Pursuing Jesus in Israel

We head out early to the Temple Mount, which is venerated as a holy site for Judaism, Islam and Christianity. As we entered the Temple Mount we passed the Western Wall where the Jews come to offer their prayers.  There was a multitude of sounds, including one group of men dancing and singing in a circle. Amazing. We came to a large flat area that was the site David originally purchased as a threshing floor. As a man of war, David was not permitted to build the temple. Solomon builds the first great temple. That temple was destroyed when other cultures overcame Israel. There were subsequent temples built, none of which were as grand as Solomon's temple.  Herod the Great, who is known as a great builder, then builds a recreation of Solomon's temple.  That process took over 60 years, and ultimately, that temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. when Rome destroyed Jerusalem. Jim talked to us about how the temple worship worked, talking about the different courts where people (Gentile...

 We're coming down the homestretch for our trip (the last two full days).  We are headed to Bethphage, which is the area where the colt upon which no one had ever sat was obtained by two of Jesus' disciples (Luke 19:28-35).  We pass the Mount of Olives and the Kidron Valley and have views of the old Jerusalem wall. From an overlook we observe the road (path) that Jesus would have taken on his way into Jerusalem. Jim enters into a discussion of what it means to have an active faith.  He used Jesus observing the fig tree that wasn't bearing fruit as a comparison to the religious leaders and Jesus saying if you have faith, you can move this mountain, to illustrate what Jesus wanted His hearers to understand.  It is not that we will move physical mountains, but rather, if we act according to God's will, we will bear fruit for the kingdom of God. We then looked out over the Rift Valley, which is the largest fault line in the world. Jim noted we were looking out over ...

It's a beautiful Saturday morning (Day 7 of 9). We're on our way back to Jerusalem, and we'll be making stops at some Roman Ruins (Bet She'an National Park) and Lazarus' Tomb. The Bet She'an ruins is a representation of a Decapolis city. This is one of the places where the Jews fled when Rome destroyed Jerusalem. Rome demanded their allegiance, but ultimately, it didn't matter, and Rome eliminated the Jews who fled here as well. Jim then moved to talk about what was happening when the early church began to bring in Gentiles to become followers of Christ, particularly, those things necessary for converts to observe regarding Jewish practices and sexual morality. Jim pointed out that this world, however, had no boundaries when it came to sexual morality, making it very difficult to faithfully live out your faith in this environment. Marking yourself as a believer in this environment almost certainly would eventually lead to persecution and death. He had us thi...

Strong winds blew all night over the mountain and on to the Sea of Galilee. Very dramatic! We are off to the areas where Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum are located. Bethsaida was the hometown of the disciples, Philip, Peter and Andrew. Capernaum has been referred to as "His own town," as He took up residence there after leaving Nazareth. This area is referred to by Jesus in Luke 10:13-16 -"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will go down to Hades. Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” Jesus speaks these words because even though He will heal more people in this region than any other, many will still r...