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| The Jerusalem Cross |
If I'm being honest, I really didn't have much desire to travel to the Middle East for a tour of the Holy Land. I'm more of a beach loving, relaxing vacation sort of person. If I'm going to go on holiday, I'd rather it be a nice balance between seeing some local sights and sitting in a hot tub. But that's just me.
So I only ended up in Israel because of my dear mother-in-law, who was set to go with Wayne and didn't think it was right that I not come along and put her money where her mouth was. So that's the short end of the story on how Rachel ended up walking the Via Delorosa one day in March 2023.
The truth is I'm forever indebted to Fran because I can't imagine not sharing this experience with them and having to hear Wayne start his sentences with "When I was in Israel ..." would have driven me nuts for the rest of our lives. So thank you, Jesus.
There was nothing relaxing about this vacation unless we're counting the time on the tour bus that did happen to have some comfortable seats that reclined. However we weren't in the bus that much because Israel is not that big and it never took very long to get to our next destination. We had seven FULL days of sightseeing often meeting for breakfast by 7am to get on the road by 7:30am and not returning to our hotel until 6 or 6:30pm that evening. I worked harder and was more exhausted from this vacation than a regular work day. It was also the experience of a lifetime so it was worth it.
In another post, I'll get into some more travel logistics and explain why we started our tour with the same clothes we had left home in two days earlier along with my lack of eye makeup and proof of why I normally wash my hair every single day. For now I'll start with Day 1 of touring Israel.
Day 1 We started with lunch after making our way to the Mt Carmel area. The Druze are an Arabic-speaking minority sect who also happens to make really good food and has a knack for entertaining large busloads of tourists with their buffets. So starts our introduction to what will be a weeklong diet of vegetable salads, hummus, falafel and chicken schnitzel - that last one I'm still trying to figure out how it made a presence everywhere in Israel. My guess is that it started long ago with a very lost and hungry German. Anyway, after that we headed over to Mt Carmel itself which is best known as being the site of Elijah's confrontation with the prophets of Baal. Our tour guide read those words from Scripture as we looked over the valley below and imagined the scene taking place (1 Kings 18). From there we walked among some amazing ruins of Mediggo where we enjoyed a clear view of Nazareth, the Mt of Transfiguration, and the start of our experience being in the same place on earth that God Himself once inhabited. We then headed over to Nazareth, the recognizable in name only location of the Annunciation of Mary and Jesus' childhood home. Nazareth was our first exposure to the reality of visiting somewhere 2,000 years after the fact. A lot has happened. As we gathered in our separate groups in the courtyard of the Basilica of the Annunciation with the pastor's of each group leading us in a Bible study, the Muslim call to prayer rang out: a reminder of the current state of affairs in our world, Israel, Nazareth, and the souls of mankind. Finally we were transported to our hotel in Tiberias overlooking the Sea of Galilee to settle in for the night, enjoy a buffet dinner, and a long, hot shower.
Day 2 Remember my ideal vacation? The relaxing part? Throw in an eight hour time difference and it can be a struggle to know when you're supposed to sleep and when you're supposed to be awake, but I was fairly certain that at 5am Israel time we should be asleep. The fact that it was pitch dark was one clue. Regardless, Wayne was putting pants on at this time and heading out the door. I stayed put in my bed for the time being. He returned to offer me the opportunity to come back out with him and watch the sunrise over the Sea of Galilee, knowing that he was asking me to choose between relaxing in bed (I am on vacation) and putting a bra on to see the same sun that rises everyday over the earth (just at different times). He had a hard time hiding his surprise when I picked the latter and got out of bed. It ended up being one of my favorite memories and I'm grateful to have experienced that with him!
Our first stop of the day was a visit to the Mt of Beatitudes. It was a beautifully tended garden area with a domed Catholic church on top of it. But it was the words of Jesus that were highlighted throughout the garden on placards and stones that brought such peace and intimacy as if He and I were there and He was speaking these words just to me. I saw the view He and His disciples would have similarly seen and heard the words that He spoke to not just those in attendance but indeed to His followers and children of all time including me! Years ago during our homeschooling days, my children (somewhere around ages 6 and 12 at the time) and I memorized Matthew 5-7 and it's one of my fondest memories from those days. They were far better memorizers than their old mama and we'd laugh at how I would mess it up! To sit in this place and enjoy another Bible study with our group on these words was truly a gift.
