For most of our group, today was the favorite day so far. We
began by driving to a beautiful location on the Jordan River, near Bethany
beyond the Jordan, that is much less popular, though Elijah would have been fed
by ravens nearby. On our path, we saw a Crown of Thorns plant, which is likely
the plant that was wrapped around Jesus’s head before He was crucified. This plant
alone would have been torture. The Romans were ferocious.
The Jordan River is the first place the Israelites crossed
over to get into the “Promised Land”. Ba’al was the Canaanite god of fertility,
and it was believed that the Jordan River was his sperm. God wanted the Hebrews
to know that He was stronger than Ba’al, so He stopped the Jordan River during
flood season and all Israel crossed the River.
God didn’t perform this miracle until the priests went into
the Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant. It must have taken a lot of faith for
priests – who couldn’t swim – to carry a 3000 pound box into a rapidly flowing
river. God will bless our efforts if they are for His glory and we trust in His
strength.
RVL recounted the story of how John the Baptist, like many
before him, was encouraging the practice of “mikveh”, which is a ritual
cleansing in “living water” (naturally flowing water like a river) to signify
repentance. The four touch points of mikveh are head (thoughts), heart
(attitude), hands (actions), and feet (path of life).
This is why immersion of the whole body was common, because
that would ensure those places were touched with water. No one touches the
person repenting, as the conversation of repentance is between that person and
God. Anyone standing nearby is a witness, not a practitioner. For a long time,
the mikveh practice was always nude, as this symbolized openness with God.
“During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word
of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into
all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins … Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin
to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is
able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.” – Luke 3:2-3, 8
In America, people think of repentance as an apology. In Jewish
culture, repentance means that you were turning your life a new direction. John
continued that practice of immersion in living water as a sign of repentance. RVL
asked anyone who wanted to make a commitment of repentance to immerse
themselves in water while he (and anyone else chosen) would be a willing
witness. Almost every group member went into the water and repented. It was
quite a moving experience.
The mikveh experience prepared us to go into the Hellenistic
world for the day. To be fair, all of us on this trip live in a Hellenistic
world every day in the US, but we had been living in a Jewish world for the
past week. Hellenism is a worldview first made popular by the Greeks which
promotes the human above all else. The gods were seen as reflections of humans,
rather than the other way around.
We went to the “Decapolis” (10 pagan cities in Israel) to
learn more about the Hellenistic worldview. We visited a city called Beit
She’an (Roman: Scythopolis) to hit this point home. We had been spending so
much time in the remains of seemingly impoverished Hebrew cities for the past
week that when we saw Scythopolis in all its Roman glory, people were awed.
RVL took this opportunity to chastise us all – including himself
– for being so awestruck with human wealth and comfort. We were unimpressed
with people like the Essenes who really sought God in their lives and we were
captivated by Scythopolitans who want money, power, fame, and pleasure … people
who are following the American dream. It makes me wonder whether the American
church is more influenced by Jesus or Aristotle.
Our last stop was the Roman city Hippos (“horse”), which the
Jews nicknamed Sussita (“little pony”). This was the likely city that Jesus
visited to heal the man who was demon-possessed. Jesus took His disciples – who
probably did not get out of the boat – all the way to the land of the Gerushim
(Decapolis) to expel the demons from this one man. Jesus valued this man even
though neither Greeks nor Jews did.
“When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man
from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he
had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out
and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, ‘What have you to do with
me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.’ For he had
commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had
seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he
would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.)
Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said,
‘Legion,’ for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command
them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on
the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them
permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the
herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.” – Luke 8:27-33
RVL brought up two additional post scripts to this story.
First, when Jesus next visited this area, He met a number of His followers. This
must have meant that the demon-possessed man witnessed to a number of folks in
this city and they believed. Amazing how this man turned out to be quite an
evangelist. Second, the Nicene Creed was written by St. Augustine, the Bishop
of Hippos, in 325 AD. This means that Hippos became a prominent place of faith
in the years to come. You never know what your witness will mean today,
regardless of where you have been.
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