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Jordan River / Yardenit

Just to the south of the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Galilee empties into the Jordan River. The Jordan River appears numerous places in the Bible in both old and new testaments (beginning in connection with Abraham in Genesis 13). For Christians it is most notable as the place where John the Baptist had his ministry and baptized Jesus (Matthew 3). John 1:28 indicates the baptismal location as "Bethany beyond the Jordan," a site traditionally identified today as Bethbara (31.836944,35.547222) and located near Jericho just north of the Dead Sea, although that location, like almost everything in Israel, is contested.

Regardless, the Jordan is not the same river that it was in Jesus' day. Considerable amounts of water are diverted from the Sea of Galilee and other tributaries to the Jordan river, vastly reducing its water flow to a fraction of what it was historically.

Yardenit is a baptismal site on the Jordan River just south of where it flows out of the Sea of Galilee. The plaza on the river is quite lovely, surrounded by tall trees and fed clear water from the lake. Robes can be purchased for self-baptismal. Although far from the traditional locations of Jesus' baptism and shaded by non-native eucalyptus that likely resemble nothing that Jesus ever saw, the site nonetheless has refreshing symbolic power compatible with the symbolic purification and repentance embodied in the immersive act.

Next: Bet She'an / Scythopolis