La Jolla United Methodist Church Holy Land Pilgrimage 2017

“The Infirmary Tour”

Arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv – 1/31/17 After 21 hours of travel from San Diego through Newark to Tel Aviv, we were greeted at the airport arrival terminal by our guide, Nader Mascobi. The airport interior is modern and beautiful; evocative of the architecture of Solomon’s Temple.

Netanya – 2/1/17 We spent the night at the Ramada Inn in Netanya, a modern city north of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast. The first day in Israel was windy and cold, but beautiful.

Caesarea Maritima Our first stop was the ancient Roman city of Caesarea, built by King Herod at the height of his power between 29-22 BC on the site of an even more ancient Phoenician Port. This Israeli national park sits on the Sharon Plain on the old Via Maris – an ancient trade route along the Mediterranean Sea dating to the Bronze Age and linking Egypt with Mesopotamia and the northern empires in Syria and Anatolia. The city was dedicated by Herod to Augustus Caesar, the Roman Emperor. The ruins feature a Roman theater, Herodian palace, Crusader-era citadel, and Roman aqueduct. The city prospered under Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader rule until its destruction in the 13th century by the Mamelukes. The half submerged walls at the water’s edge are the remains of Herod’s palace. The harbor constructed here by Herod was believed to be the first use of underwater cement. The aqueduct brought fresh water to the city from Mountain Carmel.

Mount Tabor We visited Mount Tabor, about six miles east of Nazareth and one of the sites thought to be the location of the Transfiguration. (Mark 9:9-13)

On the way to Mount Tabor, we passed cave tombs with circular stones used to cover the entrance that date to the 1st century AD, and that look much like the type of tomb Jesus was buried in.

Tel Megiddo This is an ancient fortified town at the head of the Jezreel Valley; the scene of many battles. The Jezreel Valley and the Via Maris were not only trade routes linking Africa, Asia, and Europe, but also routes of conquest for invading armies – Canaanite, Egyptian, Jewish, Babylonian, Assyrian, Roman, Sasanian, and Muslim – over several millennia. The site was already a fortified city in the 3rd millennium BC. Extensive excavation of the mound or “tel” reveals 20 successive settlements, each built one over the other, often reusing the same building materials. The Biblical name “Armageddon” from Revelations derives from “Har Megedon” or the mountain of Megiddo.

While at Megiddo, we also saw a stone manger of the type the Baby Jesus would have been laid in by Mary after his birth. (Luke 2:7)

Nazareth We visited Nazareth, famous as the site of the Annunciation and the childhood of Jesus. The old portion of Nazareth, where Jesus lived in his boyhood, is the site of the Basilica of the Annunciation.

In Nazareth, we saw ruins of a 1st century AD house in the

neighborhood where Jesus would have lived.

Tiberias – 2/2/17 During our time near the Sea of Galilee, we stayed at the Caesar Hotel in Tiberias, the largest town on the lake. The town was founded by Herod Antipas during Roman times and was dedicated to the emperor Tiberius. Sea of Galilee As we drove north around the Sea of Galilee, we stopped at Mount Arbel and walked a bit of the Valley of the Doves. This valley would have been a path walked by Jesus and his disciples as he traveled through the Galilee. We saw caves carved in the side of Mount Arbel where Jewish Zealots hid in an attempt to resist the Romans.

We stopped at Kibbutz Nof Ginosar where there is a museum on the shore of the lake featuring a 2000-year-old boat of the type Jesus and the disciples would have fished from. Pastor Walt and Pastor Diane practiced “fishing for men” near the boat.

We also got our first good look at the Sea of Galilee (for those of us who were not up at dawn to take a morning run in Tiberias). We took a boat ride on the lake.

We also held a brief worship service on the boat, reading the story from the Gospel of John of Jesus’ appearance to the disciples after the resurrection, as the disciples fished on the lake. (John 21)

One of the boat crew fished as the disciples would have, casting a

net over the waters.

And Debbie was the lucky recipient of a (fake) fish, caught in the net – complete with coin in mouth. (Matthew 17:24-27)

We visited the Church of the Beatitudes, located where it is thought Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5-7)

We also visited Tabgha and the Church of the Fish and Loaves, the traditional site of the feeding of the 5,000. (Luke 9:1 The rock where Jesus might have placed the fish and loaves to bless them before feeding the multitude is located under the altar of the church.

A natural amphitheater with acoustics that would allow Jesus to

address the multitude without voice amplification is located near the site and overlooking Galilee.

Nearby to the east on the lakeshore is the Church of the Primacy of Peter. A Franciscan chapel marks the spot where Jesus is said to have appeared to the disciples after his resurrection.

We saw beautiful statues of Christ and Peter.

Magdala We visited Magdala, once the home of Mary Magdalene. (Luke 8:1) An extensive archeological dig was underway that revealed a 1st century synagogue where Jesus may have taught during his ministry in the Galilee.

