Water from the Holy Jordan River is taken just from the place where Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist. The water is taken not far from the borough of Wadi-el-Kharrar, which is on the left bank of the river (belonging to the state of Jordan) - just the site of the Baptism of Lord accepted by the heads of all the Christian Confessions.   Holy Water is poured in a jar placed in the grey linen sack with the inscription “Relics of Israel”.   Price: $140.00 (shipping by Airmail - Free)

 

 

 

Jordan. The Baptism of Jesus.

 

The precise place where Jesus the Savior was baptized is not known exactly, but according to the Christian tradition it is considered to be approximately 8 km from Jericho and 5 km from the confluence of the Jordan River to the Dead Sea. Following the Greek legend this place is called Bethabara, or House of the Ford, because just at this place the Israeli crossed the Jordan river after forty-years of wandering through dessert; just here they stepped for the first time on the Land of Promise 12 centuries before Epiphany. At this place a thousand years before Christmas King David crossed the Jordan escaping from revolted Absalom. A thousand and a half years later Reverend Mary Egyptian followed the same way to mourn over her sins.

 

The place where Jesus Christ was baptized

by John the Baptist. Left bank of the Jordan river

 

 

Just at this place 30-year old Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist in the waters of the Jordan River. Baptism of Lord is also called Epiphany because on this feast all three Persons of the Trinity manifested themselves simultaneously to humanity: God the Father by speaking through the clouds, God the Son being baptized in the river, and God the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove descending from heaven. Also during the baptizing people could see for the first time as a heavenly voice acclaimed Jesus was his Son. Jesus then began his ministry striking people with the light of truth.

 

The pilgrims on the place where Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist

 

 

The place of Baptism of Jesus is probably one of the nooks at the Holy Land. The Jordan River slopes down from the snowy alp of Mount Hermon, in the North of Israel, to the South, flowing into the Dead Sea. Just here, in November 1994, after the end of the war the frontier between Israel from one side and Jordan from the other one was established. The barbed wire and frontier post – just this way the place of Baptism of Jesus looks like nowadays. This place in the Jordan River is in the neutral zone between Israel and Jordan. It is not an easy thing to get there - you should get a special permission from the authorities of one of the countries first. But it doesn’t frighten the pilgrims coming here from all over the world to the banks of the Jordan River to wash themselves in its blessed waters.

 

With great attention of both Israeli and Jordanian Frontier guards the believers walk past the minefields guarded with the barbed wire to the place of Baptism. The pilgrims rush to the Jordan willing to get in touch with the incarnation of clearness and light. Though winter in Israel is rather warm, the Jordan waters burn you with icy cold. Steep banks, rushy and overgrown with high grass, sludgy bottom, depth and rapid current of the calm, by sight, river raise difficulties for people willing to baptize. People dressed in white shirts stand in line to walk along a small path to the water. Rejoice and gladness on the faces of people already coming back from water inspire all the present and spread the good message about the found grace. Those who don’t risk plunging into the cold water, pass bottles and buckets to each other asking to scoop the Jordan’s holiness.