Going up to Jerusalem

Have you ever wondered why in the Bible it always says that they went "up to Jerusalem", even if they started in Galilee and where therefore headed south?  Jerusalem has a higher elevation than the area around it.  Our journeys today took us up to Jerusalem.

 Before we left our hotel in Galilee, went to a museum that has a first century boat that they found buried  in the mud of the Sea of Galilee.  This gave us an idea of what a boat from Jesus' time would have looked like (minus the steal braces holding it together).  To be honest, it was a bit bigger than I expected.  I was thinking it would be about the size of a row boat, but it was larger than that.

This is an overview of modern Nazareth.  The modern version is a lot larger than it was in Jesus' day.  Nazareth was founded by a group of David's descendents who believed that the Messiah would come from their line.  Therefore, they called their city "branch" or "shoot".

That view of Nazareth was behind us and this view of the Jezreel Valley was before us. It is one of the most fertile areas in Israel and one of the most fought over.  The valley divided Israel north/south and was pretty much Jesus' backyard.   It was here that Gideon fought with only 300 soldiers, and Queen Jezebel was killed.   Mount Carmel is off to the side.  This is where Elijah had it out with the prophets of Baal.  We spent a lot of time talking about the passion Elijah and Elisha had and the parallels between Elijah and Jesus.

Take away from Nazareth/ Jezreel Valley/ Mt. Carmel: Where's our passion?  Where's our fire for God?  If you're on fire, people will come for miles to see you burn.

This tomb is an example of one like Jesus would have been buried in.  It literally was on the edge of the road behind a guard rail.  This is one of the things that I found really unique about Israel.  Some of the sites are national parks, but others are found as construction takes place.  Here's a perfect example of a first century tomb that sits three feet off the side of a two lane highway.  Notice that grove to hold the stone.

The highlight of the day for me was going to Caesarea.  

Herod the Great built this city as a tribute to Rome and created an artificial harbor.  Herod himself was rarely, if ever, here, but his city is pretty impressive.  Over half the book of Acts takes place here.  The gospel went out of this harbor to the entire world.  My ancestors heard the gospel because of the traffic that went through here.  Thanks, Herod!  If only he had know that the city he built would strengthen the religion he tried so hard to kill.

For our overview of the city, we (in typical fashion) walked to the top of the theater.  It's still in use for concerts today.  In fact, they were doing sound checks while we were trying to talk.

This would be Herod's swimming pool.  Why have a pool right on the Mediterranean? Because you're Herod and because you can.

The city was destroyed by earthquakes and wars.  The whole city of marble was dumped into the sea. We found chunks of marble in the sand.  Pretty cool!  Jeff and I will take some home to remind us that the earthly grandeur does not last.

We sat in the hippodrome for a teaching time.  This is where races would have been run and it sits twice as many as U of M's stadium.  We looked at Hebrews 12, about the great cloud of witnesses encouraging us in our race to Jesus.  Jeff and I were both thinking about our parents and grandparents.  What a legacy!  Being the Christian school teacher that I am, that legacy especially struck me.  My grandparents made the sacrifice to send their kids to Christian schools, my parent did, and now Jeff and I have the privileged of doing the same.  It's not easy.  I don't know where the money will come from, but generations before us struggled through it too, and the investment paid off ten-fold.

Take aways from Caesarea:
- The grandeur of this world will not last.  Make eternal investments.
- I did it, you can do it, keep running!

After checking into our hotel and having dinner, we went to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.
Our home for the last three nights will be the Notre Dame Hotel.

This is the Jaffa Gate going into the Old City.

 It was an experience to watch the Jewish people bring in the Sabbath.  Groups would break out in dancing and song.  It was evident that they were filled with joy.  I can't imagine any Christian Reformed people getting that excited about Sunday...and that's kind of sad.