Tabgha was our next stop. There was strong reason to believe this was the site of the feeding of the 5,000 and Peter's reinstatement asking Peter, "Do you love me?" three times and giving the command to "Feed my sheep". We watched boats float on the Sea of Galilee in the distance and imagined the scenes take place in this spot. It seemed fitting that the lunch stop that followed included a plate of fish caught from the Sea of Galilee!
Capernaum was next and featured an excavation site of synagogues and homes. Everywhere we went our guide, Ori, would read from Scripture about the location and then fill us on the history since then, background information, or anything he thought was useful to know. Our guides were a bevy of knowledge and were always making sure that we were taken care of! In this location, we considered how many believe a particular spot to be the home of Peter and the possibility that Jesus would have used this home as His headquarters and later after His resurrection as a house church. Biblically, quite a bit happened here.
We next had a choice of what to do next. The traditional Bethsaida spot that tourists had been taken to had long been in question as to the legitimacy of that place and only recently a different spot for Bethsaida had been uncovered. Because it was so new and unadvertised, it would be close to a mile walk on uneven ground to get to. Those that were willing and able to take this walk went on this adventure while the others boarded the bus again and went to a different tourist spot that would be easier to experience. Wayne and I chose the adventure!
We met up again in Magdala where archaeologists have uncovered a first century synagogue that Jesus may have very well visited and read from the scrolls on the Magdala stone that has also been recovered. Wayne was particularly pretty excited about this as he imagined Jesus in this place teaching and preaching. This place is also home to the beautiful Duo in Altum, a building featuring stunning mosaics and artwork and a chapel with an altar that looks like a boat with a water feature.
Day 3 This day started off with another highlight of our trip. We took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. To be out on the water that is the backdrop for so many Bible stories was an amazing experience. This perspective offered a view of the surrounding landscape we wouldn’t have been able to have otherwise. The air wasn’t particularly clear this day due to the sands of the Sahara desert contributing to the haze. Nevertheless, we all enjoyed the ride on “the Faith Boat”. The Christian owner of the boat was happy to share with us his testimony of faith and also his musical skills by singing some praise songs. He was one of a handful of Christian business owners we met along the way trying to make a living in Israel and relying on tourists to help them do that.
Next stop was Beit Shean National Park - ancient ruins with a lot of history! Stepping back in time, we imagined what it would have been like to live here during the Roman and Byzantine periods with its amphitheater, colonnaded thoroughfare, large public bath houses, and extensive buildings.
Following this and a quick stop for lunch (more falafel for me!), we headed over to Gideon’s Spring. It was the site where God reduced Gideon’s army to defeat the Midianites. We enjoyed the park atmosphere and broke out in our Bible study group among the picnic tables under the trees.
The end of the day found us finally entering Jerusalem. Suddenly we stepped out of the valleys and vegetation, the slower way of life we had so far experience in Israel and now it was traffic jams and people and wall to wall concrete. Suddenly we started our walk on the Via Delorosa. I was taken off guard, not realizing this was on our itinerary for today. “Oh, we’re doing this now? Ok, then ….”. I felt like I needed some more prep time or something! Bottom line, these are just my thoughts and personal experience however, my focus was not so much on the places or stations that aren’t even Biblical but what I do know is Biblical and that Jesus did it all here in this place. Maybe not here because Jerusalem had been destroyed and rebuilt so many times over the course of 2000 years that the path He traveled was long gone. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t the perfect opportunity to revisit His sacrifice and those final moments leading up to His death and resurrection. Leave it to certain denominations to go and built a church on top of whatever traditional place they’ve decided something happened. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher - don’t get me started on the infighting among Christians not acting like Christians (blessed are the peacemakers, anyone?) that is an embarrassment to the name of Christ. But what I’ll give credit to them for is the artwork depicting the life of Christ or maybe just beauty. I can appreciate that.
That evening we moved to our new hotel in Jerusalem where we would be staying for the next 4 nights. We arrived just as Sabbath began.
Day 4 Our first stop was the Temple Mount. We were instructed not to wear anything religiously overt or bring religious materials. We would have to go through security in order to enter the area. This is especially where it gets messy because of clashing ideology, religions, and people. Regardless, we looked around and enjoyed the lovely weather and amazing sights. We came out along the Western Wailing Wall and were able to get a closer look. After a popsicle stop that our guide treated us to, we went to explore the City of David that took us down to an underground water system that we walked through. I’m not sure why but it seemed the thing everybody did so there we were. We sat at the newly excavated Pool of Siloam and waited for our group to catch up. We took a short detour to stop at the proposed location of the Upper Room but again, the likelihood of that being the actual site of the Last Supper is slim to none. It was a beautiful and serene room though. I actually really liked it and could imagine it taking place here.
