Where do you go from a place so doused in history, doused in
culture, doused with empires—a place where, if you shut your eyes, you can
envision the busy harbor, the busting markets, the joy and happiness, the wars,
the tragedy, the rebuilding, the ground we stood on rising once again like the
Phoenix from the ashes—how about to one of the most holy and special places in
the world . . . Nazareth.
Nazareth-- the hometown of Jesus . . . the place He lived
30, of His 33, years. My mind was blown. My thoughts raced. My spirits soared.
As we pulled up to the town square to get off the bus, all I could think of was
His footprints were all over this town—literally. I activated my imagination
and pictured little Yeshua/Jesus—like seen in the movie “Young Messiah”—maybe
run to the well for his parents Mary and Joseph to get water, go buy something
at the market or just playing with his friends. Who knows maybe He played “Hide
and Go Seek,” raced down the dirt streets, splashed each other at the spring
like kids do.
In my near 41 years on earth, my journey had never crossed
with my Savior’s. Sure in my heart, in my mind, in my spirit, there had been a
beautiful intersection of His life and mine, His Love, His forgiveness, His
Grace, but never where He actually walked. That fact wasn’t lost on me as I
fought the temptation of being in tourist mode and treating this place like just
another place.
This would not be the first time I would have to fight this
fight. When your days start at 6 a.m. and you don’t reach the hotel until 6
p.m., going in non-stop, break-neck fashion, and you’re taking so many pictures
it would make National Geographic blush, if we weren’t careful, like grains of
sand slipping through our fingers, the gravity of what each place meant
would’ve been lost.
And this land . . . this Holy Land is simply too special,
too holy and too amazing of a place, filled with Biblical history, echoes of
the past and the fabric from which all of us were cut to let a single grain
meet the ground before we’ve squeezed it for all its worth.
Our first stop was the Greek Orthodox Church of the
Annunciation also known as known as the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Gabriel,
which was completed in 1769. In relation to Biblical times, 1769 sounds fairly
modern, and young, but when remembering the United States was founded in 1776;
that thought is quickly whisked away!
Many believe this is the very place Gabriel appeared to Mary
to announce she would become pregnant with the only Son of God, our Savior and
the Messiah Yeshua, Who is more commonly referred to as Jesus. This story is
found in Luke 1:27-35.
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the
angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be
married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was
Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!
The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what
kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be
afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give
birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be
called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his
father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his
kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a
virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born
will be called the Son of God.”
The exact location of this holy event—the BEST news the
world has ever received, or ever will receive—was not recorded, but according
to a 2nd century apocryphal text called protoevangelium, meaning prior to the
Gospel, the announcement took place at both places the spring and at their
home.
"She took the jar and went out to fetch water. Then a
voice spoke to her: 'Greetings, you who have received grace. The Lord is with
you, you blessed among women.’ The text continues to state that having looked
around and seen no one, Mary returned home, placed the jar of water aside, and
began to spin, whereupon the angel appeared before her to continue to inform of
her appointed role.”
According, to the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, this is also the
place Mary sent Jesus to get water at six-years old. When I read that, what I
had imagined, when I first got off the bus, likely actually happened as Jesus
came to fetch water and probably played in the spring too.
The spring was located at the far end of the church. You had
to descend seven steps via the underground chapel, built in the medieval era,
to get it. The little tunnel was comprised of brick with Armenian tilework and
framing with crosses making up the arch. It was fenced in, but it was still a
sight to behold, knowing the spring we were looking at is the same spring
Jesus, along with his parents Mary and Joseph and brothers James, Simon, Judas
and Jude, came to! To make the moment even more powerful-- there was a spigot
that pumped the water of the spring into the church . . . so we were able to
anoint our heads and hands with the same water Jesus drank.
I couldn’t help but think of Jesus and His encounter with
the Samaritan woman at the well found in John 4.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to
her, “Will you give me a drink?”
8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy
food.
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a
Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate
with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who
it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have
given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and
the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than
our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also
his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be
thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up
to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I
won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no
husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have
is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.
20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place
where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming
when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22
You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for
salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the
true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they
are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his
worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is
coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am
he.”
This water, in all actuality, is just water, and can never,
as holy as it may be, compare to the Living Water (Jesus), but it was really
cool and special we were able to touch the same water His hands once touched.
The church itself appealed to me. It was made of white brick
and honestly just looked like an ancient church. Aesthetically, it was nothing
special. From the outside, it was what it was . . . just like us. But on the
inside, it was beautiful! The dichotomy between the exterior and interior was
sobering as soon as we walked in. It was yellow and baby blue representing the
sky featuring decorative murals on the columns and walls. We all come in
different sizes, shapes and colors, some short and some tall, but it’s what is on
the inside that makes us special. Sure, I’m talking about our hearts and who we
are, but more than that I’m speaking of Jesus! Jesus lives inside us, any and
all believers, no matter how many times we’ve failed Him . . . He stays right
there, inhabiting our very being in the form of the Holy Spirit! Is that not an
incredible thought!?!
