Day 8: Our final day of touring was packed full of extraordinary places and experiences. We began by visiting a place that is meant to remember the upper room. However as you can see from the arches it is from the byzantine period, 1000 years after the disciples gathered there with Jesus. But it is thought to be in the general area. It also holds a traditional spot for David’s tomb, but that’s a bit suspect also. Then we went down to a church to commemorate the cock crowing, which was beautiful, but more importantly it is set in the priestly neighborhood. There was a section of Jerusalem in Jesus’s time where the priest lived. Archaeologists are fairly confident that they found Caiaphas’s house. It is unusual in that it has a prison within it. So this was a place where Jesus was held before and after his trial, and several of the apostles were held there later as well. The steps leading up to Caiaphas‘s house are still there and we were able to stand on part of them putting our feet where Jesus and the apostles walked.

Then we went to an alternate site for the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. Yesterday we went to the church of the holy sepulcher, and that was moving, but the garden tomb area seemed much more likely to us to be the place where Jesus was crucified and buried.

After a walk through the Jewish and Christian quarters in Jerusalem, and to stop for lunch, we went to the Wailing Wall. There happened to be hundreds of young Israeli soldiers being sworn in at the same time. It was moving to see their dedication to their nation. After praying at the Wailing Wall, we went and saw a site that shows where Jesus’ prophecy about “not one stone standing upon another” proved to be accurate. Then we ended up our day at the steps where Peter preached and more than 3,000 were baptized.

This is been a deeply moving pilgrimage for all of us. We all still have a lot more to process, but I can assure you it will deeply affect my study and preaching from now on.

Day 7: Today was a long day, spent entirely in and around the areas Jesus walked during holy week. Then we were able to see some amazing historic places that go back thousands of years. We began on the Mount of Olives, worked our way down to the Garden of Gethsemane, then to the Stations of the Cross in the city of David, then to the ruins of the city of David which is the largest archaeological dig in the world. After that, we went down into Hezekiah‘s water tunnel, all 500 yards through limestone.

One thing about old Jerusalem. Although we were in the same area all day, it is extremely hilly. We walked down the mount of olives as Jesus did. The Via Dolorosa, or Stations of the Cross, is a climb all the way up to the church of the Holy Sepulcher. Then we went down, down, down into the depths to get to Hezekiah’s water tunnel. And we wound up at the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed the blind man.

Day 6: We began our day with a trip up to the Temple Mount. We saw the vastness of Herod’s temple complex, although its structures have been replaced by the Dome of the Rock and the al Aqsa mosque. One could still envision how it might have been in Jesus’s time. Then we drove to Bethlehem, where we saw the shepherds’ fields and the Church of the Incarnation. We also visited an amazing olive wood workshop in a store. Then we returned to Jerusalem to visit the Israeli Museum, one of the top national museums in the world. There we saw the dead sea scrolls, a scale model of Jerusalem in the first century, and a number of amazing artifacts.

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - Day 5

We spent the morning and early afternoon exploring key sites along the Dead Sea - Masada, En Gedi, Qumran and then Jericho. The day was packed with layers of history. Some gave great insights to Judaism in Jesus’ time, others connected us with the history leading into his ministry. Then we made the ascent to Jerusalem…

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - Day 4

We began with an hour boat ride on the Sea of Galilee then visited key places where Jesus and his disciples went. We then went south along the River Jordan all the way to the Dead Sea - a 2.5 hour drive. There we checked into our hotel and went for a float. The water is so salty it holds you up - like you’re in an easy chair.

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - Day 3

We began with a trip up to Tel Dan, one of the 3 major headwaters of the River Jordan, which has a very ancient and momentous history. We saw a gate through which Abraham and Lot passed over 3700 years ago! Then to Caesaria Philippi/Banias where Peter first confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah and Son of God. We were extremely close to the borders of Lebanon and Syria. After lunch in a Druze village on the Golan Heights, we descended back down to Galilee and renewed our baptisms near where the Jordan flows out of Galilee. After dinner we did Compline live from the Sea of Galilee at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Wales, FL (check it out!)

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - Day 2

We began at Caesarea Maritima, Herod the Great’s first-ever man made harbor, with a theater and hippodrome (for chariot races and gladiators.) It is where Pontius Pilate governed and Paul was imprisoned for 2 years. Then on to Megiddo. Megiddo is a “tel” where at least 30 layers of rebuilding have created a man-made hill whose roots go back to at least the Neolithic (Stone Age.) Then on to Mount Precipice outside Nazareth, where they threatened to throw Jesus off a cliff. After driving through Nazareth and Cana, we arrived at our lodging on the Sea of Galilee. Tomorrow we will tour the Galilee region and reaffirm our baptisms in the Jordan River.

 Day 1! June 6th, 2022. Here are highlights from the first day of our group’s tour to the Holy Land, June 2022.

Departing Orlando.

Departing Orlando June 6, 2022.

Jaffa (Joppa) with a Turkish tower in the background.

Looking at Tel Aviv.

Old Jaffa

Egyptian columns built under Ramses II over 3600 years old.

A sculpture honoring the Jaffa orange - with a live tree in it.

Grapes!

Seaside part of old Jaffa near where Simon the tanner lived (Acts 10.)

St. Peter’s Church, Jaffa.

Lunch!

Lamb shawarma with Coke in a glass bottle.

Netanya, coast of Israel.

Fr. Tim in the Mediterranean for the first time ever!

John & Laura Motis with our hotel above John’s left shoulder.

Sunset, Netanya.

Netanya at night.

Fr. Tim doing Compline service live from Netanya.