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| The women's side of the Western Wall |
Lunch followed and was Schwarma in the Jewish quarter. Following that, we headed to the southern steps of the Temple walls where Jesus may have entered as a 12 year old boy. Here we had our daily Bible study.
Our last stop of the day was to the Israel Museum that featured a Jerusalem scale model as the city would have appeared in Jesus’ time.
Day 6 As you can probably tell by our daily itinerary, the days were packed. We often walked a lot. I was doing pretty well but this was the first day I woke up and was sore from the day before. This was also the earliest morning we were supposed to be ready to go for the day and I was dragging!
As it turned out, we arrived at the first place a half hour earlier than it was set to open. Fran and I looked at this as an opportunity to sit on bus and rest for that half hour but the rest of the group walked down to a cemetery that boasted Oskar Schindler as one of its occupants. Apparently I should have gone because wouldn’t you know the one thing I didn’t do had people raving about their experience. Who knew a cemetery would be such a highlight?
We were waiting for St Peter Gallicenter to open and when it did we were brought to the holding cell where Jesus was on trial by the Sanhedrin. We continued on to a different spot that others thought to be Golgotha and the Garden Tomb. I loved this area! There’s a very valid case to be made that this was Golgotha and even if the tomb wasn’t the actual one, it was most likely very close to it. Set in beautifully maintained gardens (thanks to the British), it was one of our favorite stops!
The next adventure brought us out of the city and into totally different terrain! We went to Ein Gedi where David hid from King Saul. It was a gorgeous area and short hike with a waterfall at the end. We traveled a short way to Qumran where we had lunch and then were guided through the Dead Sea Scroll museum. The landscape was breathtaking and we could see the caves that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in.
Our final adventure for the day was a visit to the Dead Sea, truly one of the most unique experiences to have. Sure enough, I was able to float easily on my back and soak in the sun and the magnificent view! Meanwhile Wayne had ventured out a little farther where his feet couldn’t touch the bottom and was bobbing up and down like a wine cork. He seemed pretty content. Getting in and out was the tricky part. The bottom was super slippy and muddy. We had this weird film of salt and grease cover us. Wayne’s Crocs looked like they had been polished with shoe shine or something. It was certainly an experience!
Day 7 Our last day of touring. We would put in a full day and then be dropped off at the airport for a midnight flight back to the U.S. Ready. Set. GO!
We started our last day at Elah Valley with a view of where the showdown between David and Goliath happened. As Ori was reading the account from the Bible to us, a shepherd and his herd of sheep ventured by us as if on cue. Of course, not exactly a David figure since I doubt David had a cell phone to distract him or a cigarette dangling out of his mouth, hahah! Wayne experienced an added adventure by helping a poor sheep out whose head was caught in some fencing when the shepherd no where in sight. He managed to free the sheep successfully!
The afternoon was spent in Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean Sea. This is where Pontius Pilate ruled during the time of Christ. Also the home of Cornelius the Roman centurion who prayers were answered when Phillip brought him the good new of Jesus. Caesarea was the port Paul often used during his travels and where he was imprisoned. But for now, it was a gorgeous seaside hotspot with restaurants and shopping among the Roman excavations and aqueducts. We sat out on the restaurant patio for lunch overlooking the Mediterranean and I enjoyed a salmon Caesar salad (when in Caesarea!) and Wayne had lamb kabobs.
The last location to tour was nearby Jaffa (Joppa) known best for the Jonah story and where Peter started his mission trips. Also on the Mediterranean, it boasted a stunning sunset and a seaside holiday vibe.
Finally it was time for our Farewell Dinner where we gathered one more time as a group of 57 and said our thanks to all who made this trip possible. We are so grateful to our guides for sharing their extensive knowledge of the area and how it ties to Scripture. They always made sure we were well taken care of!
This trip had been delayed two different times before. We were originally supposed to have gone in 2021. We all know why that didn’t happen! But God’s timing is always perfect and this was the right time. Our trip home went much better than the journey coming and we will never read Scripture the same. It was the trip of a lifetime!
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