and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan: This culminates the description of John as baptizer. The people were being baptized in the River Jordan in the sense of their being “immersed” or “dipped into” it. The Jordan runs 124 miles in the great rift valley from the slopes of Mount Hermon into the Sea of Galilee and southward, through the wilderness of Judea, to the Dead Sea (the lowest spot on earth, 2750 feet below sea level). In addition to being the traditional site of John’s baptizing