A small aquatic artery, lost in the sands andwinding among the rocks of the spurs of the Lebanese mountains, is the natural boundary between the Muslim and the Jewish world. Two thousand years ago, it became a mystical side, dividing the history of mankind into “before” and “after”. The name of the Palestinian river has become a common name. "Jordan" means any body of water or a place where the rite of Great Blessing of Water is performed on the feast of Epiphany.
What does baptism mean
In the Slavic tradition "baptism" meansinvolvement in the life of Christ. In ancient times, this word was pronounced “baptism”. By this is meant a certain mystical act relating to Christ and carried out with His participation. The first meaning of the term “baptism” means the sacrament of the church (not a rite, but a sacrament), through which a person becomes a member of the society of followers of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
В эллинской традиции это действо называется the word βαπτίζω (vaptiso), which means "immerse" or "dipping." Where it is written in the Slavic translation of the Gospel that John the Baptist performed baptism in the Jordan River, it should be understood “immersion”: “... and all Judea was baptized (sinking, dipping),” etc. The Holy Prophet John did not invent this ceremony himself, but he performed these actions on the basis of the Old Testament Judaic religious rite. Similar rituals can be found in many nations. For example, Hindus perform sacred washing in rivers.
Ancient Jewish custom
The law of Moses prescribed bathing atany defilement: touching the dead, eating forbidden food, a woman after bleeding, etc. According to the rites of the ancient Jews, any non-Jewish people could join the Jewish faith. Such a man was called a proselyte. For this case, a special ritual of admitting the Judaism of the Gentiles was prescribed, which also provided for ablution. Modern language can be called the baptism of proselytes.
In all cases, ablution was performed byfull, with the head, immersion in a reservoir. It was a symbolic act and had a mystical sense of cleansing from sins. Only “water from God” possessed cleaning properties: flowing from a source or collected rainwater.
Baptism of john
Judaic rites were known to John.At a certain time, he comes to the bank of the Jordan River and declares that the time of God's judgment is coming. The righteous will be awarded perfect eternal life in the kingdom of God, and sinners will be subject to eternal punishment. John preached that you can be saved from punishment only by repenting of the vices and correcting your life. “Come to Jordan,” called the Baptist, “come, who wants to be saved!”
John gives the traditional Jewish ritualnew meaning. He commits baptism in the Jordan River over the people who come to him: he plunges into the water and does not allow him to leave until the person has completely cleansed his soul. Being chosen by God, he was able to see the secrets of the inner world. It was not the confession about his crimes that the prophet demanded, but a resolute refusal from sinful life. Gradually, around John, an entire community of new people being saved is formed.
The Baptism of Jesus Christ
Penetrated with the terrible call of the prophet to repentin sin, many people came to him from all over Palestine. One day, Christ appeared on the banks of the Jordan. This event is described in detail by all four evangelists. Jesus did not have a single sin, did not need confession and cleansing. Evangelicals write that Christ, immersing himself in Jordan, immediately immediately came out of the water. The prophet felt the holiness of the God-man and asked the puzzled question: "I need to be baptized from You, and do You come to me?" The Savior commands him to perform the rite.
The acceptance of baptism by John of Christ is very important.This confirms the truth of the Baptist's preaching in the fact that a new era of humanity’s morality is coming. After baptism, Christ went to a secluded place in the Palestinian desert, where he spent forty days in prayer and only after that began to preach to the Jews.
Why did Jesus receive baptism
Some Protestant denominations oversimplifiedperceive the meaning of the event. According to them, Jesus was baptized in order to give us an example. An example of what? The meaning of baptism is explained in the Gospel of Matthew. In chapter 5, Christ says about himself that he came into the world not to destroy the Old Testament law, but to fulfill it. In the original source, the meaning of this verb has a slightly different shade. Christ came to commit the law, that is, Himself to complete its action.
Theologians see several mystical moments in baptism:
- Река крещения Христа открыла людям новые знания о To god The evangelists testify that when the Holy Spirit came out of the water to the Savior in the form of a dove, a voice from Heaven was heard by all those present who called Christ the Son and commanded to fulfill His teaching. Christians call this event the Epiphany, since for the first time the world witnessed about God in three persons.
- Baptism Jesus symbolizes the spiritual stateof all the ancient israeli people. The Jews departed from God, forgot His commandments, and massively needed repentance. Christ seems to make it clear that the entire Jewish people must make the transition to a new moral state.
- Waters of Jordan, figuratively clearing the vices of those who plungedin them people carried the spiritual impurity of all mankind. The river in which Jesus was baptized is also a symbol of restless souls. Christ, immersed in the water, sanctified and cleansed them.
- Christ is the sacrifice. The meaning of His ministry on earth is to sacrifice Himself for the sins of mankind. According to Jewish custom, the sacrificial animal before the liturgical ritual must undergo ablution.
