Jericho

Jonathan's connection to Jesus goes back a full three years to Jericho and the Jordan when he was thirteen. Jonathan was a shepherd who had grown up out-of-doors, familiar with each hill and vale on the Jericho plain, for he had grazed his father's sheep there since he had been a lad. Of all the shepherd boys, Jonathan had always been curious about God. He was always pestering the town rabbi with questions.

That same hunger to learn explained Jonathan's presence one sultry day when John the Baptist had been preaching and baptizing at the nearby River Jordan. Whenever he could slip away and leave the sheep with his brothers, Jonathan would run down to the Jordan in long, loping strides, until he reached the crowds at the riverside.