The Jordan River is 156 miles long, basically running north to south from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. Jordan and the Golan Heights are to the east, the West Bank and Israel to the west.
Maybe you'll remember the pre-Civil War American Southern Gospel Song, All My Trials. It was popularized in the protest years of the 1960's by singer Joan Baez.
River of Jordan is muddy and cold
well, it chills the body but not the soul
all my trials, Lord, soon be over.
All through history and right up to today, the Jordan River is a river of demarcation: your side and our side. The Jordan River, while basically running north to sound, is also a meandering river. Like human history itself, it meanders from war to war. And in many places along the way, the Jordan is indeed "muddy and cold."
It's into that river that Jesus stepped down to accept baptism. But what does it mean? God is no shirker, but taking us seriously, in Christ, God immerses himself in the twists and turns of human existence; God immerses himself in the muddiness of our lives.
That descriptive word, muddy, pretty much sums it up. Some people are knee deep in the muddiness of life. Maybe, even up to their necks in the muddiness. We might think of people in financial or legal difficulties. But someone might also be stuck in that muddiness which is ignorance, hatred, resentment, prejudice, dishonesty, delusion and fantasy, addiction, cowardice, bitterness, fear...
Every depiction of Jesus in the Jordan shows him essentially naked. Nakedness is a symbol of being vulnerable, laid bare, exposed - at least to oneself. This few days after the Feast of Jesus' Baptism might offer us an opportunity for a frank conversation with the shivering Jesus. Imagine standing with him, our feet in the mud. No defensiveness. No rationalization. No excuses. I can reveal to him where I am stuck. Or I can ask him to help me get free. I can thank him for taking me so seriously that he would take off the glory-robes to be with us in the silty waters.
