Walking Israel -Part 2

Posted January 22nd, 2012 by Shawn Barden

It is undeniably powerful to visit the sites Jesus visited.  To sit back and see the contours of the hills behind the village of Bethsaida, knowing that the horizon he looked at was identical.  To hear the Galilean birds sing, and hear the sound of the waves lapping at the shore, knowing the soundtrack has changed very little in 2,000 years.

But many places Jesus visited are vastly different today.  The organized Church has institutionalized many of the sacred places.  So where the people sat o the hillside, among the grasses and the wildflowers listening to the Sermon on the Mount there is now a vast church with expansive grounds

Our bus stopped at this site.  I had hoped to find a quiet place to retreat to read again this sermon of Jesus and reflect on them.  What greeted me was a sign on a large iron gate that read "Celebration Without Authorization is Strictly Prohibited." No worshipping Jesus without our permission here.

The place where Jesus decries religiosity and the external trappings that go along with it, the place where calls for a righteousness that is from the inside out -is this elaborate, decorative, edifice that highlights the external and plasters that external with signs that say, "Shhh!  Sacred Location."  As if to speak or sing would be offensive to the one who said, "I tell you if they were silent the very stones would cry out" (Luke 19:40.)  

The place where Jesus proclaimed, "blessed are the poor in spirit" is adorned with acres of marble and gold trimmings, (not to mention the only place I've ever had to pay money to use the bathroom- no joke it cost two shekels to go pee there) seems the antithesis of the Sermon on the Mount. 

It appears that the attempts made to honor the words of Jesus have been and adventure in missing the point. 

So the Church of the Sermon on the Mount, is not even worth a pee break in my mind.

But not everything is like that. There have been some great moments.

Walking the streets of Bethsaida, the home of Andrew, Peter, and Phillip seeing a fig tree like the one Nathanael was sitting under before Jesus called him to follow him -(John 1:48-50).  Or envisioning Jesus healing the blind man in Bethsaida and him seeing the Sea of Galilee for the first time, just as I was seeing it was powerful.

Seeing Caperneum, Jesus base of operation, standing in the exact synagogue Jesus taught in, walking the thirty seconds it takes to get to Peter's Mother-in-law's house, where Jesus heals her, naturally made the story jump to life for me.

Being out in a boat of the Sea of Galilee hearing in my mind Jesus yell "be quiet!," and calming the storm, calmed something inside of me.  Walking the ruins of Chorazin, and remembering that for all of Jesus teaching and miracles they reject him, "Woe to you Chorazim and Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sack cloth and ashes" (Matthew 11:21), was sobering.

Looking up at the caves in the hillside where the demon-possessed man Legion was delivered for his spiritual bondage and set free to really live, was exhilarating.

The highlight, however was coming to the Arabel Pass.  You can see it from miles away.  On the northwestern corner of the Sea of Galilee is this cleft in the mountains.  This pass would have been the exact route Jesus would have walked when he left Nazareth and came to the Galilee to start his ministry.  It has a spring and a stream that flows all year long, and it leads into the town of Magdala where Jesus met and ministered to a lady named Mary, who would devote her life to following him.

What is great about the Pass is there are no roads through it, just a walking trail.  And to walk it feels like you are stepping back in time.  The rugged cliffs are the same that Jesus saw, the stream is the one Jesus drank from, the path is the one Jesus tread.  I found that I was ushered back in time.

But for all of the great things I saw, the places Jesus walked, and taught, where he healed and delivered, and called people to follow him, and the historical picture that these sites have imprinted on my brain, the greatest reflection I've had being here is I do not need to walk the Arbel Pass to journey with Jesus.

You see while Jesus is a historical figure, he is not merely historical.  As a friend reminded me,  He is alive today; which means he didn't just walk, he walks.  He didn't just teach, he teaches, he didn't just heal, he heals, he didn't just deliver, he delivers, he didn't just call, he calls.  And I am so profoundly grateful that the voice of Jesus was not confined to this little valley, to this tiny portion of the globe 2,000 years ago.

I told my church that the book of Acts starts with Luke reminding us that in his first book he told us "what Jesus began to do and teach" (Acts 1:1).  The clear indication is that Acts is the continuation of the work and ministry of Jesus by his Holy Spirit through his church.

Because that is true, it means I do not need to make a pilgrimage to the shores of the Galilee to hear him call me to drop my nets and follow him.

I do not need to camp out in the caves of Gerasenes to be delivered by him.

It means I do not have to stand at Calvary to feel the awesome magnitude of his death for me.  I do not need to visit the Garden Tomb to know that "He is Risen, He is Risen indeed!"

Why?  Because Jesus didn't just live, he lives.

So I'm grateful to walk his historical footsteps, not to try and find more of him, but because he has offered me all of himself already.

Hallelujah what a Savior. 

Mountainside I pray Christ meets with you powerfully in worship today.

Missing you,

Pastor Shawn