19TH JANUARY IN BETHANY: The Day Prophet Jesus Was Baptized By Prophet Yahya (John).

19th January In Bethany:
The Day Prophet Jesus Was
Baptized By Prophet Yahya
(John, the Baptist)

(M. Javed Naseem)

(Exact spot where Jesus was baptized by John in the River Jordan. The river has changed its course during time and flows a few meters away now.)

To the Christian believers, the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist is a major event in Christianity. This important event has been described in the Bible in three of the Gospels of the New Testament. The Orthodox Christian Church celebrates the feast of the Baptism of Jesus on the 19th of January (6th January as per the Julian calendar).

Bethany Beyond Jordan is the place where Prophet Jesus was baptized by Prophet Yahya (John the Baptist) in the River Jordan. In Jordan it is known by the Arabic name of "Al-Maghtas". It is near the Madaba city. Jordan River is the border between Jordan and Palestine – actually between Jordan and Israel now. The Baptism Site is the spot where Christianity is considered to be first born.

(River Jordan separating Jordan from Palestine (now Israel), at Bethany where Prophet Jesus was baptized by Prophet Yahya (John the Baptist)

Since there is no Palestine as a country, Israel controls everything officially. The administration is Israeli; the govt. is Israeli; the money/currency is Israeli; and the immigration is Israeli. Palestine does not exist for practical purposes. It exists on paper only. Ironically, before 1945, Israel didn’t exist; it was all Palestine that existed for centuries since the period of Prophets.

Prophet Yahya (John the Baptist) was the son of Prophet Zachariah (or Zakariah). Prophet Zakariah was the Guardian of Maryam (Mary), the mother of Jesus. Both Zakariah and Yahya preached in and around the Jordan Valley. Yahya (John) was well known in the region for baptizing people. He pleaded people to repent and ask God for forgiveness of their sins. Those who confessed to him, he used to give them the bath (baptism) in the Jordan River to remove their sins. After the baptism of Jesus, the Prophethood was transferred to Jesus, and Jesus himself started baptizing people.
In the Bible, the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan has been described in three of the gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke).

The site of Al-Maghtas (Arabic word meaning: baptism or immersion) on the East side of the river in Jordan has been deemed the earliest place of worship. This site was found following the UNESCO-sponsored excavations. Al-Maghtas was visited by Pope John Paul-II in March 2000, and he said: "In my mind I see Jesus coming to the waters of the River Jordan not far from here to be baptized by John the Baptist."

Prophet Yahya (John The Baptist) Was Beheaded

John the Baptist, well-known for baptizing Jesus in the river Jordan, is commonly referred to as the precursor or forerunner of Jesus. They both preached about repentance and the Kingdom of God and criticized the religious leaders of their day.  Additionally, they were both considered martyrs persecuted by officials of the Roman Empire at the instigation of the Jewish priests.

According to the gospels of Matthew and Mark, John the Baptist (Prophet Yahya) had been imprisoned because he condemned Empror Herod Antipas for divorcing his wife and unlawfully taking Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip-I. On Herod's birthday, Herodias' daughter, Salome, danced before the king and his guests and Herod was so pleased that he promised to grant her anything she desired.  Out of revenge for criticizing her marriage to Herod, Herodias told Salome to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter.  Although Herod was dismayed by the request, he reluctantly agreed to have John executed in the prison of Machaerus. His head was presented to Salome in a platter.

(Tomb of Prophet Yahya or John the Baptist in the Umayyad Mosque (Umwi Masjid al-Kabir) in Damascua, Syria.)

The tomb of Prophet Yahya (John the Baptist) is situated in the Umayyad Mosque (Umwi Mosque or Masjid Kabir) in Damascus, Syria. His body was buried in Palestine at Samaria, now called Sebastia. According to Christian tradition, (legend had it that) Saint John's head was buried there. Ibn al-Faqih relays the story that during the construction of the mosque, workers found a cave-chapel which had a box containing the head of St. John the Baptist (or Yahya ibn Zakaryah). Upon learning of that and examining it, al-Walid-I ordered the head to be buried under a specific pillar in the mosque that was later inlaid with marble.

In 2001, Pope John Paul II visited the mosque, primarily to visit the relics of John the Baptist. It was the first time a pope paid a visit to a mosque. Similar to the account of John the Baptist in the Bible, the birth of the Prophet Yahya in the Quran is miraculous, since Zakariah and his wife were unable to conceive together—before Zakariah’s desperate prayers for a child were answered.

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