Thank you for being a part of my blog following my travels through Israel! I couldn't have done this trip without the love and support of friends and family at home. I hope this blog can help bring to life the Bible and its many amazing characters, landscapes, stories, and histories through seeing first hand accounts.  Feel free to ask questions and leave comments, I'd love for this trip to open up an ongoing dialogue. 

Every promise fulfilled

embedded in the land

growing upward

expanding outward

resting in your hand

Pictures of Life in Jerusalem

Road to Emmaus and Caesarea

(Picture: Walking on the Road to Emmaus)

Today was a really fun day, and it was our last day of field trips. I leave for home late tomorrow night and arrive early Sunday morning! I'm really excited to be back and see family and friends, but I know I will miss things about Israel and this unique group of people.

The object of today was to follow Jesus' great commission to the disciples to go to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth and spread the gospel. But first we began with Jesus' post resurrection appearance on the road to Emmaus (which is in Judea). This is about a 7 mile road leading from Jerusalem to Emmaus. We walked on a portion of it and could see the remains of a Roman road from the 2nd century, which was after Jesus' lifetime, but would have preserved an earlier road like the one Jesus walked on. These remains were big round limestone and were actually pretty intact (as far as ancient ruins go!). The main thing I took away from this experience was Dr. Wright's more pastoral message: today the road is overgrown with thistles and bushes, and as we walked along they kept pricking into my feet that were in flip flops and my legs that were in shorts. We could still see where the road was, but it was challenging to walk on and even painful at points. This is like many points of our lives...our roads may have difficult periods, often times caused by things completely out of our control. Yet we continue to press on because we know the pathway is still there and we can follow it through.

After this we went to Samaria, which was such a fascinating region. We started at the church that is the traditional site for Jacob's well (and this site actually seemed to be THE site of Jacob's well, unlike some sites that are there based mostly on tradition). Jacob built this well as a way of claiming the area by tapping into the water resources, and then it is referenced in John 4 when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the same well. This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Jesus is passing through Samaria, which is a bold move because there was division between Jews and Samaritans. He stops for a drink and asks a Samaritan woman to draw him some water from the well. Jesus tells her that the water she has will make people thirsty again, while he offers living water. This leads into a discussion about the correct place to worship: Samaritans believe it is on Mount Gerizim while Jews believe it is in Jerusalem. But Jesus says a time is coming when this discussion won't matter because we will worship in spirit in truth rather than a physical location.

The church and the well were amazing. The church has huge paintings all over it that are done in bright colors with images that take up almost the whole frame. They even had framed pictures on the ceilings. There were also bright colored stained glass windows. So the whole church had a fresh, inviting, colorful vibe. Then you go downstairs and there is a small room with a well in it. The well is made out of the same limestone that is all over Israel, and had a bucket that we got to drop down into it and draw water with. The well was really deep and was connected to a fresh spring. After drawing the water we got to drink it, and it tasted pure and sweet. So...if this was the well where Jesus met the Samaritan woman, I was standing where Jesus stood and drinking from the same spring he did!

After this, we stopped at Mount Gerizim and talked to a Samaritan from the priestly line! He said there are only about 700 Samaritans remaining in Israel (and therefore the world) and they are comprised of three tribes: Levi, Ephraim, and Mannasah. They do not consider themselves Jews. They believe in God, Moses, and the five books of Moses (which they consider to be different than the Jewish Torah). In the first five books Jerusalem is never mentioned, while Mt. Gerizim is: "When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings" (Deuteronomy 11:29). Therefore, they believe Mount Gerizim is the holy place of worship rather than Jerusalem, hence the Samaritan woman's question in John 4. They associate the following events with Mount Gerizim: Abraham sacrificing Isaac, Moses' tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, Joshua's twelve stones of remembrance, and Noah's ark. Today this line continues, and is extremely exclusive (even to the extent of only marrying within the Samaritan community which has caused genetic defects). They continue to do animal sacrifices, and we saw the small wells where they do this.

After this we went back to Caesarea, which is "the ends of the earth" because it is on the sea closest to Rome. We talked about Herod some more (it is between Galilee and Jerusalem so it gave him control over both areas). This is also the place where Peter meets Cornelius after receiving a vision, and in doing so extends the gospel to the Gentiles.