Capernaum This place was the center of Jesus’ ministry in the Galilee and was an important Roman town in the 1st century AD. It also was the home to a number of his disciples, including Simon Peter. We saw ruins of houses from the period of Jesus’ ministry, as well as a church built over

the ruins of what is believed to be a “house church” located in Simon Peter’s mother-in-law’s house. We also saw a 1st century synagogue.

We passed through the area of Bethsaida where the Apostles Phillip, Andrew, Peter – and possibly James and John – lived. This is a place where warm spring water runs into a small bay of the Galilee making it a great place to fish. This is also where Jesus healed a blind man. (Mark 18:22-26)

We ended our day at the Jordan River baptismal site. (Matthew 3)

Tel Dan and the Golan Heights – 2/3/17 We drove to Tel Dan to see ancient ruins and an altar dating to King Jeroboam I. (I Kings 12:25-30) We saw the old entry to the city where the king would have sat in judgment (and where Walt stood).

This is a representation of what the altar at Dan might have looked like in the days of King Jeroboam. We also saw an inscription on the Tel Dan Stele referencing the House of David – confirmation of the historical reality of King David’s rein over Israel in about 1000 BC.

The magnificent city gate of Dan has been excavated. The gate dates to the time of Abraham and his arrival in Canaan around 1876 BC.

We stopped at the Hermon Stream Nature Reserve near Mount Hermon, the highest mountain in the Holy Land, in the Golan Heights.

We hiked to the Sanctuary of Pan, an ancient cultic site.

As we drove through the Golan Heights, we were able to see into Syria and Jordan – a reminder of what a small area the Holy Land is and how small a country Israel is (about 150 miles long and 50 miles wide). This is the view into the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from a portion of the Golan Heights occupied by Israel in 1967 during the Six Day War.

We ended the day at the amazing ruins of Beit Shean, a city continuously inhabited for over 5,000 years until its destruction in an earthquake in 749 AD. Originally occupied by the Canaanites, the city saw successive occupations by Egyptians, Philistines, Jews under Solomon, and Greeks under Alexander the Great, who renamed it Scythopolis. Conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC, the city prospered as one of the ten city-states of the Decapolis. Beit Shean is where the Philistines hung the bodies of King Saul and his sons from the city walls. (I Samuel 31).

Qumran, Masada, Dead Sea and Jericho – 2/4/17 This was one of our longer driving days, and the day when the Brown Bus temporarily went down with mechanical problems. EO did a wonderful job of providing back up transportation to keep us going.

Qumran is the site of a 1st century Essenes community where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd. A complete scroll of the Book of Isaiah was found at Qumran that is virtually identical to the version found in the Old Testament. That scroll is now kept in the Israel Museum in the Shrine of the Book. We also visited Masada, the remarkable mountaintop fortress overlooking the Dead Sea built by Herod in the last century BC. The fortress passed into Roman hands after his death. The fortress then passed into Jewish hands after the Zealot revolt beginning in 66 AD. The Romans suppressed the rebellion, destroying the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. Masada was besieged by the Romans for over two years before the walls were breached in 73 AD. The Zealots committed suicide before the Roman’s siege engine allowed them to breach the walls and reclaim the fortress.

We rode a cable car, seen here, to the top of Masada.

From this view from Masada, one can see the Dead Sea in the background and ruins of the Roman siege camps in the foreground.

A view of the walls of Herod’s Palace on top of Masada and colorful wall paintings inside a bath house of the palace.

This is a model of Masada as it may have appeared in Herod the Great’s time. The lower structures are Herod’s “Hanging Palace” – part of the Northern Palace complex that was Herod’s private residence. We then drove to the Dead Sea - the lowest place on earth - for a float in the highly saline waters.

We ended our day in Jericho, the oldest continuously inhabited city on Earth. This was the city Joshua conquered from the Canaanites in 1400 BC. (Joshua 6:20)

We were awed by the amazing antiquity of Jericho. This is a view the “Tower of Jericho” dating to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Era around the 8th century BC. Jericho was also the place for camel rides on Sam the Camel, where Rita Maher and Diane Davis became expert camel jockeys.

And the place where Sherry Ashbaugh was crowned “Queen of Jericho”.

During our visit to the Jerusalem area, we stayed at the Olive Tree Hotel in the American Colony area of Jerusalem.

In the center of the lobby area was a 3,000-year-old Olive Tree; a tree old enough that King David might have played his harp in its shade.

Bethlehem, Ein Karem, Israel Museum & Emmaus – 2/5/17 We passed into the West Bank for a visit to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. We drove past shepherd’s fields where flocks still graze on the rugged hillsides.

We passed by a Palestinian refugee camp and walls built by the Israelis to protect against terror attacks; reminders of the constant tensions that Jews and Palestinians live with in the region.

We visited the Herodian to the south of Bethlehem. This was a fortified palace built by Herod the Great between 24 and 15 BC on a volcano-like mound. This also is the burial place of Herod.

The Herodion also became the headquarters of the Jewish leader

Bar-Kokhba during the second Jewish revolt against the Romans in 132-135 AD.

