A HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE

I recently returned from a trip of a lifetime to the Holy Land. It was never anything I imagined experiencing but it is another wonderful ripple effect after joining a new church almost three years ago.  I am so grateful!

I am in awe when I think how I walked in some of the very same places Jesus did more than 2000 years ago! Our tour guide and hosts all shared vast knowledge and insights about the places we saw and Jesus’ life. As I have now gone through my pictures and notes from the trip, I am slowly “processing” it and coming to a better understanding of everything we saw. It has given me a lot to reflect on, and I would like to share parts of it with you, my dear reader, in the coming weeks. I want you to be able to join in and experience what St. Jerome said:

“Five gospels record the life of Jesus. Four you will find in books and the one you will find in the land they call Holy. Read the fifth gospel and the world of the four will open to you.”  –St. Jerome (347-420 A.D.)

Jerusalem

 

With this in mind, I think it is appropriate to start with some background information. This trip was supposed to have happened in January 2021 but, due to the pandemic, was postponed until January 2022. Things were not looking favorable for travel to Israel about a week and a half before our departure date. A week before the trip, God worked things out so that a smaller group of those wishing to travel now could. The remaining group plans to travel next year. Our group was the first group to enter Israel after the two-year shutdown due to the pandemic. There were only a few times that we encountered another group at the same place.

This trip was a true blessing, from start to finish, including not having to wait in line to see the sites. Usually, the wait can be an hour or two to get in somewhere. It was nice being able to visit a place more than once since there was no waiting. We were the only group at each of the two guesthouses we stayed at so we were free to wander around. We stayed in both Galilee and Jerusalem. Galilee is in northern Israel and Jerusalem is in the southern area.

 

Our hotel in Jerusalem

 

 

I felt strongly that I was supposed to go on this trip for some reason at this point in my life. God proved this to me through His undeniable peace and with the way He seemed to work everything out perfectly in my life. My hope is that I will fulfill all God has planned for me through this experience.

As we embarked on the pilgrimage, I wrote, “My hope for this trip is to be in awe of walking where Jesus did, seeing the places He lived and walked. I also hope I return a different person. May I meet Jesus in an even deeper way through walking in His footsteps with Him being even more real to me. I am so blessed and grateful for this opportunity.” My prayer was that the pilgrimage would change the core of my being, making me more like Christ.

 

Masada National Park, in southern Israel’s Judean Desert

 

I have never been one to know much about historical things so I learned a lot on this pilgrimage about the history of Israel and the land we walked.

*Israel is only 2% Christians

*The northern area is greener

*The southern area is more desert

*Of the Arabs in Palestine, 98% are Muslim, 2% are Christian

*The Sea of Galilee
  –is also known as Lake of Gennesaret and Lake Tiberis
  –is heart-shaped
  –is the largest freshwater source for Israel, providing its drinking water

*The Jordan River
–is very muddy
–runs from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the Dead Sea in the south
–is the lowest point of any river in the world

*The Dead Sea is the lowest point of any place on earth

*Jericho is the city of the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the world

 

A few of the highlights of the pilgrimage for me were:

–Seeing the vastness and beauty of the Judean Desert! It was truly breathtaking, and visualizing Jesus and John the Baptist there made me in awe.

–Seeing the Garden of Gethsemane and the rock where Jesus prayed if the cup of suffering could be taken from Him. A special memory was having a heart-to-heart conversation with a friend about faith that ended in prayer, as we walked around this holy place.

–Seeing the places where Mary was visited by the angel announcing she would be the mother of Jesus, Calvary where Jesus hung on the cross to set you and me free, and the place where Jesus was buried and resurrected.

–Stretching myself to proclaim Scripture in Capernaum, where Jesus had proclaimed Scripture, and at the Holy Sepulchre where Jesus died, was buried, and resurrected.

 

In the Judean Desert

 

I believe this Scripture story entitled Jesus’ First Disciples is fitting applying to the pilgrimage.

The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).  –John 1:35-42  (NIV)

I see the pilgrimage to the Holy Land as Jesus’ invitation to being one of His disciples and following Him. Indeed, I know Jesus is the Lamb of God. I wanted to see where He stayed too! His invitation to “Come, and you will see” was walking where He did, seeing the place He grew up in Nazareth, standing in the place He preached in Capernaum, seeing where He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, and so much more. Yes, I have found the Messiah, and I want to bring you along to meet Jesus more intimately through sharing my experience with you. Stay tuned!

 

“Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”  –Genesis 13:17  (NIV)