The Word Made Flesh
All this happened at Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. John 1:28 · Berean Standard Bible
All this happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing people.
These events didn't happen in some vague, mythical setting — John tells you the exact location because this really happened.
John the Gospel writer pins this story to a real place and time.
A specific place, a specific river, a specific day. The story of Jesus isn't a fairy tale — it's rooted in the dirt and water of a real place.
The evangelist locates these events at Bethany beyond the Jordan, the site of John's baptismal ministry.
This Bethany is distinct from the village near Jerusalem (John 11:1). The trans-Jordanian location may evoke the Israelites' crossing of the Jordan under Joshua — a new entry into the promised land.
The narrator provides the geographical setting for John the Baptist's testimony.
The geographical note anchors the theological testimony in a specific, verifiable location. John the evangelist writes with the precision of a historian.
26“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands One you do not know.
27He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
28All this happened at Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
30This is He of whom I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’
Read all of John 1 — John doesn't begin with a birth story. He begins with a cosmic declaration that echoes the first line of Genesis on purpose.
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