Not the Water

            Today we visited a place in the northern part of Israel called Tel Dan, which is near one of the sources of the Jordan River.  One thing that we have noticed about the Jordan River, after seeing it both near its source and where it flows into the Sea of Galilee, is that it is not as impressive as we had made it out to be.  For some reason it always seems like it should be this big, impressive river, like the Mississippi, but really it isn’t.  It’s not much more than a big stream and the parts of it that we have seen were too small to even handle much of a boat.  So why then is this river so important?  It doesn’t impress the eyes, but it certainly is known and recognized all across the world.  By way of disclaimer, I feel that I should mention that yes; I did fill a bottle of water from the Jordan River.

            Perhaps what is so important about it is neither its physical appearance nor the ability to use a boat on it.  Rather, it is meaningful because it is the river in which Jesus himself was baptized.  These are the waters which the savior of the world entered, so as to make holy the waters of baptism for all of us.  Just as the water in a baptismal font generally is, physically speaking, unimpressive, it is not the physical here that is of account.  The waters are sacramental because Jesus has made them so; they are an outward sign of an inner transformation.  As Christians we aren’t called to be outwardly impressive, rather we are called to radiate the stunning and beautiful light which dwells in our hearts, we are called to radiate Christ.