An excerpt from Adam Hamilton’s new book, The Way:

One day, as John was baptizing in the Jordan, he looked up to see a familiar face. He smiled as Jesus approached, and the two men embraced. These men had known one another their entire lives. They had played together as boys and dreamed together as young men. John was six months older, but he always knew it was his younger cousin who would play the greater role in God’s plans. The two had shared long walks and conversations both in Jerusalem and in the monastery by the Salt Sea. They had stayed up long into the night discussing the Scriptures and the kingdom of God. John’s preaching and baptism at the Jordan would officially set in motion a chain of events that would lead to John’s own death in a matter of months, and to Jesus’ crucifixion just three years later.

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