And they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. The baptism in the Jordan carries multiple layers of meaning. The Jordan is the boundary river Israel crossed into the promised land under Joshua — being baptized in the Jordan is a symbolic re-crossing of the threshold, a ritual reenactment of the entry into covenant. The confession of sins that accompanies the baptism communicates that the barrier to full covenant life is internal, not military or political. The baptism is not merely ceremonial washing but a whole-person immersion that represents the kind of thoroughgoing reorientation John preaches. 2 Chronicles 7:14 promises that if my people humble themselves and confess their sins, I will forgive — John's baptism enacts that humbling in the body of the Jordan.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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