Today was our last walk around Jerusalem as a school. We followed Jesus' journey from his triumphal entry on the donkey on the Mount of Olives, to the garden of Gethsemane, to the church of the Holy Sepulcher (where Jesus' tomb is), to the garden tomb (the alternate site of Jesus' burial). Jesus' entry on the Mount of Olives took place on the Passover, indicating that he would have been among a crowd of people. The palm branches were a symbol of freedom and redemption, which would have had both political and spiritual meaning. When Jesus approaches the city, he sees it and weeps. This parallels David's crossing the Mount of Olives, after his son Absalom revolted against him (2 Samuel 15). David also weeps at this time (vs. 30). There is a church built on the Mount of Olives that is called "the Church of Jesus Crying." The architect built to look like a tear drop.

Today was my third visit to the Garden of Gethsemane and the All Nations Church. This and the Western Wall are my favorite places in Jerusalem. Every time I have come here I have an overwhelming sense of peace and calm. I start getting excited when I walk through the 2,000 year old olive trees because (apart from the mere fact of walking through 2,000 year old olive trees) I know I am about to walk into a place where I can sense God's presence. I think it has to do with the purple stained glass that makes the whole sanctuary dark, but also what it represents and does such a beautiful job of commemorating. When I sit down and listen to God everything becomes obsolete: the millions of clicking cameras, time, the monks and nuns that wander around. I feel kind of thrilled that I found a specific location that holds peace and where I have so clearly heard from God.

Dr. Wright spent some time describing the crucifixion. It would have taken place on ground level, rather than how we may have envisioned it on a hill. The bodies would be left to hang on the cross after their death for birds and dogs to eat away at, then the bones would fall to the ground. However, Jesus had loved ones that took his body and laid it in a tomb. Returning to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was stressful. There are so many people, and I can just feel the tension of so many traditions competing for the same space. They even have designated times during the day for each tradition to use the church. A priest in robes kept walking through clanging a bell and spreading incense. People were frantically lining up to go inside Jesus' tomb, touch the rock from calvary, and the stone where he was laid after his death. And by touch I mean kiss, rub cloths over, and put rosaries on. There are so many shrines, altars, icons, and things that there isn't even room for Jesus!

We ended the walk at the Garden Tomb, where the exact same tour guide gave us our tour to the exact same script...jokes and all. It was pretty entertaining.

We ended the day back at school with a Roman dinner. They had set up the room with tables in a U shape, all low to the ground, with mattresses for us to lie on while we ate. They hung rugs and brought in plants, all to create an authentic environment. Two of the guys dressed in togas and served us our meals of dried fruit, nuts, flat bread, dips, and soup. This was in honor of the last super, where Dr. Wright explained all the particulars of Jesus' meal with his disciples. At these meals everyone lay on their left side and the host would be among the three at the end. Therefore, Jesus would have been lying in front or against Judas, which creates a powerful image of Jesus perhaps against Judas' chest/heart.

In keeping with Acts 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth," we are now moving our journey to the ends of the earth...Cesarea and the road to Damascus. But that will be tomorrow.

Today we went back to Caesarea Philippi, which is where Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" (Mark 16:13). They answer, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets" (14). Then he says, "Who do you say I am?" (15) Peter answers, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (16). Then Jesus goes on to say, "I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church" (18).

Caesarea Philippi is the site of cultic worship for the god Pan. This was a Hellenistic deity. There was also a temple for Augustus found here, a ruler who deified himself. This creates an interesting backdrop for Jesus' questions, because Jesus is asking the disciples to confirm his identity as the one true God against the worship of these false gods. In addition, this site has huge cliffs. The rock the cliffs are made out of is "jurassic," which is the best in terms of water, soil, shelter, strength, and building material. This creates a really nice metaphor for what the church is to built on. The word "church" is only used twice in the gospels, and in this instance Jesus is the farthest distance he ever gets from Jerusalem. This also creates a powerful image of what the church is meant to be...its out in the world, reaching to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

After this we went to Gamla, another site from the Jewish Revolt. We did a hike to a waterfall that was really pretty. In order to get there we walked through wheat fields, and my friend from Illinois kept saying it looked just like home! I keep running into the most unexpected terrain here in Israel. This site itself is a big hill with a city built on top of it. Josephus describes it as a camel.

We ended the day in Jericho. Every time the gospel writers talk about Jesus going to Jerusalem it's always through Jericho (interesting fact I learned today). We visited the New Testament site this time, whereas last time we saw the Old Testament site.

I love driving back into Jerusalem after being gone. First you drive through the desert for a long stretch, then go under the Mount of Olives (literally, you drive through a tunnel that cuts through the mountain), then you shoot out into a full skyline view of the city. The first thing that catches your eye is the gold Dome of the Rock. It takes my breath away every time.

