In which river was Jesus baptized by John the Baptist?

Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. The event is reported in all four canonical Gospels and marks the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in the Gospel narratives.

John is described as preaching repentance and baptizing people in the Jordan. In the accounts of Jesus’ baptism, the heavens open, the Spirit descends like a dove, and a voice identifies Jesus as God’s beloved Son. These details became important in Christian understandings of Jesus’ identity.

The Jordan flows from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea and has long held religious significance in Judaism and Christianity. The Gospel accounts do not all give the same geographic detail about the precise spot. Modern pilgrimage sites on both sides of the river commemorate the baptism, but the river itself is the consistent answer in the New Testament tradition.