Recently, our Israel director and his wife were at the baptismal site on the Jordan River, where some filming for an episode for their daily program was done. Our staff member noticed a large group of Hebrew-speaking Israelis going down to the river. Immediately, he went to them, and they, for unknown reasons, started to ask questions about the place. Of course, the first thing he did was tell them about the events of Jesus’ baptism. They continued to ask questions, and our staff member explained that the event that happened there two thousand years ago was completely Jewish and in accordance with the Hebrew Bible, and he later read from the New Testament.
They were surprised to learn that what they considered exclusively a Christian sacrament was and is a fully Jewish ritual. Even more shocking to them was the revelation that Jesus remained a faithful Jew, coming to save His own people. If that was not enough, they read a few prophecies (by Jewish prophets!) together that clearly made the case for Jesus being the promised Messiah of Israel. They spent longer than half an hour together, exchanged contact info, and agreed to continue this conversation.
