Saint Ambrose says in his commentary on the Gospel of Luke: “The Lord himself was baptized. He was not baptized to be cleansed, but to cleanse the waters: when Christ, who knew no sin, went down into them, they received the power to purify. So whoever is buried in the font of Christ leaves his sins behind there.”
There are many rivers, so the question arises: why was the Lord Christ baptized in the Jordan in particular?
It was by crossing the Jordan that Joshua and the people reached the Promised Land… likewise, through baptism we reach heaven.
It was by the Jordan that the prophet Elijah went up to heaven in a chariot of fire… and it is through the water of baptism and the fire of the Holy Spirit that we reach heaven.
In the Jordan the flesh of Naaman the Syrian was restored… and in baptism we receive a new nature.
The Jordan is one of the humble rivers of the Levant, which Naaman the Syrian looked down on… a sign that God dwells among the humble.
The Jordan is fed by several springs that join into a single river: traditionally this is seen as a sign that baptism has made Jews and Gentiles one people.
Many pilgrims and visitors, more every year, come to this place from all over the world to receive the blessing of the holy waters of the Jordan.