Leaving the church, walking the streets of Nazareth, making
our way down Casa Nova Street to the Basilica of the Annunciation, was surreal.
I was walking where Jesus once walked. I tried to take it all in, making sure I
didn’t take these steps for granted. Sometimes, it’s just a good thing to
remind ourselves how big of a blessing it is to be healthy and be able to
walk—a blessing I was reminded time and time again with Debbie fighting to take
more than just 20 steps at a time. She was a trooper, demonstrated the heart of
a warrior and was determined not to let her health condition prevent her from
being in each moment she could—a fact I admired.
As you walk onto the grounds, into the courtyard, you are
met with beautiful mosaics—43 of them to be exact—with each providing a
cultural glance of Mary, the chosen virgin Mother, alone and some of her with Jesus.
These gorgeous pieces of art and adoration are found on the West and South
wings. The mosaics were exquisite, a rainbow of colors and plethora of styles,
which left an indelible impression on each one of us. Audible gasps, me saying
WOW, which would become a staple of the 10 days, and wide-eyes abounded as we
took in these beautiful pieces of art.
Nothing about this modern-basilica was common—including the
door. The door, which is approximately 10 or 11 feet, was made of bronze and
depicts 12 scenes of Mary throughout Jesus’s life. Above the relief, there is a
statue of the 14-year-old virgin Mary as you enter. The lower floor is giant
circle with a grotto sitting down in the middle of it. The feature piece of the
grotto is the cave where Mary, Joseph and Jesus lived. This is also, in
Catholicism, believed to be where Gabriel announced to the teenager the awesome
news she would bare, in her womb, the Messiah.
An altar, believed to built in the 18
th century,
was built on the holy site with Byzantine and Crusader remnants found around
the grotto A column, from the 4
th century, on the right side of the
altar designates where the messenger appeared to Mary. This, like many of the
other sacred places in Israel, I believed to be symbolic. There is no way
really of knowing where Gabriel appeared, but what we do know is this . . . we
were in the vicinity of and that thought was amazing in and of itself. See,
people sometimes get bogged down by specifics, but, honestly, I don’t feel the
exact spot is what matters.
I also believe this is by Heavenly design. God does not want
us to make to take these holy places and turn them into idols, so, yes time,
destruction, poor records have all played a role in not being able to point to
an exact place and say, “Here is the exact spot ______ happened,” but I also
feel we’re simply not supposed to know. We walk through life looking through a
glass darkly (1
st Corinthians 13:12) and walking through the Holy
Land is no different. While it’s undisputed the land is special, certain things
also remain a MYSTERY and I believe that is intentional. After all, God cares
about the details, doesn’t He?
Growing up, my Mom and Step-Dad always said, “Close doesn’t count
except horseshoes, hand grenades and the Holy Land . . . OK, that last part
isn’t true, but I discovered it is true nonetheless.
The words on the altar are, “Verbum Caro Hic Factum Est,”
which means, “Here the Word was made flesh.” That phrase comes from John 1:14:
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and
truth”.
On the second level of Basilica there are 16 paintings on
each side of two rows of pews, which are used for mass and those who want to
pray. While the outside courtyard is known for its Mosaics, the upper church,
or second level, is known for it’s stunning cupola, which is a dome on the
interior of the Basilica. The 195-foot high dome represents Mary’s purity as
it’s in the form of a white Lily. Slightly beneath is the dome are stained
windows.
With the sun shining through these broken vessels, there is a warmth,
peace and tranquility that reminds you of the Lord and also makes me think of
us.
I’ve heard broken vessels are the ones that shine the most
light. While that saying likely refers to the refraction and reflection of the
light, it also makes me think of how people who have been broken tend to have
the most compassion, enjoy serving and putting others ahead of themselves and
love speaking words of Life (Proverbs 18:21) . . . because they know what hard
times are, they know what it’s like to need an uplifting word and not receive
it, they know what hopeless feels like, so they go out of their way to lend
Hope. I think people who have truly been broken are NEVER the same again
because they live from a beautiful intersection of Brokenness and Gratitude!
That’s the way I try to live my life. I know what it’s like to be broken and I
realize I don’t deserve the embarrassment of riches, in terms of blessings,
that flood my life. But more importantly than any blessing, is the posture of
gratitude.
Gratitude—three syllables, but there is so much power in
that word and so many reasons to have it! I’m beyond grateful for God’s Love,
that Jesus died on the cross for me and paid a debt I could never pay and one
He didn’t owe, I’m grateful for my life, my five senses, a house to live in,
food and drink, my family, my friends, for life’s lessons, for the great times,
the terrible times, the awesome times and the sad times, for the victories and
failures because all of it is undeserved!!
Once you come to that startling realization, you have
perspective and once you have perspective, you’re UNSTOPPABLE because you learn
to find it’s never as bad as it feels, even losses can be turned into victories
and God truly makes BEAUTY from ASHES!
