Theology of Geography: Jesus’ Baptism Site Brims With Significance

National Catholic Register, 14 January 2025

Jesus began his public ministry at the lowest place on earth so that we may ascend to the Father.

The Baptism of the Lord Jesus teaches us something about the theology of geography.

There are many places where water for baptism could be found in the land of Israel. Why was Jesus baptized by John in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea?

Biblical geography was highlighted last week as Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state, consecrated a new church at the Al-Maghtas site on the east bank of the Jordan River. “Al-Maghtas” is Arabic for “immersion,” commonly translated in the ecclesial context to “baptism.”

The project has been underway for a long time; Pope Benedict XVI laid the cornerstone on his visit in 2009. The new church, one of the largest Catholic churches in the Middle East, commemorates the place where the public ministry of Jesus began.

“This place, which is the holy place of the baptism of Jesus, which also marks the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, marks a new beginning for the life of our Church,” said Cardinal Parolin.

And that “holy place” has a special geographical significance. The baptism of Jesus took place in the Jordan River, in the valley east of Jerusalem, just north of the Dead Sea and not far from the ancient city of Jericho. Far from accidental, all of this is significant.

Noting that the nearby Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth, Cardinal Parolin said that “it is precisely here that God came to meet us, as if to gather into his embrace also those from afar.”

That embrace extends to the “lowest,” the “deadest” and “oldest.”

The Dead Sea sits some 1,400 feet below sea level. The story of the Incarnation is one of descent; God lowers himself to become one like us, to walk alongside us, to draw close to us so that we can walk alongside him back to the Father, from whom he descends.

He doesn’t do that by half-measures. When he descends, he descends to the lowest point. He begins his public ministry by going to the lowest point. No one can then say that Jesus did not go far enough to meet me; he went as far as possible. That is why the baptism took place where it did.

We usually do baptisms today by pouring water on the head, which loses some of the symbolism of full immersion. Having water poured on our head or face can be cleansing, even refreshing. And the sacrament of baptism does cleanse and refresh us.

Immersion is something different. It can be disorienting and, if held underwater long enough, it can be distressing. Eventually it will bring death.

That’s an important part of the symbolism of baptism: that we go down into the place of death, the deep waters where man cannot live, to rise again. We are baptized into the death of Christ, as St. Paul teaches us (Romans 6:3), so that we may rise again to new life.

And where on the planet are the waters the most death-bringing? The Dead Sea. Man cannot live under any waters.

Nothing can live in the Dead Sea. They are the deadest waters on the planet. Hence the baptism took place close by, the place where even the water brings death.

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