The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. (Mark 1:5)
Though today’s content explains that all the people of Jerusalem went out to him and were baptized by John the Baptist, originally Jews didn’t require baptism. For them once a baby is born, in case of baby boy, they performed circumcision and purity ceremony and it was more than enough. However they partially baptized the converted Gentiles. John the Baptist might be the first person to baptize the entire Jews which was till that time only for the converted gentiles. It may say that he has a step upgraded the meaning of baptism.
Why then he performed baptism in the Jordan River. As we baptizing in a church, an amount of dish water can be enough. It seems a little inefficient to go to the Jordan River. However, in those days baptism wasn’t performed informally as of today. Though they don’t go to the Jordan River they needed enough water to immerse the entire body. They might believe that they could be changed into a complete people of God on the condition that washing the entire body with water. Even today some sects including the Baptist perform the way of immersing not pouring a little water on the head. However, the main reason that John the Baptist performed baptism in the Jordan River was that he could easily get water from the River in the desert where he worked. There would be no better place than the Jordan River to baptize to the huge gathering crowd.
The rivers were the place where original spirituality of man was revealed. In Greek myth a river took an important role and Buddha also got enlighten from the river according to Hermann Hesse’s ‘Siddhartha’. Not only this, most of ancient human civilization began from the river basin. The Yellow River, the Ganges, the Euphrates and Tigris and the Nile are such river. Even today most of cities are backed by rivers. Seoul of the Han River, Daegu of the Nakdong, Koln of the Rhine, Paris of Seine, London of the Thames, Prague of the Bultaba and etc, most of big or small cities locate at a riverside holding it as a source of life.
One of my learning points from my Europe journey that the European were living very closed to the rivers. They always go for a walk on the riverbank, jogging, riding a boat and breathing with the rivers. It signifies they feel the river in such familiar way. Many are gathering in the Ganges to receive their last moment of life at the riverside. On the contrary, our life is cut by the river. Nowadays the government arranges sport fertilities or esplanade on the riverbank. However, the river is still far from the ordinary people. It might be due to a fear for flood or the awe that we cannot control the river, the nature.
The Jordan River where John the Baptist baptized was a boundary to divide this world and the other world in spiritual level. As Israel people have to cross over the Jordan River in order to enter into Canaan from the desert, we have to cross over a spiritual Jordan River in order to cross over from the present life to the future. What is this? As the baptism means dying and living together with Jesus, a spiritual Jordan River might be the very place and time of dying the old and living totally differently. As a larva cast-off skin to be a butterfly, that place might be the place of a spiritual ecdysis. Had we have had such spiritual Jordan River?
Though today’s content explains that all the people of Jerusalem went out to him and were baptized by John the Baptist, originally Jews didn’t require baptism. For them once a baby is born, in case of baby boy, they performed circumcision and purity ceremony and it was more than enough. However they partially baptized the converted Gentiles. John the Baptist might be the first person to baptize the entire Jews which was till that time only for the converted gentiles. It may say that he has a step upgraded the meaning of baptism.
Why then he performed baptism in the Jordan River. As we baptizing in a church, an amount of dish water can be enough. It seems a little inefficient to go to the Jordan River. However, in those days baptism wasn’t performed informally as of today. Though they don’t go to the Jordan River they needed enough water to immerse the entire body. They might believe that they could be changed into a complete people of God on the condition that washing the entire body with water. Even today some sects including the Baptist perform the way of immersing not pouring a little water on the head. However, the main reason that John the Baptist performed baptism in the Jordan River was that he could easily get water from the River in the desert where he worked. There would be no better place than the Jordan River to baptize to the huge gathering crowd.
The rivers were the place where original spirituality of man was revealed. In Greek myth a river took an important role and Buddha also got enlighten from the river according to Hermann Hesse’s ‘Siddhartha’. Not only this, most of ancient human civilization began from the river basin. The Yellow River, the Ganges, the Euphrates and Tigris and the Nile are such river. Even today most of cities are backed by rivers. Seoul of the Han River, Daegu of the Nakdong, Koln of the Rhine, Paris of Seine, London of the Thames, Prague of the Bultaba and etc, most of big or small cities locate at a riverside holding it as a source of life.
One of my learning points from my Europe journey that the European were living very closed to the rivers. They always go for a walk on the riverbank, jogging, riding a boat and breathing with the rivers. It signifies they feel the river in such familiar way. Many are gathering in the Ganges to receive their last moment of life at the riverside. On the contrary, our life is cut by the river. Nowadays the government arranges sport fertilities or esplanade on the riverbank. However, the river is still far from the ordinary people. It might be due to a fear for flood or the awe that we cannot control the river, the nature.
The Jordan River where John the Baptist baptized was a boundary to divide this world and the other world in spiritual level. As Israel people have to cross over the Jordan River in order to enter into Canaan from the desert, we have to cross over a spiritual Jordan River in order to cross over from the present life to the future. What is this? As the baptism means dying and living together with Jesus, a spiritual Jordan River might be the very place and time of dying the old and living totally differently. As a larva cast-off skin to be a butterfly, that place might be the place of a spiritual ecdysis. Had we have had such spiritual Jordan River?
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