Galilee: Fishermen and the demon-possessed man

(pictures: location of Mark 5)

Today was our second day in Galilee, where we continued to follow the life and ministry of Jesus (his ministry was primarily in Galilee). The districts surrounding the Sea of Galilee were divided between degrees of Hellenisation but they were also united as Jews in each area were seeking after God. In Jesus' ministry he was able to identify with each district and as Dr. Wright said, tap into their essential human needs. We've had several views overlooking the whole sea, which creates a nice visual of how Jesus' ministry would have progressed throughout this area.

In calling the disciples, Jesus chose fishermen. Fishermen in Galilee would have been considered brave, bold, resourceful, and cross cultural. Canaanites believed that the god of chaos was the god of the sea, so they had all these associations of the sea with death and evil. As fishermen, these men would have appeared fearless and capable in navigating in the water. In addition, fishermen would have traveled from district to district, interacting with people at other ports who had different cultures (Galilee as a whole was Jewish but it was being pulled more and more into the Roman world/Hellinism). Mark 3:14 says, "He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons." Dr. Wright said there are three criteria for the disciples: 1. God wants you 2. You want him 3. the rest are details. This really highlighted to me the way Jesus appointed the twelve first and foremost that "they might be with him." What a beautiful image of Jesus desiring for the disciples to be in his presence and share in his ministry. Our ministry is really secondary to just being with Jesus and really receiving his love towards us.

In Mark 5 Jesus heals a demon-possessed man, which can be placed in the city of Gergesa. This city is on the hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee. It is really a beautiful city with farm land, grazing land, a boat doc, and rocks and tombs above. In this story, the demon-possessed man was living among the tombs, too strong to be subdued, and would cry out and cut himself with stones (5:5). But when he saw Jesus he fell down before him, and Jesus casts the demons out of him into nearby pigs. The pigs rush down into the lake and are drowned. The pig owners find the man "sitting there, dressed and in his right mind" (15). When Jesus leaves the region the man begs Jesus to be taken with him, but Jesus responds "Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you" (19). So he tells people and they are amazed. The next time Jesus returns to this region, a whole group of people are waiting for him...showing how the man had continued to spread word about Jesus' healing act in his life.

It was so interesting connecting this story with being in the actual area where it is likely to have taken place. We climbed around in the tombs on the hill, that look down on the city. I could picture this man living just outside of his community, afflicted by this possession that was separating him from his family, land, and God (the three things most valued in Jewish culture). When Jesus healed him, he restored all of this to him. Rather than letting him come and join him in leaving the region, Jesus restores him to his community, home, and land. I never understood this before and it was really eye opening to me. This was really the most merciful thing Jesus could have done. In a way, he is telling him that it is ok, he has made him well and he can be healthy and restored in his own environment.

In Capernaum we saw the synagogue as well as a house right next to it, which could have been Simon and Andrew's house, as well as the home of Simon's mother-in-law (Mark 1:29). Which by the way is interesting to think that Simon was married, how many of the other disciples were married? What did their wives do while they were away with Jesus? If Jesus' ministry was mainly around Galilee, did the disciples go back to their homes a lot to be with their families? Anyhow, in this story Jesus also brings restoration when he heals Simon's mother-in-law. As soon as she is healed she "began to wait on them" (31). The feminist in me never appreciated this part of the story, but today it made more sense. Women in this culture found their value in the context of family and land (the ongoing theme), so being able to serve people in her home would have restored her role and value. In addition, her healing took place on Shabbat, which is a time where women can serve people in their home and find honor in doing so. In other words: Jesus heals her and gives her role and honor back.

Mount of Precipice, Sepphoris, Jotapata

Now that we have established Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, we began looking at his life and ministry. We began our day at the Mount of Precipice from Luke 4. In this passage, Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and began reading from Isaiah in the synagogue. He said, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing," meaning that he was the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. When people became angry "they got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way." The Mount of Precipice is believed to be the cliff that the people tried to throw Jesus off of.

