John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
JOHN 1:26-28 NKJV
John 1:26, 27 Undoing the sandal strap was the job of a slave. The Jewish Talmud says, “Everything that a servant will do for his master a scholar shall perform for his teacher, except the menial task of loosing his sandal thong.” Thus John was saying that “Jesus Christ is the living Lord and I am the voice, His servant and slave. Actually, I’m not even worthy to be His slave.”
John 1:28 The location of Bethabara is unknown. Some think that Bethany is meant, but not the same Bethany as the familiar one near Jerusalem. Beyond the Jordan means east of the Jordan River. Evidently, this was John’s normal place for baptizing.
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