Return to Israel
Bev Hudson writes:
Travelling again to the Holy Land after a ten year gap found Marjory and I arriving very late at night in our Kibbutz run hotel on the southern shore of Sea of Galilee. This superb facility boasted a large swimming pool, most welcome in the 38C degree temperature.
By the seaside
On day 2 we sailed the Galilee on the ‘Jesus Boat’, our second such experience and, whilst floating in the middle, we enjoyed a short period of meditation which centred on “E’en when His face I do not see, the hand of Jesus reaches me”. Bible references from Matthew’s gospel concerning Jesus walking on water, and from Mark’s gospel, Jesus stilling the storm, evoked a strong sense of God’s presence. We sang the lovely words of Catherine Baird ‘When Jesus looked o’er Galilee’ which ‘earthed us’ to the moment and brought great blessing.
We visited the Mount of Beatitudes which overlooks the lake and commemorates the ‘Sermon on the Mount’. Again, selected verses of scripture were read and we felt God’s presence with us. We walked down the hill to the lakeside at Taghba where Jesus made breakfast for the disciples after his resurrection.
Church of the Beatitudes
On to Capernaum to visit the seaside village and centre of Christ’s Galilean ministry and then to a fishing village by the Jordan river and to Bethsaida, the home of Philip, Andrew and Peter, now set in a beautiful nature reserve.
Capernaum
We closed the day with a stroll by the banks of the Jordan where it flows south from the Sea of Galilee. Several people were being baptised but none from our group availed themselves of this opportunity! After dinner, and before ‘turning in’, the group met by the shore of Galilee and enjoyed a period of worship and reflection. Several of the group felt able to articulate their feelings about visiting previous locations and how they had experienced the presence of God’s Spirit. I outlined the words of a song, the words of which had been given to me by a close friend, ‘I walked today where Jesus walked, in days of long ago’. These words are quite powerful and meaningful, especially when you are there, walking, where He walked!
Baptism in Jordan
On day 3 we visited Beth Shean, a city of Old and New Testament importance, to see the impressive excavations reflecting something of the splendour of Imperial Rome. Ascending Mount Tabor, the traditional location of the Transfiguration of Christ, we appreciated some fine views from the roof of the Franciscan church.
On to Nazareth, where Jesus spent his childhood, to visit the Church of the Annunciation built over the original village of Jesus’ day. It is the custom when visiting such places that men’s legs and women’s shoulders are covered! The term adopted for this is ‘Holy Clothes’! As three men of the group were unprepared (wearing shorts) they were escorted to an office by the side of the Church entrance and given ‘black sheets’ to cover their legs! You can imagine the laughter (holy) at seeing the three men arrive at the entrance of the church clad in black skirts to cover their legs! Being one of the men concerned I, along with the other two, basked in the glory of this event and attention! (only joking – one has to, when wearing a skirt!)
Don’t look now!
Cana was our next stop as we returned to Galilee and stopped in the village to visit one of the churches commemorating Jesus attending the wedding.
En route to Jerusalem (day 4) we went through the Rift Valley to Jericho – the lowest town on earth, some 1600 feet below sea level! Jesus often passed through this oasis town. Our journey took us through the Judean Wilderness in Wadi Kelt, on the old Jerusalem-to-Jericho road. Then on to Mount Scopus to stop at the ‘rose garden’ for our first view of the Holy City and a tour of the walls and gates.
The town of Bethlehem is a busy place and, of course, the location of Jesus’ birth. We visited Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity, built over original cave dwellings from biblical days before spending our first night at the Ritz Hotel in Jerusalem.
Day 5 found us walking to the village of Bethphage, the city limits in Jesus’ day and from where the ‘Palm Sunday’ journey began. We then met on the summit of the Mount of Olives and had a stunning view of Jerusalem as Jesus would have viewed it, spending time learning something of its great history. As we walked down the Mount to Dominus Flevit, tear shaped chapel, we remembered Jesus weeping over Jerusalem.
The walk continued to Gethsemane and the tranquil gardens where we saw again the very old olive trees, some said to be 2000 + years old and it is quite a sobering thought that some of them may have been there when Jesus was there! We gathered in the Church of All Nations for a reading and a time of reflection. The group took every opportunity to sing, and as the sound of our singing echoed round the many beautiful churches with excellent acoustics, one visitor was heard to say ‘better than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’! (A bit of an exaggeration we thought!)
We walked along the Cedron Valley to the Pool of Siloam and then journeyed by coach to Mount Zion to visit the church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, where we saw the underground prisons where Christ may have been held. This Church is known as the ‘cock crowing church’. It has a golden weather-vane in the shape of a cock crowing!
We visited the ‘Upper Room’, the traditional location of the ‘Last Supper’ and then moved on to the Garden Tomb to see a 1st century rolling-stone tomb and ‘Gordon’s Calvary’ nearby. The group enjoyed some time of worship here and sang a number of songs, praying together whilst many visitors stood and listened. It was a very moving experience.
Dome of the Rock
Day 6 took us to the ruined City of Masada which is on the top of a mountain, accessible by cable car (or a very long and exhausting climb). The view from the top over the Dead Sea region was amazing. This area is at the lowest point on the earth’s surface and at Masada the Jewish zealots withstood the Roman army after the fall of Jerusalem.
We spent some time relaxing by the shores of the Dead Sea, with some group members experiencing ‘floating’ in the unique medicinal waters and visited
The Caves of Qumran where the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were found by a shepherd boy in 1947. Finally we journeyed back through the Judean Wilderness to stop at the location of the Inn to see the fine museum depicting the gospel story of ‘the Good Samaritan’.
Our final day in The Holy Land was spent visiting The Old City of Jerusalem. This was mainly a walking day as we trod part of the Via Dolorosa and imagined how a man could walk these streets carrying a large cross on which he would be so cruelly nailed, tortured and put to death. We visited other sites including The Western Wall to witness Jewish religious culture and prayers. Some of us moved forward to the Wall and also prayed.
The Wailing (Western) Wall
The location, near the Bethesda Pools, where the man, crippled for 38 years, was healed was our next place to visit followed by St. Anne’s Crusader Church with its unique acoustics. We took advantage of this by singing several worship songs together, a truly memorable experience. We shared together a reading from God’s word and felt greatly blessed. This was our final day in Israel before leaving for the second stage of our trip, to Oberammergau.
Marjory & Bev Hudson