Bethany Beyond Jordan - Where Jesus was Baptized

UNESCO recently named an area on the east side of the Jordan River in Jordan as a World Heritage Site (here is an article from the Salt Lake Tribune). It is an area just east of Jericho and near Elijah's Hill where tradition states Elijah was taken to heaven by a whirlwind.  As the article in the Salt Lake Tribune notes, quoting archaeologist Jodi Magness, there is no solid archaeological evidence of a sites "that were continuously venerated from the first century on," but UNESCO found that it is a site of "immense religious significance to the majority of denominations of Christian faith, who have accepted this site as the location" of the baptism of Jesus. 

Matthew 3 discusses the baptism of Jesus by John: "In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River...Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”'

John the Baptist - a wonderful mosaic in St. George Church in Madaba. Note John's decapitated head to the bottom left. 

I believe this represents the baptism of Jesus - a mosaic from St. George Church in Madaba. 

A mosaic near the baptism site.

Closer view of the above mosaic.

The Baptism is also discussed in John 1: "[W]hen the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask [John] who he was. He...confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” “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.” This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.  And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

A painting of the baptism of Jesus in St. Peter's monastery in Jaffa.

The Madaba Mosaic Map is a floor mosaic from the Byzantine church of St. George in Madaba, Jordan. It is the earliest known map of the Holy Land. It was created between 542 and 570 A.D. (because the Nea Church in Jerusalem is shown which was dedicated in 542 and buildings in Jerusalem built after 570 are not included). The original church was destroyed by an earthquake in 746 and the map was rediscovered in 1884 when a new church was being built on the site of the old church. The map has been used to help locate and verify biblical sites, including the site of the baptism of Jesus. On the map, a lion chases a gazelle in Moab. Only the tail and back legs of the lion are clear as the tiles were scrambled during the iconoclastic controversy. The Dead Sea is to the right and a fish in the Jordan River has turned the opposite direction from the Dead Sea. East of the Jordan River (above it) an English translation of the Greek reads "Ainon where now is Sapsaphas." Ainon means "springs" in Aramaic and "sapsas" means willow in Arabic. So it means "willow springs." To the west, below the Jordan River, an English translation of the Greek reads "Bethabara the place of Saint John's baptising." Bethabara means "place of the crossing." Below it is the Monastery of St. John the Forerunner.

The lion chasing the gazelle is upper left. 

I love the location of the baptism site being so close to the spot where Elijah was taken into heaven by the whirlwind because John the Baptist is associated with the spirit and power of Elijah by an angel talking to his father Zacharias, the high priest of the temple (Luke 1:13-17). 

The River Jordan has changed course over the centuries and no longer runs where it presumably did at the time of Jesus. It now has much less flow because much of the water is sucked up by both Israel and Jordan before reaching this point. The River Jordan now runs to the west of the baptism site quite some distance. 

The Jordan River as it looks today (up river from the current baptismal site).

A spot on the current Jordan River where pilgrims today can be baptized. This is the Jordan side looking over the the Israel side. 

The location of the baptism site of Jesus is based on the archaeological findings of a series churches built in the area from the 5th to the 6th centuries and writings from pilgrims at that time which correspond to the archaeological findings. A small spring known as "John the Baptist Spring," or "Ainon (on the Madaba Map) reached the Jordan River near the John the Baptist Church. There is still a little bit of stagnant water today, although I'm not sure it is from that spring, which I believe has been diverted. A small chapel nearby with remnants of a stone arch is believed to be the spot where Jesus un-robed before entering the water. A marble staircase led up to a site where three churches were built in succession over each other. They had mosaic and marble flooring, some of which still remains today.

A mosaic representation of what the site may have looked like when the church, marble steps and arch were in good repair. 

The baptismal pool is in the form of a cross. This is where pilgrims would descend the marble steps to be baptized. Plaster was discovered on two of the four piers where thousands of cross marks were still visible, probably left by pilgrims that were baptized there. 

Arculfus of France, in 670 CE, noted that "...At the edge of the river is a small square church, built, as is said, on the spot where the garments of the Lord were taken care of at the time when He was baptized. This is raised, so as to be uninhabitable, on four stone vaults, standing above the water which flow below." Although this is a view through the small wood structure there now, where apparently Jesus un-robed, the quote makes it sound like there was a chapel actually built over the baptismal site on the four pillars. Note the channel straight ahead where the spring waters flowed into the Jordan River. 

