Day Three Video!



This has become quite a trip. I never really understood the concept of pilgrimage until today. It’s nice to think about a trip to Jerusalem, but I had no idea how meaningful it would be to actually take the Jericho Road and make my way there until today. We left Tiberias in the Galilee today & headed “up to Jerusalem.”

We stopped along the way for a dramatic baptism renewal service in the Jordan River. The River Jordan is not exactly “wide,” but it is most certainly “chilly.” In fact, it was FREEZING! My lips are still blue. I know why Wesley sprinkled & I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with theology. I mean, this was cold.

Seriously, it was an amazing experience. I have never shared in an immersion experience, and we had some 50 people reaffirm their baptism by immersion in the river. There were Christians from around the world doing the same. Lots of singing in multiple languages. To be truthful, I wasn’t sure what to expect here. I thought it might be a bit contrived, but it was truly a moving experience. To think about the work of John the Baptist along these shores is really something. It is not hard to imagine the context of their ministry when you are standing in the same river they baptized people in. And I’ll probably thaw out before I get home.

Then it was on to Qumran where a young Bedouin goat-herder accidentally stumbled upon a cave full of more than 900 first-century documents in 1947. These scrolls are still being evaluated, and they represent one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. The area was all desert – in fact, this area was about the only area that has looked like I thought it might. It reminds me of Luke Skywalker’s childhood home in the 1977 Star Wars. All sand & rocks, yet there are people living here & doing just fine. It looked like another planet, yet it came alive with history. The scrolls are so important in terms of verifying what we think we know about the earliest form of Christianity.

From there we went to Jericho, the oldest city on earth. This was our first entry into Palestinian controlled territory, complete with a pretty stark and well-armed border station. We certainly never felt unsafe, but it was a quick reminder of the political tension in the region. Both side have been warring over this piece of desert for a very long time, and the tension is alive and well. We had to drop Hill-el, our Israeli tour guide, off at a gas station outside of the town because Israeli law prohibits him from entering this region. I was reminded of how much I take our geographic freedom for granted back home. Jericho is as ancient as ancient gets. They are still excavating some of the oldest ruins in all of history. You can see the hilltop where Jesus was cast into the desert to be tempted & the ruins of the city walls destroyed when Joshua won the battle of Jericho. We ate a great lunch at a local restaurant & I spent way too much money on Dead Sea foot scrubbing lotion (don’t ask!). We also rode camels.

Then, the pilgrimage went into high gear. We left Jericho & headed towards Jerusalem. Along the way drove through miles of unbelievable desert just the other side of Jordan. Nothing but wide open ranges of sand & rocks. It’s hard to imagine a drop of water ever falling here, but I was amazed at how much the locals maximize the land – growing date palms & tending to sheep. The rode parallels the Dead Sea, the lowest elevation on planet earth. (We’ll see the Dead Sea first hand in a couple of day.) We passed by the region represented in Jesus’ parable of the wounded Samaritan. Reading Psalm 23 in the middle of this desert takes on a whole new meaning.

Arrival into Jerusalem could not have been more dramatic. We had “Jerusalem” blaring on the PA as we emerged from the tunnel that brings you from the desert into the city. You emerge from the desert into a whole new landscape – lush, hilly & green with olive trees – & suddenly there it is! The city is nothing short of awesome – in the truest sense of the word. It’s fabulous. You can see the walls that Herod built 2,000 years ago. The city shouts with history. The Garden of Gethsemane of your left. The Wailing wall right around the corner. We went atop Mt. Scopus to look down upon the city before we entered. We worshipped while looking down upon the temple mount, the Dome of the Rock, the Garden of Gethsemane, etc. Then we drove immediately into the city to see the Western Wall at dusk. Today is the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath & there were thousands of Orthodox Jews & people from around the world descending upon the wall to begin the Sabbath. I have never seen a pep rally quite like this – particularly for matters of faith. Thousands were chanting & singing, reciting scripture, praying, crying, laughing, you name it. They were descending upon the last true remnant of Herod’s temple –a huge wall that made up the western side of the Second Temple, constructed in 19 BCE. I had no idea what to expect here, but I cannot begin to describe how intense the experience was. To see thousands of people so authentically fired up about their faith. It was truly something. Glory be to God for the day! We’ll post some more video soon.

By the way, you can check out a live web cam of the Wall anytime at: http://www.aish.com/wallcam/

you can mess around with the zoom & imagine us there with thousands of people