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HOLY LAND REFLECTIONS
June 17, A.D. 2008
Our Pilgrimage Begins
In
the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named
Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of
David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings.
O favored one, the Lord is with you!” … And the angel said to her, Do not be
afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive
in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus (Luke
1:26-28, 30-31).
Some two dozen of us sat in
chairs circled on the moonlit deck of the Ron Beach Hotel in Tiberias on the
western side of the Sea of Galilee. The Tuesday dinner had been both delicious
and filling, and we were now relaxing in the breezy warmth of an early summer
evening. Our tour leader Neil Lebhar, Rector of Redeemer Anglican in Jacksonville,
Florida, had asked us to share about how God had led us to be here studying
“The Life and World of Jesus” on the eve of the Global Anglican Future
Conference (GAFCON).
We’re a group truly
representative of the body of Christ: laity, spouses, seminarians, and clergy
to include Bishop Bill Murdoch, Rector of All Saints Anglican, Amesbury,
Massachusetts; Geoff Chapman, Rector of St. Stephen’s in Sewickley,
Pennsylvania; and William Beasley, Rector of Church of the Redeemer in
Glenview, Illinois. Our tour guide is Kish-Kush, a Jewish believer. She’s a
passionate follower and teacher of the Lord Jesus. Our bus driver is Beshara, a
Palestinian Christian.
Two days of travel to
include a Sunday overnight flight to Tel Aviv had left us tired but eager to
see what the Lord would show us on our pilgrimage. We spent Monday night in
Netanya on the Mediterranean Sea and tried to catch up on our sleep to be ready
for touring this morning.
We started in Caesarea,
where in the midst of Rome’s grandeur Pontius Pilate had made his home and
offices. It had been more than grand in its day with an amphitheater, a
hippodrome, and a harbor to accommodate over 300 ships. It was here in the
midst of Roman decadence and cruelty that God had moved the centurion Cornelius
to send emissaries to the Apostle Peter in Joppa so that he might come down to
Caesarea to tell him and his household all “that he had been commanded by the
Lord” (Acts 10: 33). And so the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles. This mighty
act of God would lead to the spread of the saving Gospel throughout the known
world.
Then we traveled to Mount
Carmel overlooking the Jezreel Valley and contemplated another mighty act of
God as we could picture the prophet Elijah defeating the prophets of Baal in a
fiery demonstration of the One True God’s power and sovereignty (1 Kings
18:38). From Mount Carmel one can see in the distance other historic mountains
of God at work to include Moreh, Gilboa, Tabor, Gilead.
In the afternoon we would
ponder perhaps the mightiest act of God as we relived the angel Gabriel’s
annunciation to the young Virgin Mary that she would bear a son and call his
name Jesus. That God would come down to us in the Person of his Son who would
save us from our sins is the miracle of the Incarnation, the Word made flesh.
Nazareth was a very small town in the time of Jesus, and this site is
considered to be truly authentic. The magnificent Church of the Annunciation
pictured above marks this event that changed the course of human history.
God’s power and faithfulness
of behalf of his people became ever more real to us as we sat together tonight
at the Sea of Galilee. Why had God called each one of us here at this
particular time and in this particular place? The scandal of particularity
always comes round again. Why the Jews? Why Joseph and Mary? Why two dozen
pilgrims sharing and praying together at the Ron Beach Hotel? What mighty acts
does God have in store for us? What does he have in store for one thousand
participants at the Global Anglican Future Conference? What does he have in
store for each of you?
Your brother in Jesus the Christ,
Jim McCaslin+