This
verse seems to me to be nothing more than a point of reference—just information. The statement seems more than a bit
anticlimactic, since we already know that John iss baptizing people, although
this is the first time we have a reference to the Jordan River as the place
where he is engaged in doing most of his ministry.
Depending
on your source, “Bethabara” either means “house of the ford” or “house of
confidence.” I tend to lean towards the
first, although the second seems so much more attractive an option. It makes sense that John would be performing
baptisms at a “shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be
crossed by wading” (yeah, I went to Wikipedia!). It was an easily accessible place in the
river where people could access from both sides, but with access to plenty of
water. That’s it. It was a convenient but otherwise
unremarkable place in an equally unremarkable river.
But (and you can hear it coming) God does not need remarkable places (or people, for that matter) to usher in remarkable events. He just needs access to make an otherwise mundane place a holy place—set aside for the extraordinary! I may be quite ordinary in many ways—a simple “ford” in the backwaters of life. But God uses that watery ford to cure leprosy (2 Kings 5); usher in a victory (Joshua 4); or even anoint the Promised One (John 1:29). I guess that would make it a “house of confidence” after all!
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