HOLY LAND REFLECTIONS

June 19, A.D. 2008

Around the Sea of Galilee

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51).

Two days of teaching, study, and touring around the Sea of Galilee have immersed us fully into the “Life and World of Jesus.” To walk where Jesus walked and to see the world that He saw are key reasons for actually coming to the Holy Land. Geography shapes history, while history and the intermingling of cultures shape theology.

So much of the life and ministry of Jesus took place in the Galilee area. Based out of his adopted hometown and operational headquarters in Capernaum on the northern end of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus would live out the words of the prophet Isaiah (61:1-2) that he read from Moses’ seat in a Galilean synagogue. The Holy Spirit of the Lord would indeed be upon him as the one anointed to come and “proclaim good news to the poor and liberty to the captives, to restore sight to the blind, and to set the captives free while proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). Capernaum was set on the Via Maris (the Way of the Sea), a major crossroads of trade and travel coming up from the Nile in the South and over to the Tigris and Euphrates in the East. What a strategic spot that God chose as a base camp for the saving Good News of Jesus to be spread to the corners of the earth.

From Capernaum it was not far to the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus preached His famous sermon on the probable site shown above looking down from the Mount toward Lake Gennesarat (another name for the Sea of Galilee). The strategic area known as the Golan Heights lies to the north. Here we saw the place known as Caesarea Philippi, where Peter confessed Jesus as the “Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16).

The most amazing spot for me though was the mountain range shown here known as Mount Hermon. This area is the most probable site for the Transfiguration, which is described in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9. Here we experience the glorification of Jesus in the presence of Peter, James, and John along with Moses and Elijah. The powerful testimony of the Father affirms Jesus as Messiah once again: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him” (Luke 9:7). With Moses and Elijah present, two experts on unusual departures from this earth, they talked about Jesus’ “departure (exodus), which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem.” Jesus came into the world to save sinners. To do that, He had to go to Jerusalem to be crucified and then resurrected on the third day. And so His ministry of teaching and healing would begin to come to an end. To be obedient to the will of His Father, He “set his face to go to Jerusalem.”

To set one’s face is to focus on a mission with such strength of commitment that nothing will stand in the way. So it was with Jesus, and so it must be for each of His disciples. We pilgrims too have set our faces toward Jerusalem. We’ve learned afresh that setting one’s face requires sacrifice. In our case, the sacrifice has been primarily daring to exit our air-conditioned tour bus to brave the 100-degree heat and sun to visit the historic sites. We appreciate anew the criticality of water to sustain life and the life-giving joy of shade that can be found under a tree or in the cleft of a rock.

We learned yesterday that the GAFCON pilgrimage leadership and planning group that had begun meeting in Jordan began traveling to Jerusalem as well, also by bus. When problems arose with Archbishop Akinola’s visa, the planning group set their faces toward Jerusalem a few days sooner than planned.

I delighted in reading “The Way, the Truth, and the Life,” the theological document for the GAFCON pilgrims that was embargoed until yesterday but leaked early by someone as usually happens. Network and Common Cause Moderator Bishop Bob Duncan of Pittsburgh also gave us encouraging words in his Opening Plenary Address to the Planning Group in Jordan titled “Anglicanism Come of Age: A Post-Colonial and Global Communion for the 21st Century.” The 14-page document was indeed profound. It was heartening to read his words of promise for our hope and our future. The Common Cause Partnership, he stated, is already building what is necessary “for a common future, a federation of jurisdictions within a united and recognizable Anglican Province.”

May we all set our faces to the work God has “given us to do, to love and serve him as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord. To him, the Father, and to the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.”   

Your brother in Jesus the Christ,                                 

Jim McCaslin+