Gratitude, remaining broken, not in terms of emotionally broken,
but from the standpoint you never forget, and perspective have the capability
to radically transform our lives!
Perspective is a hidden key, which has the power to unlock
the silver linings for many of our dark clouds and allows us to feel the warmth
of the sunshine right smack dab in the middle of the storm!
See, God has restored my life from Rock Bottom—a place I’ll
never return, but one, ironically enough, I’m thankful for! When the Lord takes
that which was meant to destroy you and turns it around to give you life, so
that you can give others life Gen. 50:20 . . . you smile bigger, laugh harder,
cry more, say I love you more often and the little moments you used to miss,
you now embrace and treasure!
Like Spurgeon said, “There is no university for a Christian,
like that of sorrow and trial,” and I’m thankful I’m learning what it means to
have compassion, what it is to love, how to encourage and what it means to be a
servant. It’s simply much easier to live a selfish and defeated life instead of
living from a place of victory.
Speaking of gratitude and perspective, it was easy to be
grateful as I took a step back, with immense perspective, and pondered I was
looking at the place Jesus lived 30 of his 33 years on Earth. This was truly beyond
a special place!
After leaving the Basilica, we went to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant
and ate falafel, think hush puppies, chickpeas and one of my new favorite foods
shawarma, which is chicken or beef cut into thin slices. I had mine in a gyro
and it was delicious. This was my first taste of local cuisine. Now, every time
I eat shawarma, I will think of the first time I ate it being in the hometown of
Jesus.
Our final stop on the day was Mt. Precipice, but I would be remiss
if I didn’t tell you of two other places we passed through—Mt. Carmel and Cana.
Mt. Carmel is the site of one of my favorite Biblical stories. It’s where
Elijah, who had more faith in his pinky than most of us have in our entire
bodies, challenged the followers of Baal to a showdown, which is found in in 1
st
Kings Chapter 18.
21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will
you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is
God, follow him.”
But the people said nothing.
22 Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the
Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two
bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut
it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare
the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call
on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who
answers by fire—he is God.”
Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the
bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of
your god, but do not light the fire.” 26 So they took the bull given them and
prepared it.
Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon.
“Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered.
And they danced around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he
said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or
traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 28 So they shouted
louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom,
until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic
prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no
response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.”
They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn
down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from
Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be
Israel.” 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he
dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs[a] of seed. 33 He
arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he
said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and
on the wood.”
34 “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.
“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third
time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped
forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be
known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done
all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these
people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts
back again.”
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the
sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in
the trench.
39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and
cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
Although, we weren’t able to get off the bus on Mt. Carmel
just knowing we were driving over it was enough for me. I want to have Elijah-like
faith and obedience.
Cana was the place of Jesus’s first miracle where He turned
water into wine at a wedding feast found in John Chapter 2.
2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.
Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to
the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no
more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour
has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells
you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the
Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so
they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the
master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the
water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come
from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the
bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and
then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have
saved the best till now.”
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of
the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in
him.
Driving through this town, it was hard not to think of what
it must’ve been like to see such a miraculous feat—his first in a long line of
miracles. As we passed through, the Bible verse John 21:25 came to mind, “Jesus
did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I
suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would
be written.”
And this was the very first one!
Reaching the summit of Mt. Precipice, after passing by a
craggy garden of trees on a short walk to the summit, was absolutely breath-taking!
We were blessed with a clear, sunny day, with blue skies, and the result was
spectacular. Mt. Precipice is believed to be the site of the rejection of Jesus
described in Luke Gospel 4:29-30.
"The people of Nazareth, not accepting Jesus as Messiah
tried to push him from the mountain, but "he passed through the midst of
them and went away."
Turning to one side, we had an amazing view of all of
Nazareth, which made for some great pictures of the Jazreel Valley as well. In
the middle, there is a big olive tree with three stones and a pillar marking the
place as Mt. Precipice. On the other side, looking at the Mt. Tabor, in the distance,
is the one of the most extreme dichotomies I’ve ever seen.
Taking in the beautiful green, lush pastures of Har-Megiddo,
it was hard to fathom this is the place of violence and chaos that Zechariah
referred to in Zechariah 12: 9, 11): “And it shall come to pass in that day,
that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem… In
that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of
Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.”
This peaceful and serene valley is the future site of the final
battle Armageddon referred to in Revelation Chapter 16 (specifically verse 16).
“16 Then they gathered the kings
together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.”
As I stood there, gazing into the distance, the prevailing
thought I had was I do not know when that final battle will be waged, but what
I do know is Who wins! Actually, it’s more accurate to say . . . I do know who
ALREADY WON . . .
When the stone was rolled away from the tomb!
Yeshua, King Jesus, is VICTORIOUS! He is RISEN!!
Yahweh, Father God, won my soul, won my heart and slowly, but
surely, my LIFE!
So, while the final battle has not been fought . . . the war
has already been won!
