This morning, after sampling the lavish breakfast buffet at our hotel, we boarded the bus for our ride to Nazareth, city of Jesus' childhood. After winding through streets that were clearly not built for large buses, we arrived at the Basilica of the Annunciation, which honors the visit of the angel to Mary to inform her of God's plans for her to bear Jesus, the Son of God.
The basilica is a massive church, with a cathedral-like sanctuary on the upper floor and a gallery below, with steps down to a chapel next to a grotto, where we saw rock dating back to the time of Jesus. As we wandered through the building, we admired artwork submitted from countries all over the world, depicting the annunciation or the Mother and Child. We also encountered pilgrim groups from many other countries, hearing tour groups speaking French, German, Spanish, or other languages as we passed. Both were reminders of how our experience here not only ties us to the land and culture of the Bible, but to the body of Christ throughout the world.
Afterwards, we visited a local Greek Catholic church--the same one Pastor Said's family attended during his years in Nazareth. In the simple stone chapel, reconstructed in the crusader style of an earlier building, we listened to Jesus' words to the congregation in Nazareth, declaring himself to be the Messiah who would come to bring healing, peace and salvation to the whole world.
Some of us continued our walk through the narrow streets of the old city to see Pastor Said's family home and to hear some of his memories of growing up in Nazareth.
We met up with the remainder of the group at Mary's well, site of the old spring that likely was the water source for the village of Nazareth during Jesus' time. Now, an Orthodox church marks the location. After spending a little time at the church, we boarded the bus again and said goodbye--so soon!--to the city.
Our next stop was Sepphoris, an excavation site of the Roman city that was the capital of Galilee during Jesus' time and possibly a place where Joseph would have found employment as a carpenter--the city was under considerable construction at that time. After a vigorous (read: hot!) walk through the site, we were ready for lunch, which we shared in the village of Cana. No one turned our bottled water into wine, but we did sample local street foods like falafel (mashed chickpeas with spices) and shawerma (Middle Easter gyros).
We then headed out to Mount Tabor, traditional site of the Transfiguration of Jesus, and saw it looming above the nearby towns. Shuttles took us to the top--all of us, even the baby stroller!--to the beautiful church, where we read the Transfiguration story from Luke 9 and joined hands to sing the doxology and pray the Lord's Prayer. It gave new meaning to the phrase a capella, as our harmony echoed throughout the building even after we had finished speaking!
Our ride down the mountain was made sweeter by the tasting of various kinds of baklava, a welcome gift from Pastor Gabi's parents, who will be hosting us for lunch tomorrow. We stopped in Tiberius to see St. Peter's Greek Catholic Church, where Pastor Said's father and Pastor Gabi's grandfather were baptized. The small, modest church was abandoned for decades, and now is being used again and renovated, in part as a shelter and resource for the homeless. Pastor Gabi chanted part of the liturgy and prayed in Arabic before we left, to finally arrive back at the hotel. After dinner, some of the group rested, while others of us walked out to the shore of the lake for a nightcap and conversation about our experience so far. Looking out across the Sea of Galilee in the dark, seeing the stars and the lights on the far side, and talking about our experiences made for a perfect ending to our time in Tiberius.
Tomorrow, we travel to Pastor Gabi's hometown, Eilaboun, for a tour and lunch with his and Pastor Meghan's family. By tomorrow night we will be checking in from the holy city... Jerusalem!
Peace from your friends in the Holy Land
The basilica is a massive church, with a cathedral-like sanctuary on the upper floor and a gallery below, with steps down to a chapel next to a grotto, where we saw rock dating back to the time of Jesus. As we wandered through the building, we admired artwork submitted from countries all over the world, depicting the annunciation or the Mother and Child. We also encountered pilgrim groups from many other countries, hearing tour groups speaking French, German, Spanish, or other languages as we passed. Both were reminders of how our experience here not only ties us to the land and culture of the Bible, but to the body of Christ throughout the world.
Afterwards, we visited a local Greek Catholic church--the same one Pastor Said's family attended during his years in Nazareth. In the simple stone chapel, reconstructed in the crusader style of an earlier building, we listened to Jesus' words to the congregation in Nazareth, declaring himself to be the Messiah who would come to bring healing, peace and salvation to the whole world.
Some of us continued our walk through the narrow streets of the old city to see Pastor Said's family home and to hear some of his memories of growing up in Nazareth.
We met up with the remainder of the group at Mary's well, site of the old spring that likely was the water source for the village of Nazareth during Jesus' time. Now, an Orthodox church marks the location. After spending a little time at the church, we boarded the bus again and said goodbye--so soon!--to the city.
Our next stop was Sepphoris, an excavation site of the Roman city that was the capital of Galilee during Jesus' time and possibly a place where Joseph would have found employment as a carpenter--the city was under considerable construction at that time. After a vigorous (read: hot!) walk through the site, we were ready for lunch, which we shared in the village of Cana. No one turned our bottled water into wine, but we did sample local street foods like falafel (mashed chickpeas with spices) and shawerma (Middle Easter gyros).
We then headed out to Mount Tabor, traditional site of the Transfiguration of Jesus, and saw it looming above the nearby towns. Shuttles took us to the top--all of us, even the baby stroller!--to the beautiful church, where we read the Transfiguration story from Luke 9 and joined hands to sing the doxology and pray the Lord's Prayer. It gave new meaning to the phrase a capella, as our harmony echoed throughout the building even after we had finished speaking!
Our ride down the mountain was made sweeter by the tasting of various kinds of baklava, a welcome gift from Pastor Gabi's parents, who will be hosting us for lunch tomorrow. We stopped in Tiberius to see St. Peter's Greek Catholic Church, where Pastor Said's father and Pastor Gabi's grandfather were baptized. The small, modest church was abandoned for decades, and now is being used again and renovated, in part as a shelter and resource for the homeless. Pastor Gabi chanted part of the liturgy and prayed in Arabic before we left, to finally arrive back at the hotel. After dinner, some of the group rested, while others of us walked out to the shore of the lake for a nightcap and conversation about our experience so far. Looking out across the Sea of Galilee in the dark, seeing the stars and the lights on the far side, and talking about our experiences made for a perfect ending to our time in Tiberius.
Tomorrow, we travel to Pastor Gabi's hometown, Eilaboun, for a tour and lunch with his and Pastor Meghan's family. By tomorrow night we will be checking in from the holy city... Jerusalem!
Peace from your friends in the Holy Land
Comments