Bethabara

Their probable route was across the Jordan, then southward, through valleys and gorges, and along mountainsides, which echoed with the psalms which were sung on these pilgrimages called Songs of Degrees.

At Bethabara, nearly opposite Jericho, the travelers recrossed the Jordan.

There, John might think of that other crossing many years before, when Joshua led the hosts of Israel between the divided waters, and when Elijah smote them with his mantle.

And there was a pathway for him and Elisha.

Their probable route was across the Jordan, then southward, through valleys and gorges, and along mountainsides, which echoed with the psalms which were sung on these pilgrimages called Songs of Degrees.

At Bethabara, nearly opposite Jericho, the travelers recrossed the Jordan.

There, John might think of that other crossing many years before, when Joshua led the hosts of Israel between the divided waters, and when Elijah smote them with his mantle.

And there was a pathway for him and Elisha.

J the B is baptizing.

It says in John 1, verse 28, these things, John's baptism, were done in Bethabara.

You remember that word in your New Testament? These things, John the Baptist baptizing, were done in Bethabara, beyond the Jordan where John was baptizing.

Bethabara means the house or the place of passage.

So John was baptizing where the children of Israel once crossed 1,500 years earlier.

And John said something very interesting to the people who were coming to be baptized, especially the religious people.

J the B is baptizing.

It says in John 1, verse 28, these things, John's baptism, were done in Bethabara.

You remember that word in your New Testament? These things, John the Baptist baptizing, were done in Bethabara, beyond the Jordan where John was baptizing.

Bethabara means the house or the place of passage.

So John was baptizing where the children of Israel once crossed 1500 years earlier.

We're so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig.

John's gospel shouts, therefore, from the heights of heaven, look at him, look at him.

Or as John the Baptist will put it, when he sees Jesus coming out to him in Bethabara at the Jordan River, look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

And when John said, look, again the next day, two of his disciples did, and they left him to follow Jesus.

John invites the reader to see what Jesus did, what he taught, and what he claimed about himself.

And so you have five or six of these disciples being present with Jesus as he attends this Cana feast.

And it's interesting because it takes about three days to get from where John was baptizing in Bethabara beyond the Jordan up into Galilee alone.

ultimately to Cana.

Notice there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee.

That's the humility of John.

These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

In other words, it was east of the Jordan River.

Bethabara is also translated Bethany in some Bibles.

But don't confuse this Bethabara or Bethany with the Bethany on the east side of the Mount of Olives, where Lazarus, Mary, and Martha lived.

There's two Bethanys.

This Bethany is out in the wilderness east of the river.