicken in pita bread with cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and sauce. It was so good my wife let me eat mine and part of hers!

I mentioned it was mostly a travel day. After the morning activities, we boarded the bus and went from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the lowest place on earth, the Dead Sea. We basically went from the top of the country to the bottom – although you have to understand that Israel is only 260 or so miles from top to bottom.

We passed a few security checkpoints with armed members of the Israeli Defense Forces manning their posts. Our guide explained that as we entered the West Bank the area is also partly controlled by the Palestinians.

The time on the bus seemed long, but it also made you stop and think – Jesus and his Disciples walked much of what we were driving. What was minutes and hours to us was days and weeks to them.

Tomorrow: More about the Dead Sea.

Sagamore News Media’s Tim Timmons is on a pilgrimage to Israel and the Holy Land. He will be writing occasionally during the trip. Timmons can be contacted at [email protected].