Footsteps of Jesus

Thursday, Oct. 28 - DAY 1: DEPART AND ARRIVE IN TEL AVIV

Friday, Oct. 29 - DAY 2: ARRIVE—GO TO HOTEL IN BETHLEHEM

Arrive at Ben Gurion Airport. We meet our guide and our bus driver as we travel to Bethlehem for dinner. It’s a day of rest. Our journey begins in Bethlehem, the place where Jesus was born into our world. “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” We look forward to seeing the light more brightly shine in our lives as we follow the footsteps of Jesus.

Saturday, Oct. 30 - DAY 3: HEROD, SHEPHERDS AND JESUS’ BIRTH

Who was this Herod the Great that tried to kill the one born king of the Jews? We travel to the Herodian, one of his fortresses in the Judean Hills and learn of his story. We continue to the place of Jesus’ birth and along the way we remember Zechariah and Elizabeth and the birth of John the Baptist. After lunch we drive to the shepherd’s field and spend some time in a cave reflecting on how God announced the good news of great joy to shepherds in a field. We conclude with The Church of the Nativity that marks the site of Jesus birth. This site has historical credibility which in fact was a stable in a cave. The venerated place of the Savior’s birth is marked with a star and a few feet from the “site of the manger.” The Orthodox Church manages the crowded visitation that requires our group to step down into a cave-like chapel.

Sunday, Oct. 31 - DAY 4: CAESAREA, MT CARMEL, HAIFA, SEPPHORIS:

We leave for our journey in the northern Israel. Our drive along the coast leads us to Caesarea, once the Roman capital of Palestine. We see the crusader fortifications, the Roman amphitheater, aqueduct, and the harbor from where Paul was taken to Rome. We worship in the amphitheater. After lunch, we travel to Sepphoris, an archeological dig and national park. It was an important city in Jesus’ day, a capital of the Galilee. We walk the Roman road that no doubt Jesus would have walked at one time. The city was a most interesting display of mosaics on the floors. We conclude at our hotel in Nazareth.

Monday, Nov. 1 - DAY 5: NAZARETH, MT TABOR, CANA

This morning walk up the hill to the Basilica of Annunciation in Nazareth. This remembers the angel’s visit to Mary to announce that she would give birth to the son who will be the Messiah. We leave Nazareth for Mt. Tabor, scene of the Transfiguration and a panoramic view of the Jezreel Valley. We visit the Basilica of the Transfiguration. After lunch we drive to Cana, the village of Jesus’ first miracle of changing water into wine. We gather in an outdoor chapel for some to renew their wedding vows. We return through the street markets with opportunity to buy some samples of wedding wine. This helps us remember Jesus first miracle compared good wine with bad wine. The bad wine is for sale here!

Tuesday, Nov. 2 - DAY 6: CASAREA PHILIPPI, THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST IN THE GALILEE, MAGDALA

We drive to the north to the ruins of Caesarea Philippi, significant as a city built by Herod Philip (Herod the Great’s son). Built to honor Caesar it also hosted a significant temple to the god Pan, built right into the rock face. The gates of hades was a real place and their religion sacrificed children there. This is where Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter professed “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus then said, “You are the rock and upon this rock I will build my Church.”  What did Jesus mean? The gates of Hades will not prevail against it. Let’s discuss it.  Next we leave for the sites around the Sea of Galilee. Here we visit the Church of the Beatitudes and the Church of Multiplication on the north shore, built on the site of the miracle of the fishes and loaves. We stroll through the lovely gardens and recall the Beatitudes. Next, we travel to the ruins at Capernaum, a home base of for Jesus’ ministry in the area. We see the ruins of an ancient Synagogue and then the house of Peter that archeologist find evidence that it was a place of worship or Christian gathering in the first century. In the 5thCentury surrounding buildings were leveled in order to build an octagonal church suspended over the site. We have a chance to get near the rocky shore of the Sea of Galilee. On site is the Franciscan Chapel, Church of the Primacy of Peter. The rock projecting in front of the altar was known as the “Place of Coals’ and is commemorated as the place from where Jesus offered breakfast to his disciples after his resurrection and reaffirmed their ministry. We set sail on the peaceful waters of the Galilee to Tiberius. We travel to Magdala to visit the recently discovered ruins and beautiful chapel overlooking the Sea of Galilee, the Duc in Altum (put out into the deep”). We remember the story of the unclean woman with a life-long illness touching the garment of Jesus and being healed.

Wednesday Nov. 3 - DAY 7: JERICHO, MT TEMPTATION, THE WILDERNESS

We begin our day with a drive down the Jordan Valley and head towards Jericho. At the oasis town of Jericho, we stop at a market and have a camel ride. We resume with a visit the excavations of the oldest city in the region, Jericho. We view Mt Temptation where Jesus fasted and was tempted by Satan. After lunch drive up to Jerusalem through the Judean wilderness. We pause on an overlook to see the wilderness and the Saint George of Koziba Monastery, hanging to the cliffs of the Wadi Qilt and the ancient road to Jerusalem. We remember the 23rd Psalm and this oasis as David’s inspiration perhaps for “passing through the valley of the shadow of death” a place that God makes us lie down in green pastures.

