John, the son of Zachariah and Elizabeth, was born in a village west of Jerusalem. The Lord gave him a special responsibility as the one preparing the way for Jesus the Messiah. The Gospels record some of his early work. John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
(Mark 1:4-5 ESV)
John began to preach a baptism of repentance and many from Jerusalem and Judah came to him to be baptized.
Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John (Matthew 3:13-17). His baptism was an exception to all the others John baptized. Jesus had no sin, but this was the occasion of the Father’s acknowledging him as his son.
A specific location is mentioned as “Bethany across the Jordan” (John 1:28). This location very near the traditional site that many have visited at Qasr el-Yahud near Jericho. Jordanian scholars claim that the baptism of Jesus took place on the eastern side of the Jordan River, a place they call Bethany beyond the Jordan. The photo below shows my long-time traveling friend, Leon Mauldin, very near this site.
When I was leading tours I often said to my group about some proposed site of a Biblical event, “If it was not here (pointing directly in front of me), it was here (spreading my arms wide). In Israel one is never far from a significant Biblical event.
Ferrell's Travel Blog 
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