We traveled into Jerusalem and visited the Israel Museum where we saw a one tenth scale model of Jerusalem as it would have appeared in Jesus’ time – the 1st century AD.

We visited Ein Karem, the birthplace of John the Baptist, and the Franciscan Church of St John the Baptist.

Ein Karem also is the place where Mary is thought to have visited her relative Elizabeth, mother of John. We toured the Church of the Visitation, an Antonio Barluzzi-designed church with beautiful mosaics.

We finished the day in Emmaus where Jesus appeared to two disciples after his resurrection.

Jerusalem – 2/6/17 We began the day on the Mount of Olives on the eastern side of Jerusalem, overlooking the city.

The Mount of Olives is the place of Christ’s ascension into heaven forty days after his resurrection. (Acts 1:9-12)

We walked the path down the Mount of Olives toward Jerusalem that Jesus took on Palm Sunday in his triumphal procession into the city, passing ancient Jewish burial grounds along the way. We visited a church marking the place where Jesus wept over the City of Jerusalem.

At the base of the Mount of Olives in the Kidron Valley, we visited the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed before his betrayal. (Matthew 26:36)

We continued to Mount Zion to visit the Teaching Steps at the base of the Temple Mount where Jesus taught. On the way, we walked along the walls of the Temple Mount and through narrow streets within the city.

We sat on the Teaching Steps at the exit from the Temple Mount where Jesus taught.

And we stood at the place of exit from the Temple Mount used by the poor – the exit Jesus would have used and where he walked.

We visited the Western Wall (“Wailing Wall”) of the Temple Mount and said prayers there.

The Western Wall is Judaism’s holiest site, and a permanent place of worship. The wall is part of the retaining wall of the Temple Mount built by Herod the Great during the expansion of the Temple enclosure in 37-4 BC. Written prayers are placed in the wall by worshipers.

We saw a room, much like the Upper Room where Jesus and the Disciples celebrated Passover before his crucifixion and resurrection.

In the street outside the Upper Room (on King David street) was a beautiful statute of King David playing his harp.

Our walk next took us to a beautiful chapel commemorating Peter’s denial of Jesus – St. Peter in Gallicantu. This is the traditional site in the courtyard of Caiaphas’ house where Peter denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed. (Mark 14:72)

These photos are of portions of the beautiful doors and ceiling of the Church.

Within Caiaphas’ house, we saw the sacred pit where Jesus was held the night before he was brought before Pontius Pilate.

Jerusalem – 2/7/17 Our final day in Jerusalem, we started with a tour of the Temple Mount (known to Muslims as the Nobel Sanctuary). This is a holy site to the world’s three Abrahamic religions – Jews because it is the location of the first and second Temples, Muslims because tradition holds that Mohammed ascended into heaven here, and Christians because Jesus issued his challenge against the Temple authorities before his arrest, and worshipped and taught here.

We walked on to the ruins of the Pool of Bethesda, near St. Anne’s Church. This is believed to the the location where Jesus healed a paralyzed man. (John 5:1-31)

We stopped at the Sanctuary of the Flagellation, believed to have been built on the site where Jesus was flogged after Pilate condemned him to death. (John 19:1) We next visited the Chapel of the Condemnation and Lithostrotos where Pilate is believed to have handed Jesus over to be crucified. (John 19:13-16)

A floor stone from the Lithostrotos dating to the 1st century AD.

The group then walked the Via Dolorosa, the path Jesus likely walked to his crucifixion on Golgotha. We stopped at the traditional stations of the cross along the way.

The “Ecce Homo” arch above the Via Dolorosa marking the place where it is believed Jesus was sentenced by Pilate. (John 19:13)

One of the stations of the cross on the Via Dolorosa

Our path along the way of the cross brought us to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on what is believed to be Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified, the tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea, where he was buried, and the place of his resurrection. (John 19-20)

The stone of unction where Jesus was prepared for burial

Our last stop was at the Garden Tomb, a site near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We celebrated communion in a lovely garden near ancient tombs of the same type where Jesus was buried.

Group Photos

Our Tour Guide, Nader Muscobi

Nader and Ayat, our bus driver

Sherry Ashbaugh, Deborah Butera, and Christie Maher - Miggido

Rita Maher, Betsy Del Pozo, Debbie and Walt Dilg - The Galilee

A lunch of “Peter’s fish” - The Galilee. From left around the table to right, Betsy Del Pozo, Gene Blickenstaff, Denise Blickenstaff, Rita Maher, Diane Davis, Christie Maher, Deborah

Butera, Sherry Ashbaugh, Walt Dilg, and Debbie Dilg

The Teaching Steps - Jerusalem

Walt Dilg, Christie Maher, Don Rushing, Rita Maher Sherry Ashbaugh, Diane Davis, Betsey Del Pozo, Deborah Butera

Having made the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, we now have a deep appreciation for why the land is referred to as “The Fifth Gospel”. The Holy Land is mysterious, historic, archeologically rich, and spiritually inspiring. The opportunity to “walk where Jesus walked” was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Blessings, Don Rushing