In 570 CE, Antoninus Martyr of Piacenza wrote, "We celebrated Epiphany by the side of the [Jordan?], and wonders take place on that night in the place where the Lord was baptized. There is there is a mound surrounded with railings, and at the place where the water returned to its bed,...marble steps descend into the water,...the priest descends into the river." 

Looking through the wood structure that covers the footprint where the John the Baptist Church once stood. Theodosius, in 530 CE wrote, "5 miles north of the Dead sea in the place where the Lord was baptized there is a single pillar and on the pillar an iron cross has been fastened, there too is the church of S. John the Baptist, which the Emperor Anastasius built [491 to 518 CE]: this church is very lofty, being built above large chambers, on account of the Jordan River when it overflows." The pillar marking the spot of the baptism has not been found. 

Remnants of mosaic flooring in the church.

Another view of the cross shaped baptismal pool and the exit for water to flow to the Jordan River.

Another view gives a better sense of the cross shaped pool.

A modern Orthodox church near the baptism site. It was locked and we were unable to enter. 

Wild Onions and Steak in the Sierras

I spent the weekend in the Sierras with my boys, Sam and Andrew. Time with them in the outdoors has always been one of my favorite activities and it continues to be. Because it is harder and harder to get time with them, I cherish that time all the more. 

Andrew has a favorite place for mushrooms in the Sierras, in Horseshoe Meadow, above Lone Pine. We went there and found no edible mushrooms on this trip, but we did find lots of wild onion. 

Andrew and Sam near Horseshoe Meadow.

We sampled the purple flower, both closed as a bulb, partially opened, and a fully opened. 

The flowers in various stages.

It has a very strong garlic flavor. The more mature the flower on top, the redder the underground stem. The redder the underground stem, the stronger the garlic and scallion taste. Those with white underground stems were very mild and the red stems could be quite strong. We also found that the green stems were wonderful. Nice and crunchy with a nice oniony, but not overpowering taste. 

Our wild onion haul.

We found a campground to do some cooking, just above Independence and below Onion Valley, with a nice view of Mt. Williamson in the distance. 

Andrew had a gas stove and we'd bought some butter, spices and some cheap chuck steak. While we were cooking we had a deer get quite close to us, eating the vegetation off of trees. So nice to be in an outdoor setting. 

We cooked the wild onion in a frying pan with butter and rosemary salt and pepper. My-oh-my, it was wonderful. 

Batch one was so good that we did another batch, this time with more stem and lots more onion. Taste and texture was very much like grilled Mexican onions. 

Then we put the chuck steak in the pan with butter, in several batches, adding wild onion to later batches. 

Although it was cheap steak, it was fabulous. Sam had purchased some brie cheese and added the brie to the steak and it got even better.

Steak, wild onion and brie. Oh my.

This meal far surpassed our meal at the top rated bbq joint in Bishop, and was substantially cheaper. Some wild ingredients, great setting, great company and great meal. It will be a meal I'll cherish. 

Community of Christ: Lamoni, Iowa and Graceland University

At a time when Plano, Illinois served as the headquarters for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, founded in 1860, members of the church were anxious to gather somewhere. Gathering had roots in the original Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. Early church members had gathered in Kirtland, Independence and Nauvoo, but had been forced to move from each place. The Brighamites (Mormons) had picked up where Joseph Smith, Jr. left off, establishing a gathering place in the Great Salt Lake Valley. But Joseph Smith III, son of Joseph Smith, Jr. and president of the Reorganized Church, was leery of going down that same path again, given the previous experiences. 

The Reorganized Church still had hopes of returning to Independence where Joseph Smith, Jr. had proclaimed that the New Jerusalem would be built and had dedicated a lot for the building of a temple. However, the expulsion from Independence was still too recent for any consideration of Independence as a gathering spot at that time. 

Eventually, in 1870, Joseph Smith III did authorize the purchase of over 3,000 acres about 100 miles north of Independence in Iowa. It was an area the Brighamites had passed through in 1846 on their way to Winter Quarters, and near Garden Grove, where the Brighamites had established a way station for those traveling west. The city built by the Reorganized Church was named Lamoni, after a King by that name in the Book of Mormon who was converted by the missionary Ammon. 

Joseph Smith III and his family moved to Lamoni in 1880 and brought the administrative offices of the Reorganized Church as well. The administrative offices stayed in Lamoni until 1920 when they were moved to Independence by Frederick M. Smith, president of the church and son of Joseph Smith III. 

A Community of Christ Church in Lamoni, Iowa.

