Catholic San Francisco
Jan 8 2010
Christian archaeologist in Jordan invites believers to site of Jesus’ baptism
January 6th, 2010
By Rick DelVecchio
BETHANY BEYOND THE JORDAN, Jordan ` The dignitaries drove through the
underbrush in a caravan of 13 golf carts. In the third vehicle was
Pope Benedict XVI. He was taking the path of countless pilgrims before
him in coming in physical contact with St. John’s wilderness and the
site near the Jordan River where Jesus is said to have been baptized.
Welcoming the Holy Father was Rustom Mkhjian, a Catholic Jordanian of
Armenian descent who serves as the site’s assistant director and is
supervisor of archaeological works for the Jordanian royal commission
that oversees it.
Mkhjian, greeting Christian journalists on a Jordan Tourism
Board-sponsored press tour in September, recounted his bold invitation
to the pope last May 10. He said how he believes that John’s
wilderness ` the legendary meeting place of the Old and New
Testaments, the crossroads of the prophets from Joshua to Jesus, the
site of monastic grottoes said to include the envangelist’s cave ` is
the wellspring of the faith and deserves to be the pre-eminent
pilgrimage site in Christianity.
`One of the things I said to the pope was, `Christianity started
here,’ Mkhjian said. `Peter, according to the Bible, was one of the
four apostles who accompanied Jesus when he was baptized, so
Christianity spread all over.’
The pope `thanked us honestly,’ the curator of the wilderness said,
recalling how he chatted with the Holy Father about some of the early
and medieval pilgrims who documented that believers converged on the
site over at least eight centuries. These pilgrims wanted to touch the
spot where they were convinced that John had his ministry in the reeds
east of the Jordan, opposite a ford where travelers crossed from
Jericho. There, near a spring that flowed below the high ground called
Elijah’s Hill, tradition holds that Jesus was baptized.
The documentary evidence for the location, Mkhjian said, is in line
with the John’s Gospel’s reference to `Bethabara beyond Jordan, where
John was baptizing.’ According to the evangelist, Jesus reached the
site after two days’ journey from Nazareth, was baptized with other
penitents and saw the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descending like
a dove as he came out of the water. He heard a voice say, `You are my
beloved son with whom I am well pleased.’ And John said, `Behold, the
lamb of God.’
`(The pope) enjoyed and experienced the thing we would like every
visitor to experience ` the grace of the site and its meaning,’
Mkhjian said.
Mkhjian could not be more passionate about his desire that pilgrims of
all faiths should touch the baptism site as the pope did. He is part
of an effort by the Jordanian government to welcome one million
visitors to the site by 2018. Mkhjian is encouraged that the site drew
150,000 pilgrims in 2008, an increase of 53 percent over the previous
year, not including the Epiphany celebrations marked at the river
every year since 2000.
Jordan’s main airport in Amman is being expanded, there is a new
direct flight from Mexico, and there are plans to build three-star
hotels on the northeastern shores of the Dead Sea. At the same time,
an 87-acre area is dedicated for a building a pilgrims’ village just
outside the baptism site, which has strict bylaws not to harm the
environment.
`We believe it will once again become a pilgrimage station like it was
throughout history, eventually receiving millions of pilgrims
annually,’ said Mahfouz Kishek, marketing manager for the Jordan
Tourism Board.
The baptism site would be the centerpiece of a pilgrimage trail that
would include Mekawar Castle, where John was martyred; Madaba, where
the Church of St. George preserves the famous 6th century Byzantine
map of Holy Land pilgrimage routes; and Mt. Nebo, where God revealed
himself to Moses and Moses looked out over the Promised Land. Sites in
the north where Jesus preached and performed miracles also may be
included.
`Our biggest propaganda and promotion is the Old and New Testament,’
Aktel Biltaji, an advisor to King Abdullah II and a former Jordanian
tourism minister, told journalists in Amman. `If there is a biblical
road map, it’s in Jordan.’