Jesus grew up in Nazareth, a town that Dr. Wright describes as somewhere you wouldn't chose to live. It was small, didn't have many resources, and was closed off. Yet from this cliff, which is right outside of Nazareth, Jesus would have had a view of numerous Old Testament events. In this way, Jesus would have his whole history spread out before him, connecting him to those who came before him and illustrating his heritage. He could see the location of Ahab and Jezebel, Deborah, Josiah, where Elisha raised a boy to life, where Saul raised up Samuel the dead prophet and where he and Jonathan died, where Elijah battled the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel, and Gideon (I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones Dr. Wright pointed out). Jesus' early ministry mirrored Elijah's ministry as a prophet, so it is interesting that Jesus would have had a view of where this great prophet performed miracles and carried out his ministry.

When we first arrived at JUC, one of the instructors described studying the Bible in Israel like a board game. Before arriving, you have all the pieces, playing cards, rules, and dice. These give you clues as to how the game works, and you can make deductions and inferences based on what you have. But when you come to the land of the Bible, you are given the board. All of a sudden you know where things belong, how to set up the game, and you can see how things play out. I picture Jesus on the Mount of Precipice as an example of this concept. He had all the stories and histories of Old Testament people, and he had their playing field in front him, in such a way that these people would be very real and present to him.

After this we went to Sepphoris, a town near Nazareth. I think I mentioned before, this would likely be where Joseph went for work, since Nazareth was small and Sepphoris was being built. In that case, Jesus would have accompanied him to help with carpentry work (which would include work with wood, stone, metal, and leather).

Next we stopped at Jotapata, where Josephus (author of Jewish Wars) hide from the Romans during the Jewish Revolt but was caught in the caves. We got to climb around on the hill and look in the caves where he may have hide, which was a lot of fun. The Jewish Revolt was from AD 66-67, after Jesus' life, so I think this was a side trip not following the chronology of Jesus' life.

John the Baptist, the Herodion, and Bethlehem

Continuing in the chronology of Jesus' life, we started our day with a hike in the hill country where John the Baptist would have been from. We saw a house built into a stone cave, that would have been like the one Zechariah and Elizabeth would have lived in (John the Baptist's parents). A note on Jewish life: Dr. Wright says that the Jewish way of life was based on God, family, and land. 1 Kings 4:25 gives an image of life as it should be for the Jews: "During Solomon's lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and fig tree." This house, in the hill country, surrounded by vineyards and green trees, would have represented the Jewish ideal. They valued safety, peace, security, productivity, self-sufficiency, and predictability. They would have lived on the same land for generations, and would consist of multiple generation families. This gives an idea of how important and connected the Jews are to the land. Zechariah was a Priest, so John would have been born to follow in his father's priestly line. However, he instead went to the wilderness and lived counter-culturally, prophesying the coming Messiah. Dr. Wright said since John spoke out against injustices of the day, he was probably addressing unjust temple practices. So not only would he have discontinued his family's priestly line, he was speaking out against it!

The Jewish ideal really made me think about what my own culture promotes and how this shapes my reading of scripture. "Life as it should be" is a way to define "shalom." What is shalom for us? Are these ideals really a part of us all? Is it ok if they're not?

After this hike we went back to the Herodion. Dr. Wright gave more of a talk on Herod the Great, who continues to be a fascinating character. He was never accepted by the Jews because he was brought in by Rome to rule over Judah, but wasn't Jewish. His entire reign he was threatened by people close to him betraying him as well as outside threats of the Partheans and Mesopotamia. All of his building projects looked Roman and brought in Roman luxury (food, entertainment, pools, etc.). At the end of his life paranoia caught up with him...which makes a lot of sense if he was constantly fleeing for his life, fighting off enemies, and not even loved by his people. This results in even killing his own sons! Then he prepares an elaborate tomb for himself at the Herodion, as a huge monument to himself. He even takes the top off of the mountain next to the Herodion and puts it on the Herodion, so that nothing diminishes its grandeur and power. In addition, he creates these massive water systems in order to get water out to the desert...so having pools, cisterns, and baths was no easy task! In order to make sure everyone genuinely grieves his death, he has all of the favorite leaders in Judah arrested and killed. So...he is a powerful, paranoid, and extremely narcissistic leader.

So this leads us to Bethlehem, our next stop of the day. At the time of Jesus' birth Herod was the leader. So we can see that when Herod got word that the Messiah was being born he would have a major problem with that (threat to his power and ego). Dr. Wright pointed out that the word a lot of our Bibles translate as "inn" is actually "guest room" (my good ol' TNIV did the correct translation!) Based on Mid Eastern culture, he said there is no way Mary and Joseph would have returned to Bethlehem, their ancestral land, without staying with relatives. Therefore, when they got there the guest room was full...probably with other family members. So Mary and Joseph stayed in the stable, which means it was summertime when the sheep and goats were out to pasture in the warm night air. At another site I saw a manger, which is made out of stone. This interpretation makes a lot more sense culturally, and kind of rearranges what we were taught in Sunday school!

