Pursuing Jesus in Israel - The Baptism, Temptation, Scrolls & the Dead Sea

We woke up at 5:45 am, because we are visiting sights south of Jerusalem before heading north up to the Sea of Galilee and Capernaum for four days. Evidence suggests 11 of Jesus' disciples were Galilean (Peter & Andrew, James & John, Matthew, Nathaniel, Thadeus, James the Lesser, Philip, Simon the Zealot and Thomas).  Only Judas Iscariot was not a Galilean. Jesus conducted more of his ministry in this area than any other.

Our first stop was the Jordan River where John the Baptist baptized Jesus.  There is solid archeological evidence that confirms the biblical narrative to say this was the place.  We talked about how John had gained great influence with the people, and confounded the religious leaders, so much so that they were coming out to hear him, even though he called them to account.  So this baptism  was chiefly an identifying sign to show that the Father approved of His beloved only son, who is the Messiah.

Next, we traveled to the wilderness and talked about the fact that immediately following the baptism Jesus went into the wilderness where Satan attempted to challenge Jesus' Sonship by tempting Him to sin, but unlike Adam, Jesus uses the Word of God and is victorious.  We then spent about 45 minutes journaling and reflecting on how we might resist temptation and more fully trust God.  

Then we drove to the Caves of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in approximately 1946, confirming the accuracy of our present day translation of the Old Testament.  We had lunch and then traveled to the Dead Sea where several persons (Maria included) in our group took a swim, floating delightfully on this very salty sea, which is 1300 feet below sea level, the lowest point in the world.  

As I write this, we are making our two-hour trip to the Galilean region where we will stay the next few days, and dig deeper to understand the purpose of Jesus' ministry in this region.  

Father, give us a desire to know You better and fully trust You for salvation and to faithfully serve You. Amen.

PS - Just arrived.  The last picture show the Lake of Galilee from our back patio. 🙂

Maria dipping her toes in the Jordan with Marti

Baptizing at the Jordan 

Cynthia in the Wilderness 

The Wilderness 

Caves of Qumran - Dead Sea Scrolls 

At the Caves of Qumran

Caves of Qumran


Maria on the way to the Dead Sea



Maria is the orange dot in the middle!



The Sea of Galilee 












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pursuing Jesus in Israel - Departure

Image
We arrived in Tel Aviv at 2 am eastern time in the US and 9 am in Israel.  We've already made friends with 9 of the folks who will be on the tour with us.  There will probably be a total of 25-30.  We walked around old Jerusalem, and had a tasty lunch at Christ's Church Cafe.  The sights and sounds stimulate the senses and your spirit.  After a time to rest and unwind we ate dinner together as a group at the Jerusalem Grand Hotel, which was amazing, and we had our first group meeting to talk about the events to come. Michael focused in on the question, "Why don't we know Jesus better?". He suggested one of the main reasons is we struggle with making Him fully Lord of all of our lives.  I identified with that, as I know I struggle at times with giving all of myself to Him.  I am thankful He never gives up on me, and He promises to be the pioneer and perfecter of my salvation.  (Hebrews 12:1-2)  Father, thank You for giving us this great opport...
Read more

Pursuing Jesus in Pittsburgh - It's A New Day

Image
So we arrived in Pittsburgh last night at 10:15 pm and got home to the pile of mail and our cozy home on a chilly January night at 11:15.  Waking up this morning, each of us is continuing to ponder what God wants us to take away from what turned out to be a momentous trip.   I (Mark) will record what God is leading me to share. When you come to the land where Jesus was born, lived, died, and then was ultimately resurrected, it has a way of bringing the Bible into an intense focus. While life back home proceeds, and of course, you care deeply for family and friends who aren't with you, your being is very present to everything washing over you during the trip.  So when I read back through the daily entries, I think most about how God spoke to my heart, letting me know how much He loves me, and that I need to faithfully follow Him regardless of my circumstances.  I need to worship Him in spirit and truth ( Woman at the well - John 4:1-30) and not within a system fi...
Read more

Pursuing Jesus in Israel - Roman Ruins & Lazarus'Tomb

Image
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...
Read more