Religious tourism, like most issues in the region, has its political
side. Jordan competes for Holy Land sacred space with the Israelis and
the Palestinians. Physically separated from East Jerusalem and its
holy sites since 1967, the kingdom since its 1994 peace agreement with
Israel has been highlighting the religious heritage east of the river.
The baptism site, which competes with Israel’s Qasr el Yahud for the
claim, is emerging as Jordan’s greatest international pilgrimage draw.
Jordan is promoting the biblical, historical and archaeological
evidence for the authenticity of its baptism site, which is backed by
testimonials from Christian leaders ranging from U.S. evangelical
Pastor Rick Warren to the Archbishop of Canterbury to the patriarch of
Moscow and all Russia.
Retracing ancient pilgrimage routes for modern-day believers is an
important part of the effort by the Jordanians, who count Elijah as a
native son and are proud of the role their land plays in the Bible.
But it is not the only goal. Jordanians also value their sacred
places, and the baptism site in particular, as symbols of the
peaceable common ground between East and West that is too often
forgotten amid religious and political conflict.
Mkhjian also made sure the pope knew that side of the story. He noted
that of the many churches established on the baptism site, two
basilicas were built during the Muslim era. His point: That
Christians, although a minority, were free to worship in their own way
then as they are in Jordan now. The spirit of acceptance is being
renewed as the spires and domes of 10 churches of Christian
denominations rise at the baptism site.
`Please spread the word,’ Mkhjian asked the visiting journalists.
`This is what I personally ask you, because we believe the site has a
lot do in building the bridges of love and peace between religions and
cultures. We’ve got to raise our voices against the extremists who
destroy everything. Let’s not encourage them, let’s talk about
co-existence, let’s talk about tolerance.’ Mkhjian offered a tour of
the site that brought the Bible to life and added an archaeological
detective story.
In the biblical chronology, the Jordan at this spot parted for Moses’
deputy Joshua as he crossed from the east to conquer Canaan, and again
for Elijah and Elisha as they fled back to the east side to escape
Ahab. Elijah was taken up to heaven on a chariot in a fiery whirlwind,
and tradition marks the spot as Elijah’s Hill. Later the Babylonian
armies crossed the river to besiege Jerusalem. Many centuries passed,
and John appeared to call the people to repent in preparation for the
arrival of the redeemer.
For Mkhjian, the Gospel, pilgrims’ records and now archaeological
evidence converge on a spot 398 meters below sea level where five
churches were built one after another over eight centuries. It is the
lowest worship site on Earth, Mkhjian remarks ` `and the closest to
heaven.’ The remains of the churches have been revealed since the
Jordanians began excavating the site in 1999 after clearing minefields
from the 1967 war.
The digging has shown that architects built churches again and again
despite devastating earthquakes and floods. What drove them? Mhkjian
speculates that it had to be their desire to have a permanent church
that would enclose a baptistery like the one where Jesus was anointed.
`We have remains of five churches uniquely designed as baptisteries in
a place where we had no community to serve,’ Mkhjian said. `Why did
they try so hard to build one church after another?’
The exact site of John’s ministry is difficult to determine because
the course of the Jordan has changed so much over time and the water
level has dried to a virtual trickle. But Mkhjian is convinced that
where the churches were built is the likeliest spot. He pinpoints a
dry pit revealing ancient foundations that were designed so that
flowing water formed the shape of a cross.
`The bottom line,’ said Mkhjian, overlooking the cruciform baptistery,
`is that is where Jesus was baptized. All the churches are converging
to this point. That is what I believe personally.’
As he ended his tour Mkhjian against implored believers to visit the
site where the presence of Jesus is tangible.
`We’d like to receive them to make them feel the grace of the site, to
see the site the way John and Jesus saw it, because that is the only
way to come in physical contact with what you have in the Bible, in
the Gospels,’ he said. `We welcome all Christians and non-Christians
to visit this heritage that belongs to humanity, that was discovered
as a result of peace, and we believe this site will build bridges of
peace between different cultures throughout the world.’
>From January 8, 2010 issue of Catholic San Francisco.
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