Jerusalem City Walk

Today was the second part of the Jerusalem city walk. We visited a museum called "The Burnt House," where archaeological remains were found from a house that was burnt during the destruction of the second temple. We watched a movie that helped bring to life the whole political situation leading up to the destruction of the temple. It showed the way the Zealots started banding together and fighting against the Romans and the spread of Hellenism. This went against Jewish law, because they were using violent means. This culminated in the Romans burning the temple, and parts of the city. The burning of the temple would have been so detrimental to the Jewish people because it was so much a part of their religious and cultural identity. This act was a culmination of the Romans imposing Hellenism (Greek ways of life), over and against Jewish religion, philosophy, values, etc. It's such a dramatic story when you think about it!

After this, we went back to the first century stairs and street outside of the temple mount. We looked at the highest corner of the temple, which is where Jesus was tempted by the devil: "The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 'If you are the Son of God,' he said, 'throw yourself down from here...' Jesus answered, 'It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test'" (Luke 4:9-12). They found an engraving on a stone of a trumpeter at this corner, and the trumpeter would have been at the highest point of the temple. So they feel pretty confident in this assumption.

Dr. Wright believes that the first century stairs, which led up to the entrance of the temple, would have been where people were baptized at Pentecost. First everyone is in a house when the Holy Spirit is poured out and a crowd of "God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven" in Jerusalem gather together (Acts 2:5). After Peter preaches, they ask him how they should respond. Peter tells them to, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:38-39). Then it says "about three thousand were added to their number that day" (Acts 2:41). Dr. Wright pointed out that 3,000 people wouldn't be baptized in this one house. Instead, they would have been baptized where baptisms took place: on these stairs outside of the temple mount. There are remains of baptizing pools in this location.

It's been interesting to take the archaeological evidence and correlate it with the scripture. A lot of things are a lot more obvious or practical when you are actually here. Dr. Wright said to always look at the evidence of the land and culture, and then draw your interpretations.

After all this, we came back and some of us went out to buy Shabbat bread! Shabbat bread is amazing. It has a sugary glaze over it sprinkled with sesame seeds. We bought four because we each wanted our own, and then successfully ate ONE between the four us. Oops. Apparently our eyes were bigger than our stomachs.

Masada and En Gedi: Round Two

Today we went back to Masada and En Gedi. A lot of the places we visited in the first class have overlapped with the second class, which has been both good and bad. It's a little disappointing to revisit places that we saw so recently, especially when they are a lot of work to visit and I put a lot of effort into taking them in the first time around. On the other hand, I have been able to absorb a lot more information during the second class, especially when I'm not on sensory overload being in a new place! So going to the same place twice may be a result of God knowing it would take more than once for me to really get it!

Since this class is on Jesus and His Times, we are starting out by creating the context in which Jesus was born and lived his life. Therefore, we are starting with Herod the Great, the ruler at the time of Jesus' birth. As I mentioned before, Masada was one of Herod's palaces. I found out this time, that Herod built it to celebrate not being defeated by Cleopatra. It was built for both luxury (as seen in the bath he built overlooking the desert and the dead sea) and for protection (for himself and his family). Visiting Masada helped to reveal these aspects of Herod's personality, and to get us involved with Josephus' history that explained the first Jewish Revolt (where the Zealots encamped at Masada and fought against the Romans). Josephus' writing also gives good explanations of the religious groups at the time of Jesus' life: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots.

In revisiting En Gedi we went to the remains of a synagogue where we looked at a mosaic. I was glad I took the class before because this time we didn't have a chance to swim in the dead sea or the fresh water springs. I think some people may try to go back...because you can't come to Israel and not go in the dead sea!

Parables!

Today we had a Rabbi named Moshe teach our class on reading parables in Rabbinic literature and the Bible. It was really interesting to see how Rabbinic literature compares to Bible parables, and in some instances how it interprets parables in the Bible. He said there are 70 facets/faces to the Torah, meaning there are multiple ways to interpret it. This was a really interesting concept, showing that there are many layers of meaning and approaches to this one text. It made me wonder if the same thing could be said for an evangelical reading of scripture. My professor believes that there is only one way to interpret parables, what do you think? Moshe also said Judaism has the Mishnah to interpret the Torah, and the Talmud to interpret the Mishnah. It reminded me of our many commentaries to help us understand scripture, but these Jewish texts have been elected as THE commentaries. They have more teachings and parables and are referred to as sacred texts. It made me kind of jealous! There are so many times that I am reading the Bible and I feel like I need a teacher to sit down with me and guide my interpretations, or lack there of! There are also many times when I don't know which interpretation is reliable. He pointed out that sometimes parables are used to convey a message that would be difficult for people to hear (using a story would make it less antagonistic and judgmental), communicate difficult concepts using imagery the average person would understand, and to reveal things.