Where did the name "Jordan"
According to the generally accepted opinion, the river where Jesus was baptized has a Jewish name. In the scientific community there is no consensus on this.
- The most logical was to assume the Semiticthe origin of the toponym. In this case, Jordan is derived from the Hebrew word “yered” (“descends,” “falls”), and the name of the source Dan is the name of one of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel.
- There is a version of Indo-European origin.the words. Since ancient times, Indo-Iranians - the ancestors of the Philistines lived in these Middle Eastern territories. Indo-European root danu means "moisture", "water", "river".
- Русский религиозный философ Дмитрий Сергеевич Merezhkovsky in Homer's “Odyssey” saw lines that spoke of a certain tribe of Kidons who lived off the shores of Yardan. He concluded that the river of the baptism of Jesus is called Jordan by people from Crete.
Sacred Waters of Jordan
Already 1000 years before our era the waters of the Jordan Riverrevered sacred. Chroniclers have kept a lot of evidence that leprosy patients were healed after bathing in the river. Other zealots lowered into the water in the burial shrouds. The fabric cuts were kept until the day of death, believing that it would help to resurrect.
После крещения Иисуса река стала считаться a great shrine and without additional rites. The early Christians used water, considering it to be miraculous and healing. When Christianity became the state religion in Byzantium, believers were able to move freely around the empire. The river of the baptism of Christ has become a cherished goal for pilgrims.
A multitude rushed to the shores of Jordan.pilgrims, not only to worship holy places. Besides reverence, superstition appeared. In the waters of the river they began to immerse the sick in anticipation of the miracle of healing and old age of people with faith in rejuvenation. Water began to be used to sprinkle farmland, hoping that it would bring a bountiful harvest. The owners of sea vessels gathered large vessels of water, trying to prevent a shipwreck and arrange a safe voyage.
Jordan in our day
Поток паломников не прекращается и в наши дни.According to ancient testimony, a place on the banks of the Jordan, where John the Baptist accomplished his mission, is located on the territory of modern Israel. The river of the baptism of Christ in this area flows through the Palestinian Authority and access to it after the 1967 war is impossible.
Meeting the wishes of Christians, the Israelithe government has allocated a small section of the coast when the Jordan leaves the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). With the participation of the Ministry of Tourism, a whole complex of buildings was built. This pilgrimage center is not considered a historical site of evangelical events, but for many believers from around the world it is the only opportunity to plunge into the sacred waters.
Miracles on the Feast of Epiphany
On the feast of the Epiphany on January 19, the OrthodoxThe Patriarch of Jerusalem performs a festive prayer and a great blessing of water. The culmination of this worship is the threefold immersion of the cross into the water. Many attendants testify to an annually recurring miracle. At the time of immersion of the cross, the river of the baptism of Jesus stops its run, and the waters begin to move in the opposite direction. This phenomenon is captured by many eyewitnesses on video. Jordan has a rather strong current, and it is not possible to explain this phenomenon by a natural factor. Believers believe that in this way God exerts his power.
The true baptism of the Savior
If the question of which river baptized Jesus is alreadyconsidered resolved, the location of the event itself can be argued. For twenty centuries, the riverbed has changed more than once, the states and peoples that existed in biblical times have sunk into oblivion.
In the Jordanian city of Madaba preserved ancientTemple of the heyday of the Byzantine Empire. The Church of St. George was built in the middle of the VI century. Its floor is decorated with a mosaic geographical map of Palestine. The surviving fragment of this document has dimensions of 15 by 6 meters. Among other things, the map shows in great detail the place of baptism of the Savior. This prompted scientists to find archaeological evidence of the Gospel events.
На территории Иордании, неподалеку от места In 1996, a group of archaeologists discovered the true baptism of the Savior in the Dead Sea, in 1996, forty meters east of the modern riverbed. For almost a year now, on the Israeli side, the river of the baptism of Christ in this place has been available for visiting pilgrims. Anyone can reach the water and take a bath or dive.
River of the Baptism of Rus
Kiev Prince Vladimir decided to makeOrthodox Christianity is the official religion. In historiography, both ecclesiastical and secular, sanctifying these events, it is customary to mention the survey of messengers from different religions arranged by Prince Vladimir. The Greek preacher was the most convincing. In 988 the baptism of Rus took place. The Dnieper River became the Jordan of the Kiev state.
Vladimir himself was baptized in a Greek colony.Crimea - the city of Chersonese. Upon arrival in Kiev, he commanded to be baptized throughout his court. After that, under the fear of being counted as personal enemies, he committed the baptism of Russia. In what river the mass sacrament will take place, there were no doubts. The wooden statue of the most revered pagan god Perun was thrown into the river, and the people of Kiev were gathered on the banks of the Dnieper and its tributary Pochinay. The clergymen who arrived with Vladimir from Chersonesos performed the sacrament, and a new era of our state began.
