Tuesday, March 8, 2011

It's 3am in Israel and I Can't Sleep...

We’re having an amazing time in Israel.  I cannot believe how many items we have already crammed in to the two full days we have spent here.  The only downside to our trip thus far is that Israel is seven hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone and I am really having a hard time adjusting.  It is currently 2:11am as I write this entry from the beautiful lobby of the Gai Beach Resort in Tiberius.   Each night since we arrived I have awoke between 2 and 3am, only to toss and turn for 2-3 hours.  So, this morning I have opted to blog a bit.

Just 50 yards from my windows is the Sea of Galilee, which is the site of so many wonderful moments in the Bible.  This is the region of Galilee, not far from Nazareth and the largest body of water in the northern Israel region.  It is on this very body of water that Jesus called the disciples away from being fishers of local fish to become fishers of men throughout the Mediterranean region and beyond.   And, it is most famously where Jesus walked on the water and beckoned Simon Peter towards him.   Christians well know the story (Luke 14) of Peter’s brief demonstration of faith in making several steps on the water himself before succumbing to his own disbelief and being rescued by Jesus on to the boat.

So, it was quite a privilege this morning to take a similar boat out on to the Sea of Galilee and imagine that perhaps just one drop of the water that touched Jesus also resided in this body of water.  Later in the day, while others were resting before dinner, I snuck away and quietly entered a private beach area and completely immersed myself in the Sea of Galilee.  I wanted to say I had done it and yes, I secretly hoped from some secret powers upon coming to the surface.  Alas, I DID sunk and was also unable to walk on the water.  But it was a thrill to connect with Christ this way.

Later that morning we visited the beautiful Church of The Beatitudes.  This church is high upon a hill on the north side of the Sea.  It is built on the traditional site where Christ drew away to a mountain top and shared a series of “Blesseds” to those less fortunate of the world.  My brother Mark – a pastor who is also on this trip – was able to stand in the foreground of the church and read aloud from Matthew 5.  Instead of the word “blessed” he substituted the word “exuberant”, in accordance with a lecture we had heard moments before.  Try and read the Matthew 5 passage with that word and it is even more exciting.

Church of The Beatitudes
Let me pause for a moment and confront a regular point of confusion for the average American Christian.  The CHURCH of the Beatitudes is a Catholic Church, not a synagogue.  One might wonder, while we are here in the land of the Israelites, why so many Catholic churches exist.  Israel has a long history of being conquered and occupied.  After Christ’s time, the Romans continued to occupy Palestine into the reign of Constantine, aka the Byzantine era.  During this time, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches are very prevalent and still remain today.  As well, the Hellenistic and Roman influence throughout the region cannot be overstated.  I very much feel as if  I am in Europe at this point of the trip, as so many of the ruins very much mirror those I have seen in pictures of Greece and Rome.

For those of you who are curious, from Christ’ time forward, the following occupations have existed, with approximate times thereafter. I think this chart really helps show why there is such diversity of architecture, construction and art in Palestine.
Roman (~300 AD)
Byzantine (~600 AD)
Islamic (~900 AD)
Crusaders (~1100 AD)
Mameluke (~1300 AD)
Ottoman (~1500 AD)
British (~1900 AD)
Israeli (1948 AD)
 

Later in our day we visited the ruins of Caesarea Philippi in Northern Israel.  It was my privilege to read aloud the Matthew 16 account of Peter’s Great Confession.  While Catholics and Protestants certainly differ on their interpretation of this passage, reading these words aloud in the same site where they were spoken at least provided some great context to the passage.  The site is built on a GIANT rock, some 1200 feet tall, and also includes the Grotto of Pan.  Large rocks dot the landscape.  So, when Jesus speaks of “this rock”, we at least can all agree that there were plenty of real ones for the disciples to gaze upon when Peter makes his great confession.




There is so much more I could write, but I am thankfully growing weary and want to sleep.  Also, I know this blog is kind of sloppy and not very well edited.  Forgive me, I am slightly jet lagged!  I hope this small blog gives you a fraction of the excitement we are feeling here in the Holy Land.  In just five short hours we will sojourn south to the site of Beit-Shean, and then to the Dead Sea, where we will be able to swim before checking into the Dead Sea Hotel.  And then, on to Jerusalem for four days! 

God’s blessings to you!  Talk to you AfterWords.


Synagogue at Casearea Philippi.