In 1895, the Reorganized Church founded Graceland College in Lamoni, the first fully accredited junior college in Iowa. Frederick M. Smith, who followed his father, Joseph Smith III as president of the Reorganized Church, was the first graduate of Graceland College in 1898. Graceland became a four year college in 1960 and became a university in 2000. It currently has about 2,222 students (1,495 undergraduates and 727 postgraduates), 150 faculty, 35 undergraduate majors and several post graduate majors in education and nursing. It has a campus in Independence as well. 

The Administration building at Graceland University.

Lamoni currently has about 2,300 residents, so the students at the university rival the town in numbers. In addition to members of the Community of Christ (the name the Reorganized Church changed its name to in 2001), Lamoni is home to quite a few Amish. In fact we passed an Amish man on our way out of town driving down the road in his horse driven carriage. 

Lamoni is a beautiful, sleepy town in the Iowa countryside, seemingly quite a ways from any towns of a significant size. We were surprised to learn that Caitlyn Jenner, formerly Bruce Jenner, the Olympic gold medal decathlon winner, was a graduate of Graceland and the sports complex is named after him/her. 

Community of Christ Stone Church - Independence, MO

The Stone Church of the Community of Christ ("CofC") in Independence, Missouri was the administrative headquarters and site of general conferences of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (which was renamed the CofC in 2001) from the early 20th century until the building of the Auditorium in 1958. For that reason, they refer to the Stone Church as the "pulpit of the presidency." 

The Stone Church in Independence, Missouri.

To the right is the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) church and in between it and the Stone Church is the spire of the CofC Temple. 

The Stone Church is just outside the 63 acres of land that Joseph Smith, Jr. dedicated in August 1831 as the land of Zion and where a temple would be built as part of the New Jerusalem. That 63 acres is now owned by three parties: (1) the largest portion by the CofC, including the spots where the CofC Temple and Auditorium are located; (2) a little lesser portion by the Mormons, including the spots where a Visitor's Center and Stake Center are located; and (3) two and a half acres by the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), also known as the Hedrickites, the current location of a wood church and visitor's center. I believe the Hedrickites own the land that was specifically dedicated as the temple site. As the CofC literature attests, this land, which is sacred to the various fragments of the LDS movement, has been sought after and contested for, much as other Christian churches have contended for important sites in Jerusalem. 

Members of the Reorganized Church began moving into Independence shortly after the church was organized in 1860. A branch was organized in Independence in 1873. Daniel Bowen, a member of the Reorganized Church, was outside his home in Stewartsville, Missouri when he heard a voice telling him to "Look south." A few months later the same voice told him, "There is a piece of land in Independence for you." Bowen traveled to Independence and worked with a real estate agent to show him land around town. Daniel prayed that the Spirit would guide him to the land he was supposed to buy. As Daniel passed the Temple Lot the Spirit told him to buy the land just to the north of it, which he did. As the Reorganized Church was looking for a place to build a church building, Bowen offered this lot to the church. 

Construction of the Stone Church began in 1884. It was built of limestone quarried near Warrensburg, Missouri, about 56 miles away.  The stone was transported by rail to near where the Auditorium now stands, and then transported by wagon to the church site. Each stone piece was cut on-site. The Stone Church was dedicated by Joseph Smith III on April 6, 1888.  

Inside it has somewhat of the feel of the Tabernacle in Salt Lake, although much smaller. This is probably due to the wood benches and the upper balcony seats supported by columns. 

What really sets the Stone Church apart for me is the wonderful stained glass, which was installed in 1970. Some of it is uniquely LDS. 

This uniquely LDS window has the Angel Moroni as the centerpiece, the gold plates, the Book of Mormon, Christ in the Americas and a person that I assume is Joseph Smith under a dove that must represent the Spirit.  

Angel Moroni who led Joseph Smith, Jr. to the gold plates.

The gold plates held together by rings and transitioning into a book. 

The Book of Mormon which was translated from the gold plates, is transitioning from the plates in this window. 

Christ and a depiction of a Central American structure behind him. 

Joseph Smith, Jr. holding the Book of Mormon under a dove, probably indicating that the book was translated by inspiration of the Spirit. 

Less uniquely LDS, this shows Christ as the centerpiece, Moses in the bottom left, John the Baptist in the bottom right and the empty cross, bottom center, the emptiness signified by the robe left on it. 

I like the symbolism of this empty cross. 

The window is uniquely Reorganized Church.

The youth, the lamb and the lion, with "peace," is the CofC symbol. 

A modern baptism ordinance.

A modern blessing or ordination. 

I don't know what the symbolism of this is, if any.