In the Benjamin Wilderness: the Beginning of Jesus’ Ministry

The bus swung around one last curve of the thin road and pulled up to a clearing with a stone arch on the side. Dark-skinned Bedouin merchants crowded around as its doors swung open, and we stepped out into the sunny Benjamin wilderness. We passed through offers to buy trinkets and headdresses made in broken English with soft voices. When we were driving down the steep descent from Jerusalem to the wilderness, our guide pointed out several of the Bedouin camps. At first glance, they looked like nothing more than shanty towns. A handful of low structures were scattered by the highway. Some were covered with corrugated metal, others with tarps. A dusty car or two were parked outside and a few houses had camels, sheep, or goats penned up nearby.

Our first location for the day was directly up a hill from where our bus stopped. As we reached the top, we saw before us a deep gorge called Wadi Qilt. “Wadi” is the Arabic name for a steep valley. In Israel, they are usually V-shaped ravines that are dry most of the year but fill up with water when it rains on the mountains above. On the opposite side of the flowing stream, St. George’s monastery clung to the side of the wadi, its brown walls blending into the cliff face. We weren’t here to see the monastery, however, we were here to consider the wilderness in East Benjamin. It stretched for miles to the north and south. Looking up to the west we could make out the top part of the mount of olives above Jerusalem through the haze. To the east lay the Jordan rift valley, Jericho, and the northern end of the Dead Sea. Everywhere we looked, brown hills were stretching out, rolling over each other like silent swells in the ocean. Even on a day like this, in the middle of the wet season, only a few patches of grass hid in shadows on the northern slopes. What could be the purpose of such a barren land?

St. George's monastery in Wadi Qilt. The hills of the Benjamin wilderness stretch away towards 
Jerusalem which is barely visible on the top of the furthest hills.

Militarily, the wilderness provides a strategic eastern buffer to the hill country where Jerusalem lies nestled in the hills. Because of the dryness and shape of the topography, only a few viable routes run east and west. It is nearly impossible to travel north or south through this wilderness because of the steep wadis running east into the Jordan Rift valley. Historically, very few people have attacked Jerusalem from the east. Most successful attacks came through the central Benjamin plateau, an open plain to the north of the city containing cities like Mizpah, Ramah, and Gibeah.

But there is also a spiritual background overshadowing the wilderness. God often uses it to test His people. As we scanned the scenery, our guide compared Israel’s 40 years of wandering in the wilderness south of the promised land to Jesus’ 40 days of fasting. Although we don’t know the precise location of Jesus’ wilderness experience, it was most likely around where we were standing. This wilderness is east of the Jordan where Jesus was baptized. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record that Jesus was led into the wilderness after being baptized, so it must have been somewhere close to the point of his baptism, which some people think was slightly north of the Dead Sea.

There are two popular sites for Jesus’ baptism. One northern, by Galilee and Nazareth, and the other just above the Dead Sea. John’s gospel says the site of Jesus’ baptism was at a place across from Bethany. This is not the same Bethany where Lazarus was from, east of Jerusalem, but one thought to be on the Eastern shore of the Jordan river in one of the suggested locations.

Jesus faced painful temptations after his baptism, much like the ones which the Israelites underwent when they were in the wilderness. The devil tempted him to command stones to become bread; Israel was tempted to complain about their lack of food. Satan told Jesus to put God to the test; the Israelites tested God by quarreling with Moses at Massah (Exodus 17). Finally, Satan offered Jesus his authority if He would bow down to worship him. The Hebrews eventually gave in to idolatry, worshiping false images. Ultimately, Jesus succeeded where Israel failed. While they gave in to temptations to complain and find their strength outside of the Lord, Jesus quoted the laws Moses gave to Israel and resisted the devil. He emerged victorious through every wilderness test. 

Kassar al Jehud at the Jordan River

Our next stop was further east to the proposed southern site of Jesus’ baptism, a place called Kassar al Jehud. It was crowded when we arrived and much warmer than the hills above. On the way down into the valley, we started seeing more greenery. Rows on rows of squat palm trees lined the fields on the side of the road. We were slightly outside Jericho, the ancient city of palms.

The Jordan river looked brown and tiny. We climbed down from the visitor’s plaza to a deck made next to the water’s edge. People were taking photos, touching the water, or being baptized in white robes. The smells and colors reminded me of the deck of a swimming pool, but this one was full of tourists.

Although there is debate as to if this site is the location of Jesus’ baptism, many other key biblical events took place here, adding weight to a claim that God would use this area to confirm His Son.

After coming out of their wilderness wanderings, the Israelites, led by Joshua, miraculously crossed the Jordan on dry ground (Joshua 3). It was the start of their promised land conquest. Beginning with Jericho, a few miles west of where we stood, the people would conquer the land before them one battle at a time. Elijah and Elisha also marvelously crossed the river by striking it with Elijah’s cloak to part the waters (2 Kings 2). Why would God use this place for the baptism of His Son?

The biblical history of the Old Testament builds theological points as it progresses to the New Testament. Just as the Israelites prepared to battle after crossing the Jordan, so Jesus went to fight Satan’s temptations after his baptism. Just as Elijah passed on his mantle to Elisha after crossing the river, so John’s ministry transitioned to Jesus’ message after his baptism.

As our guide explained these facets to the group, I was amazed by the simplicity of this place. It was hard to imagine such monumental events occurring right here in this meandering, muddy river. It wasn’t grand and wide like the Mississippi or a place that invited Pharaohs to come to bathe, like the Nile.  It was a thin slice of water winding through a wide valley, surrounded by barren wilderness. Nonetheless, this is where these stories took place. The river probably looked much different in the Bible times. There wouldn’t be any visitor centers or souvenir shops or bus parking lots. But it is the same land. Nothing can change that. We soon got back in the bus and drove off to our next stops, further north towards the hill country of Benjamin. There is so much to learn about this land.

 

Visitors line up to be baptized in the river where
 John baptized Jesus.