Mount Nebo and Jesus’ Baptism at the Jordan River – Friday May 30, 2008

Leaving our hotel at Wadi Mousa, Kim leads us in Compline, an inspired choice given that this is usually a service done at the end of the day. Today, however, we’re going to Mt. Nebo where Moses saw the promised land and then died at 120 years of age. So we celebrate Compline in recognition of the end of Moses “day”. Kim points us to Deuteronomy 31:1-6 & 34 where Joshua will succeed Moses as Moses prepares to die in Moab. Kim highlights Verse 6 as one for the ages: “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you and forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

We drive on the King’s highway to the Desert highway. There used to be trees, but they were all cut down during the Ottoman time after the railway was built between 1890 and 1900. The narrow gauge railway lines are still in use for freight only. At one time, passengers would go between Istanbul and Medina, Saudi Arabia.

We have a long ride to Mt. Nebo so this gives Fatih, our guide, lots of time to talk about Muslim marriage traditions and customs. There are three things in a marriage contract – a dowry, a settlement if the man divorces her and an arrangement for dividing the apartment and furniture in the event of a divorce. If a man wants a divorce, he says “I divorce you” - said three times over a period of time. A woman can ask for a divorce, but has to give a reason. A man can remarry but needs the approval of his first wife. If a woman commits adultery, the man is not obliged to pay the divorce settlement.

We stop at a spot on the Desert highway, buy a hat for granddaughter Eva and drink some amazing Turkish coffee. It’s black, inky and “chewy” with an inch of sediment left in the bottom. Yum! Peter needs to lay some of this on at his Easy Restaurant in Toronto.

Duke takes to the mike on the bus and leads us in a homily based on Genesis 19:30, which describes how the Moabites were “formed” by Lot and his daughters. Fast forwarding to the book of Ruth, Naomi and her daughter Ruth are Moabites who go to Israel because of famine. Ruth ends up marrying Boaz, and their family is the lineage to the house of David – and to Jesus – this line picked up in Matthew’s gospel. Duke’s key message is that no matter where you come from or what your circumstances are, redemption and forgiveness are always available.

Fatih, our guide, has listened to Duke’s reading about Lot and takes the mike. He diplomatically lets us know that Lot is a prophet according to the Koran a prophet can commit no sin – so the Biblical version of Lot and his daughters is problematic. Duke raises the “diplomacy” stakes by suggesting that the issue is between the two books, but not between he and Fatih.

“

We come to Mount Nebo and get to see the view Moses would have seen, looking over to Jericho and the entire Jordan Valley down to the Dead Sea. We can even see the hills of Jerusalem in the far distance. This was the Promised Land. In the heat at the top of Mt. Nebo, Duke picks up on the “Promised Land” theme: What is your promised land? What does it look like? God has a shape for that home or settled place in your life. Moses was denied entry to the Promised Land because he showed arrogance after God told him where to find water. The blessings of water come from God, the Jordan comes from water out of a rock – how are we investing our life so that the people who come after us will be blessed through us?

Looking through the rest of the site, there are 6^th century archeological mosaics from a Greek Church that were on display. Paul John Paul II visited the site in 2000.

After lunch in Madaba, we drive down about 1,200 meters to the Jordan River site of Jesus’ Baptism. All four Gospels tell the story: Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-12, Luke 3:21-27 and John 1:29-34. As we arrive there, we see the hill where Elijah was taken up to Heaven.

At the Jordan, Kim reads the Luke 3 account of Jesus’ Baptism. John the Baptist is described as confronting people – why are you here and picking up on that, Kim asks us what we need to confront in our life? – attitudes, being less cynical of others, changing attitudes with family members, people in the workplace. Realizing that our pilgrimage is ending soon, Kim challenges us to understand what God is saying to us about what has to change. As pilgrims, we should leave this place as changed people.

Here the border between Jordan and Israel is just the river and in the 40C heat we touch our fingers in a baptismal font and reach down into the Jordan. Some fill water bottles to take home.

We drive on to the five star Marriott Jordan Valley, right on the Dead Sea.