Center for Informed Faith

It is a privilege for the Center for informed Faith to sponsor this bible study tour to Israel. Over the coming days our group will see places of beauty and splendor like Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee. We will travel to ancient and historic sites like Mt. Carmel, Capernaum, and Caesarea Philippi where Peter made his great confession that Jesus "is the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt. 16.16).

After two days of travel from the United States to Israel, we began our Holy Land Study Tour with a visit to Caesarea Maritime, the Roman headquarters in the region of Judea. Here Herod the Great built a magnificent palace, hippodrome (arena for chariot races), and theater seating 4,000. Paul the Apostle docked here on returning from his second and third missionary journeys; he was imprisoned here for two years as well.

We began our day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, where we viewed the setting for the vast majority of Jesus' public ministry. Then we considered the episode of Matthew 14—one of the great miracles of Jesus' ministry, and an event which unfolded on the very waters beneath our boat. Here Jesus walked on the water to his disciples, and called Peter to do the same in faith. If you want to walk on the water, you have to get out of the boat.

We began our day by touring the Roman capital of Jesus' home province. Sepphoris was a major city, with perhaps 50,000 inhabitants, located two miles from Nazareth. Given the tiny size of Nazareth (10 families, perhaps), it is likely that Jesus came to Sepphoris for work with his father, and for social reasons as well. This possibility makes Sepphoris a city of great interest for Christians.

We began our very rainy and cold day by journeying to the Upper Room. Located directly above the Tomb of King David on Mount Zion, it commemorates the Last Supper and the miracle of Pentecost. The Crusaders built the present structure in the 12^th century as part of the Church of St. Mary of Zion. The site was restored by the Franciscans in the 14^th century before being converted to a mosque by Muslims in 1524. Since the establishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948, Christians have been allowed to return to the room for worship.

We reviewed the biblical texts which describe the Last Supper and Pentecost miracle, and focused on the need for us to be as controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit as were the disciples on the day of Pentecost. Each of us is called by God to begin our day in surrender to him, asking his Spirit to guide and control us (Ephesians 5:18). Only in this way can we walk and serve in the power of his Spirit, doing God's work in God's strength.

We spent the morning on the Mount of Olives and in the Garden of Gethsemane. "Gethsemane" comes from two Hebrew words meaning "olive press." It was a large area in Jesus' day. Here our Lord chose to die for us.

The wilderness of Judea

Today we traveled through the wilderness of Judea to Masada and the Dead Sea. We drove by Bedouin shepherd camps into the wilderness to the east of Jerusalem. Here Jesus went after his baptism to be alone with his Father. And here the tempter came and said, "If (since) you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." The stones here are small, round, sun-bleached; they look like the bread of Jesus' day. But Jesus refused, choosing instead to live by the word and will of God.

Here is also the setting for Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10). The Samaritans were hated by the Jews, so that it was culturally unacceptable that a Samaritan would be the hero of this story. But he was. We are all called to help those in need, even at risk and cost to ourselves.

Gordon's Calvary and the Garden Tomb

In 1883, Major-General Charles Gordon noticed a skull-like rocky escarpment now located behind a Palestinian bus station. In the area was discovered an ancient wine press, cistern, and empty tomb. Many scholars have since concluded that this is a likely site of Jesus' crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Here we considered Jesus' death and resurrection from historical and spiritual perspectives.