After Moshe spoke in our class, we went to Neot Kedumim, a Biblical landscape reserve in Israel. They have 620 acres between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem where they recreated the landscape you find in the Bible. They have plants and animals from the Bible, ancient and reconstructed olive and wine presses, threshing floors, cisterns, and ritual baths. For our tour we looked at different things that illustrate Biblical parables. We talked about the yearly cycles in Israel during Biblical times, and how they only had two seasons: summer and winter. The Mediterranean climate can be compared to San Diego...where we essentially don't have a Fall or Spring. I didn't realize growing up in San Diego gave me insight into the Bible's climate and landscape! A lot of the landscape in Israel looks familiar, with palm trees here and there. We saw date palms and got to try date palm honey (Luke 13). We also talked about ploughing and sowing, and got to watch a donkey pull a plow that was reconstructed from Biblical times. Then some people in our group got to try it out themselves! This was to go along with the parable: "No man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9). This makes sense, because you really have to pay attention to where the donkey is going, to make sure it goes in a straight line and doesn't stop and start eating! In the same way, when we say we will follow Jesus we can't look back or we will lose focus and effectiveness in the task at hand. Kind of true with life in general, eh? We also got to scatter barely seeds and illustrate seeds falling by the wayside, on stony ground, among thorns, and on good ground (Mark 4). It was interesting for me to see the actual terrain this parable referenced. We spent some time illustrating the threshing floor and winnowing fork that is referenced in Ruth. The winnowing fork was cool to see because all the chaff blows away when you lift up the wheat and the grain falls back down into the pile. This is what the Psalmist means when he says, "Not so the wicked; they are like the chaff that the wind blows away." Finally, we got to herd sheep and goats! The shepherd has to guide the animals from the back and then be ready to guide them from all sides as they get confused and scared. One of the guys in our group worked on a sheep farm for a summer when he was fourteen, because both of his parents died unexpectedly and they had him go there while figuring out who he would live with. He had funny stories about how dumb sheep are: they'll stand in hail that will beat them to death, and in the heat they will put their faces together and suffocate! Kind of morbid, but it helped illustrate how much we are need of God as our Shepherd to protect us from even our own judgment, and to intercede on our behalf as he has the greater perspective/vision of what is going on in our lives.

And that was the day of parables!

Jesus and His Times: Day One

Today was the first day of my second class, Jesus and His Times. This class is going to be even busier than my last one, which is kind of unbelievable! This school doesn't have a very good sense of down time! But I guess if you come all the way out here its good to pack in as much as you can! The teacher is the director of the school, and so far I connect with his teaching more than the last professor. We're relating everything to scripture, and its based in the New Testament. Today we went to the Old City in Jerusalem and visited an archaeological museum then took a tour of the Temple Wall.

The archaeological museum had ruins of a Herodian mansion. It gave an idea of what a house could have looked like during Jesus' time. The scripture Dr. Wright related to it was of Peter denying Christ in the gospels. Peter is in the courtyard of the High Priest, waiting outside the door where Jesus is being questioned. He is speaking to one of the servant girls who is on duty when he denies being one of Jesus' disciples. The archaeological findings show that the courtyard would have been surrounded by rooms, and Peter would have been able to see through the door to where Jesus was being held. It was interesting to see how close together everything was.

We also looked at some vessels from this period that were made out of pottery and stone. The pottery ones were considered ritually impure because they would absorb the water, while the stone ones were pure because they could be wiped clean. In John 2 Jesus changes the water from six stone water jars into wine. The water was used for ceremonial washing. Dr. Wright questioned whether this was Jesus' way of taking the human capacity for purification and making it even better, or whether it was a way of saying ritual purification has to give way to everyday life. He has also pointed out the way a number of Jesus' miracles correlate with Elijah's miracles, but Jesus' are even better. Something to think about.