Thursday, Nov. 4 - DAY 8: JERUSALEM

We begin at the Museum of Israel with a tour of the Holyland Model of Jerusalem. This is a 1:50 scale model of the city in Jesus’ day. It will help us understand the next two days of walking the old city. Then we travel to the Mount of Olives for a memorable view of Jerusalem. We walk down the Palm Sunday Road stopping at Pater Noster Church (Latin for “Our Father”) with the crypt where, according to the tradition, Jesus taught the disciples to pray. Continue past Dominus Flevit Chapel (“The Lord Wept”) which is shaped in the form of an inverted tear. We sing “Holy, Holy, Holy.” We continue along stroll around the knotted Olive Trees of the Garden of the Gethsemane and arrive at the darkened Church of All Nations. A rock is remembered as a rock where Jesus leaned upon in prayer during his Gethsemane ordeal. We next visit David’s City and the place recognized as the tomb of David, though archeology does not substantiate this claim. We walk through a practicing Synagogue of study and prayer as we make that visit.

Friday, Nov 5 - DAY 9: JERUSALEM

We tour the Old City from the Damascus Gate to the Jaffa Gate. We follow the Via Dolorosa with stops at a few of the Stations of the Cross along the way. We note the Monastery of the Flagellation. Also the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, build by Kaiser Wilhelm. We end our stations of the cross at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre the most visited site for Christians. Is this the actual place where Christ died and was buried? It is most likely! The Christians in Jerusalem worshipped at this site very early (a record of it comes from AD 66) and the bitterness of Emperor Hadrian against Christians caused him to build a shrine to the Aphrodite on the site (AD 135), causing the location to be marked and remembered. Through the years churches have been build and destroyed and the surrounding hill and terrain radically altered. But here today we also honor the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial, both in the same Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We enter the two Calvary chapels where the floors are thought to be level with the rocky outcroppings of the hill called Golgotha. The first owned by the Roman Catholics. Next, the Greek Orthodox Chapel where a round hole permits one to touch the pinnacle of the rock below. The Chapel of Adam is named for the myth that Adam was buried there. The focus is on the crack in the rock remembering the rocks that split at Jesus’ death. The image is that the blood of Jesus following the crack to reach Adam’s grave and cover the sins of humanity. The Stone of unction devotionally reminds us of Jesus truly having died, although there is no validity to it being the stone on which Jesus body was washed with oil, so it perpetually smells like roses. We pause in the dingy Syrian Orthodox chapel that has a hole in one wall that leads to a first century Jewish burial chamber. The tomb of Jesus is visited in the Holy Sepulcre Chapel. We walk to the Western Wall where for centuries Jews have come to pray and to lament the destruction of the Temple. We walk through the Jewish Quarter and see remnants of the wall built in Hezekiah’s time. We experience the hilly market streets in our walk toward the Christian Quarter and lunch. We meet at the Jaffa Gate after our shopping.

Saturday Nov. 6 - DAY 10: MASADA, DEAD SEA, JORDAN RIVER

We rise early and head for the desert. Our first stop is Herod’s Masada, a desert fortress built with luxury in mind. Herod thought of the need to escape in case a revolt would overturn him or Cleopatra should persuade Mark Antony to have him killed. In AD 66 the Jewish rebels took the site. The Romans took up siege during the Jewish War in AD 73 and set up eight fortified camps, built a siege ramp and breached the wall. During the night the rebels decided to kill each other so as not to give the Romans the satisfaction or be taken into slavery. Next, we travel to the Dead Sea for an experience of floating in a sea that is so salty, one cannot sink! Our final stop is the Jordan River, the site of John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance. For those who would like to remember their baptism they can take a dip in the Jordan River in the rite that remembers our baptism.

Sunday, Nov. 7 - DAY 11: LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER, SHOPPING OR HEZEKIAH’S TUNNEL

Our Sunday begins with a 9:00 AM English worship service at the second oldest protestant church in Jerusalem. After service we have free time to lunch, shop, or tour Hezekiah’s tunnel. We return to the hotel for a final evening of food and relaxation.

Monday, Nov. 8 - DAY 12: BET SHEMESH, VALLEY OF ELLA, TEL AVIV RETURN HOME

This morning we enjoy a later start and fill our morning with a drive to the Shephelah, the lowlands and the region of lower ridges and valleys between the Judean highlands and the coastal plains. Tel Bet Shemesh is near the town bearing the same name. The view overlooks the Sorek Valley, the place of many of the Samson events. This is the site to which the ark was returned after the Philistine capture as the cattle-drawn cart found its way up the Sorek Valley. In Solomon’s day Bet Shemmesh served as an administrative center and key defensive position approaching Jerusalem. The excavation site was closed. We continue on to the Ella Valley where David faced the giant Goliath and Saul’s army routed the Philistines. We picture the two armies shouting at each other from their hillsides. We return to the hotel to ready for the long flight then head to the airport. We pause for one last meal in Bethlehem area and leave feeling full and satisfied. On the bus we enjoy sharing favorite moments some tour guide trivia. We close with a song of thanksgiving and praise. We have been in the footsteps of Jesus and we continue to follow those footsteps as we return to our lives back in America.