07/06/2019
The Jordan River
One of the never ending benefits of going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land is that barely a week goes by without one of our Sunday readings connecting back to our experiences in Israel. This week’s story of the healing of Naaman’s leprosy in the Jordan is no different. If you’ve never been to Israel, what image do you have in mind of the Jordan? Do you think the most mentioned river in the Bible, the site of many Biblical stories, is majestic like the Mississippi? The Hudson River? Or maybe the Connecticut? The reality is it is more like our own Still River running through Brookfield!
“When I was a boy I somehow got the impression that the river Jordan was four thousand miles long and thirty-five miles wide. It is only ninety miles long, and so crooked that a man does not know which side of it he is on half the time. In going ninety miles it does not get over more than fifty miles of ground. It is not any wider than Broadway in New York.”
So reported Mark Twain after seeing the Jordan River in 1867, and like Huckleberry Finn’s explanation of the famous author, “There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth.” Twain stretched it a bit with Israel’s major river. The Jordan (“descended” in Hebrew) actually flows southward about 223 miles from Mount Hermon into the Sea of Galilee, then into the Dead Sea, and is divided into an upper and lower course.
Joyce Sarver didn’t have “any preconceived ideas about the Jordan's appearance. All I knew was Jesus was baptized there. I was amazed how narrow it was at the baptismal site and how close we were to Jordan.”
Others correctly expected the dry terrain, but were pleasantly surprised by the amount of foliage and growth along the banks.
In our Old Testament story Naaman complains “Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” John Tuthill seems to agree with him noting that “the water was the color of the way I like my coffee.”
The upper section of the Jordan begins at its mountainous northern source, and then sinks quickly in its 47-mile course to the Lake Hula (a nature reserve today), before an even steeper drop over the next 16 miles to the Sea of Galilee. Between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea (65 linear miles, but due to its twisting path it actually covers twice the distance at over 130 miles), its lower course dips at a rate of about five feet per mile. From start to finish, she drops over 3,100 feet, ending at the Dead Sea with the lowest elevation of any river in the world, almost 1,400 feet below sea level!
Just as it runs through Israel as an important source for watering a dry land, it also runs through the Bible with an even greater spiritual status. Despite its size being more of a creek than a river, only about 100 feet wide at its broadest spot, and maybe 17 feet at its deepest point, it has witnessed some important biblical events.
After the exodus from Egypt, Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River on dry ground into the Promised Land, before taking Jericho (Joshua 3-6). Jacob also crossed it with just a staff before God blessed him (Genesis 32:10), and Naaman the Syrian captain was healed of his leprosy at Elisha’s command to wash in it (2 Kings 5, Luke 4:27). In true Exodus fashion, the prophets Elijah and Elisha also crossed the river with dry feet, and in the New Testament John the Baptist baptized Jesus in it (Matthew 3). That is precisely what most Christian tourists seek on their visit to the Jordan River today - baptism.
For baptisms in the Jordan River most tour groups use the Yardenit baptism site, near the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee. Entry to this beautiful attraction is free, but if you want to be baptized you must rent a white baptismal robe. The site is very safe, with handrails and wheelchair-accessible ramps.
On recent pilgrimages our group has been using the site on the Jordan near Jericho where three important turning points in Israel’s history happened. It was here at this historic crossing spot that significant leadership transitions took place: Moses to Joshua, Elijah to Elisha, and John to Jesus.
Rev. Tara Shepley recalls, “The first time I went to the River Jordan I didn’t get in. As I looked at the throngs of people clad in white robes, all for a fee, I was skeptical. The whole ritual seemed gimmicky, the water was murky brown with debris floating in it, and everyone said the water was cold. No, I decided, this is not for me, but seeing how elated everyone felt as they emerged from the river, renewing their vows, and feeling more connected to Jesus, I determined that if I had a chance to come back I would go in.
“The second time, I went to Israel, I was all in! I rented the white robe and let the my eyes of my heart transform the muddy water into a pool of new life. I was not disappointed! As I allowed myself to be plunged under the cool water, my faith was strengthened and energized like never before. I am glad I put aside my pride and joined into what so many have found life-giving in the renewal of vows in River Jordan.”
All agree on the sanctity of the site, noting that “faith to be healed is not tied to a place, but is from the Lord who makes the place.”
Skeptical like Naaman, healed like Naaman. This was no coincidence on God’s part in making a strong statement to those “who had ears to hear.” Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, and even Mark Twain couldn’t have stretched that one any further.