The tour of the Temple Wall was really interesting. The Temple Wall was built by Herod during the second temple period (so Solomon built the first temple, it was destroyed in 586 BC, Zerubbabel built the second temple then Herod renovated it, which was destroyed in 70 AD, then since the 7th century the Dome of the Rock has been there). Houses were built in front of the wall, then over centuries the ruins and rebuilding of houses built up over it, so the wall is now underground except for the small portion that we call the Western Wall, or Wailing Wall. We walked along the Wall through a tunnel. At one section of it Jewish women come to pray on the eve of their wedding and when they are praying to be able to have children. There were women there today who were praying at the wall.

Tomorrow we are going to be learning about parables by a Rabbi so I should have good stories from that!

Jordan!

Hi Everybody!

Saturday through Monday I went to Jordan for a trip in between class sessions. The highlight was definitely seeing Petra. First, we walked between huge stone walls on either side that we winded through for about a mile. Then the walls ended and opened up into a clearing with a treasury that was directly in front of us. The treasury is carved out of the face of a stone wall, with huge pillars. The inside is a single room, and the walls are perfectly smooth and pink and purple swirly colors that are natural from the stone. The treasury is actually used in the last Indiana Jones, so you should all go watch that movie and see how amazing it is. The rest of Petra is spread out throughout a section of the desert, kind of like a treasure hunt where we would hike through seemingly desolate areas and come across different carvings out of the stone cliffs. These would include caves that were carved out of the stone and served as houses, in clusters next to each other making up little bedouin communities. There would also be temples. It was really striking. We spent the whole day exploring this area, and ended it with camel rides!! The camels have blankets piled up on top of their humps and they kneel down so you can climb up on them. Its a bumpy ride and they have no sense of personal space! I thought I would run into the camels on either side of me multiple times! We had a group of six people, so we were our own caravan. Our guides were about fourteen years old! I also talked to one of the kids giving donkey rides, who was about ten years old. He told me that he was on his summer vacation for two months, during which he spent the day giving rides to people at Petra. At night he slept in one of the caves with five other people! Can imagine that life? So interesting. Our second night in Jordan we stayed at a really nice hotel, which was a lot of fun. There was a wedding while we were there, and we got to watch the bride walk down the staircase to Mid Eastern music and dancing! It looked really fun. Jordan had a really different feel than Israel and felt like more of a cultural adjustment. The food was different too...really good! We had lots of different courses, with flat bread, curries, fish, different hummus dishes, various salads. All in all it was a good experience, though a lot of driving.

Holocaust Museum, Israel Museum, Shiloh, Garden Tomb

July 2
Today we began the day at the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. The museum walks you through the events of the Holocaust chronologically, with pictures, artifacts, and video footage. It was so powerful to see actual things and people from this time; it made it really real. Here are a couple things I wrote down from the museum:

“When I grow up and get to be twenty, I’ll travel and see this world of plenty. In a bird with an engine I will sit myself down, take off and fly into space. Far above the ground. I’ll fly, I’ll cruise and soar up high above a world so lovely, into the sky.”
Written by Abramek Koplowicz who was murdered in Auschwitz at age fourteen.

“Even back there, in the shadow of the chimneys, in the breaks between pain, there was something resembling happiness…For me, the happiness there will always be the most memorable experience perhaps.”
Written by Imre Kertesz.

It was really moving to see that these two people retained hope even in such desperate situations. The museum had numerous journal entries from people who had written during the Holocaust. It also had artwork that was done, including one woman who was an art student and followed all the events through an illustrated play she wrote. It was amazing how well-preserved things were. The museum did such a good job of honoring the people involved.

After that we went to the Israel museum, which has a lot of ancient artifacts as well as dead sea scrolls. The Isaiah scroll was really impressive because it is fully intact. It was cool to see the way they sewed the scrolls together and how sturdy the papyrus paper was.

From there we went to Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant was held in the Bible. It was interesting because this site hasn’t been excavated at all and there wasn’t a church built over it to commemorate the biblical event. Instead it was just open space and was really windy.

We ended the day at the traditional site of the garden tomb, where Jesus was buried. My professor doesn’t think this an accurate location, but it was still interesting to see what a tomb looks like from around this time period. It was built into the stone of a wall, and was big enough to walk around inside upright. It had a ledge inside where the body would have been laid. The stone to guard the door wasn’t there anymore. The man who gave us the tour of this site was British and a Christian, which was kind of refreshing after being in such a Jewish world that doesn’t recognize Jesus’ life and resurrection as the Messiah.

This was the last day of tours for people who are only attending the first class, so it will be sad to see some of the friends I’ve made over the past three weeks go home. Tomorrow morning I leave for Jordan and then my second class, Jesus and His Times, beings!

Galilee Day Four

July 1
Today we went to Nazareth! We went to a church that commemorates the angel Gabriel coming to Mary and telling her she would give birth to Jesus. Both inside and outside the church are series of art pieces depicting Mary, done by countries all over the world. It was so interesting seeing how different cultures perceive Mary, and seeing Mary in all different ethnicities, clothing, and colors. I really enjoyed sitting in the church surrounded by all of these representations. The church was built in the 1960s so it is a more modern church.

We also went to Sepphoris, En Harod, and Scythopolis. It’s hard by the end of the day to even remember everything we’ve done! On our way home to Jerusalem we kept having to pull over because our bus was overheating! This would be in the middle of the desert, which is a different experience! At one of our sites it got up to 110 degrees. I have to keep reminding myself that this is only one of the seasons in Israel, so I can’t always read the Bible through the lens of a hot, dry summer. I guess during the winter it even snows here! And at other points there is a lot more greenery and growing things.

Galilee Day Three

June 30
Today we began our day with a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. It took about an hour and was a really pretty ride. We ended up at a museum that has a boat that was found about ten to fifteen years ago that is from the first century. Some people found it when they were walking on the beach, and when they started digging it out they realized it was a fully intact ancient boat! They showed a video on how they had to be really careful because the wood would disintegrate when the air touched it. They had to keep spraying water on it to preserve it, then put it in this foamy stuff to float it out into the water, then picked it up with a crane to transport it to the museum. There was a guy there from USD who had been doing research on the boat for the last ten years. Wow.

We also went to the traditional site of the Mount of Beatitudes. I really enjoyed this stop because it was a beautiful garden on the hill with a more modern church. It was really peaceful and quiet. It was also nice to have variety from just seeing ancient ruins! Seeing a church fully in tact and functional is refreshing.

This was our last night at our hotel in Galilee. We had a Bible study on the beach, where one of the teachers talked about the biblical representations of the sea. He said the sea used to be perceived as evil, so in Jesus’ ministry he really gave a new idea of the sea and water. He talked about Jesus calming the storm because that would have happened on the Sea of Galilee, where we were!

Galilee Day Two

June 29
Today we began the day at Hazor, which is the largest Tel in Israel (200 acres). It is right next to Lebanon, so I could see Lebanon’s hills from where I was standing! The archaeologists there are looking for two archives from the 1800s and 1400s BC, which would be letters written on clay tablets. They would give all sorts of information from this time period, confirm things in the Bible, and enlighten our reading. The archaeologist who gave us our tour was very excited about this prospect.

Then we went to Dan, which was really green with streams of water. There was an inscription at the top that said “House of David,” which would be the first archaeological evidence of David ever to be found. One of the teachers in our group had written an article on this and was really passionate about it, so he got to speak about it. It’s amazing how these details can be so significant, and how scholars get so worked up about them!

Afterwards we went to Banias/Paneas, which had remains of pagan worship. One of the remains was the entrance to the underworld. Creepy. This was also the region where people believe the transfiguration happened. We also went to Golan and Qatzrin.

Galilee Day One

June 28

Today was our first day of the four-day Galilee field trip! Galilee is spectacular. We started at Caesarea, where Herod the Great had a palace right on the Mediterranean. The amphitheater is still there, as well as various other ruins such as his bathhouse and swimming pool, which is a stone inlet in the shallow part of the ocean. This was a place of entertainment, and I could totally envision people coming from all over to enjoy life there. It wouldn’t be too bad of a vacation spot even now ☺ From there we went to Mt. Carmel and Megiddo. We ended the day at the top of the Arbel Cliffs, where some people believe Jesus gave the great commission to his disciples. This would be a striking place for this event to take place because it has an amazing view overlooking lots of land. We climbed down the cliffs and hiked down the rest of the mountain, which was quite an experience! It’s been really good to push my limits and do things that are kind of scary and physically challenging. It’s also a unique opportunity to really engage with the land.

We arrived at our hotel later that evening, which is right on the Sea of Galilee! The Sea of Galilee looks like a big lake, so at night we can see straight across to the lights of Tiberias. The water is really warm, so we all went for a night swim right after dinner. I’m staying in a room with my roommate from JUC and two other girls that are a lot of fun. Again, the community here has been such a blessing.