Category Archives: Journeys of Jesus

Journeys of Jesus: Going to Jerusalem

I’ve been silent the past few weeks, in part because I’ve been wrestling with what comes next.

In my last post, I had quoted from Luke 9:51: “It came to pass, when the days were near that he should be taken up, he intently set his face to go to Jerusalem.” And so, obviously, the rest of my posts will be on that final journey from Galilee to Jerusalem where Jesus would lay down His life for His people.

But what route did He take? How did He get there?

The four gospel accounts tell of that journey in different ways, emphasizing different aspects of His ministry along the way. These chapters are rich in teaching, as Christ’s ministry reaches its greatest impact. In this series of articles, I am focused on the geographic travels of our Savior, but that is NOT the focus of these chapters in the gospels. Please take the time as we travel through these passages to read the actual scriptures and learn more about our Lord and His love for His people.

With that said, let’s examine the route to Jerusalem as described by each of the four gospel authors:

Matthew and Mark

These two gospels record almost the exact same route:

  •  To Judea beyond the Jordan (Matthew 19:1, Mark 10:1)
  • To Jericho (Matthew 20:29, Mark 10:46)
  • To Bethphage and Bethany (Matthew 21:1, Mark 11:1)
  • To Jerusalem (Matthew 21:10, Mark 11:11)
  • To Bethany (Matthew 21:17, Mark 11:11)
  • To Jerusalem (Matthew 21:18, Mark 11:15)
  • To the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24:3, Mark 13:3)
  • To Bethany (Matthew 26:6, Mark 14:3)
  • To “the city” (Matthew 26:18, Mark 14:16)
  • To the Mount of Olives (Mark 14:26)
  • Back to Jerusalem (Mark 14:53)

Luke

Luke’s account is very similar to Matthew and Mark, but with a few minor differences:

  • Through Samaria and Galilee (Luke 17:11)
  • To Jericho (Luke 18:35)
  • To Bethphage and Bethany (Luke 19:29)
  • To “the city” (Luke 19:41)
  • To the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39)
  • Back to Jerusalem (Luke 22:54)

John

John’s emphasis is very different than the other three:

  • To “beyond the Jordan into the place where John was baptizing at first” (Bethany Beyond the Jordan) (John 10:40)
  • To Bethany (John 11:17)
  • To Ephraim (John 11:54)
  • To Bethany (John 12:1)
  • To Jerusalem (John 12:12)

Combined View

My best effort to synchronize these together leads me to this chronology of Jesus’ journey from Galilee to Jerusalem:

  • Through Samaria and Galilee (Luke 17:11)
  • To Bethany Beyond Jordan (Matthew 19:1, Mark 10:1, John 10:40)
  • To Bethany (John 11:17)
  • To Jericho (Matthew 20:29, Mark 10:46, Luke 18:35)
  • To Ephraim (John 11:54)
  • To Bethphage and Bethany (Matthew 21:1, Mark 11:1, Luke 19:29, John 12:1)
  • To Jerusalem (Matthew 21:10, Mark 11:11, Luke 19:41, John 12:12)
  • To Bethany (Matthew 21:17, Mark 11:11)
  • To Jerusalem (Matthew 21:18, Mark 11:15)
  • To the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24:3, Mark 13:3)
  • To Bethany (Matthew 26:6, Mark 14:3)
  • To Jerusalem (Matthew 26:18, Mark 14:16)
  • To the Mount of Olives (Mark 14:26, Luke 22:39)
  • Back to Jerusalem (Mark 14:53, Luke 22:54)

I will use this chronology in the coming weeks.

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Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain.

 

Journeys of Jesus: The Mount of Transfiguration to Capernaum

Last week we reflected on the glory of Christ in His transfiguration. This week Jesus begins His final journey to Jerusalem in earnest.

As they were coming down from the mountain, he commanded them that they should tell no one what things they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept this saying to themselves, questioning what the “rising from the dead” meant. … 14 Coming to the disciples, he saw a great multitude around them, and scribes questioning them. (Mark 9:9,10,14)

As I mentioned last week, we don’t know on which mountain the transfiguration took place. It might have been Mount Tabor. It might have been Mount Hermon. Whatever, the case, when Jesus, Peter, James, and John came down from the mountain, a crowd had gathered. The disciples He had left at the foot of the mountain had been unable to heal a possessed son. It was another opportunity for Jesus to heal, to teach, and to preach the Kingdom (Mark 9:17-29). 

Even in the midst of the clamoring crowd, Jesus is focused on fulfilling His destiny. “For he was teaching his disciples, and said to them, ‘The Son of Man is being handed over to the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, on the third day he will rise again.'” (Mark 9:31)

The gospels then tell us that Jesus and His disciples passed through Galilee and came to Capernaum (Matthew 17:24, Mark 9:33).

Around this time, Luke 9:51 tells us “It came to pass, when the days were near that he should be taken up, he intently set his face to go to Jerusalem”.

So, now, the journey will begin in earnest.

But before we go there, let us consider the attitudes we see in these passages.

Jesus clearly knows what He faces in Jerusalem. He has repeatedly told His disciples what will happen. Although fully God, He is also fully man. As we will see in Gethsemane, it is with great dread and understanding of His human suffering that Christ sets his face resolutely towards the cross. As Christians, we seek to be more and more like Christ. Are you so dedicated, willing to sacrifice everything, to be obedient to God’s will and to bring salvation to those you love?

Most of us tend, instead, to be more like Jesus’ disciples. We are told that on the way “An argument arose among them about which of them was the greatest. “ (Luke 9:46) In our sinful natures, we are tempted to focus more on our own good and our own glory than on God’s will and His glory.

Let us be like the father of the possessed son. We have faith, but we know that it is weak.

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, “I believe. Help my unbelief!”
(Mark 9:23-24)

Let us look to Christ not only to meet our earthly needs, but much more to strengthen our faith and to meet our eternal spiritual needs!

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Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain.

Journeys of Jesus: Caesarea Philippi to the Mount of Transfiguration

In our last post, Jesus took a decided turn in His ministry. 

From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up. (Matthew 16:21)

But before beginning that final long journey to His destiny, He had one more thing to show them. To prepare them for His suffering to come, and their own suffering to follow, He fully revealed His glory to them.

After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves. (Matthew 17:1)

Scripture doesn’t tell us of which mountain this passage speaks. Historically, many have believed that it was Mount Tabor. 

Mount Tabor is about 6 miles east of Nazareth, but a full two day walk from Caesarea Philippi. Mount Tabor is only about 1400 feet high, but there are no other tall hills or mountains nearby, so it is visible from all around.

Mount Tabor is best known in Biblical history as the place where Deborah and Barak gathered the armies of Israel to face the Canaanite army under Sisera. From its heights, they witnessed God’s mighty victory (Judges 4-5).

I think a more logical choice, and one favored by many recent Biblical scholars, is that the transfiguration took place on Mount Hermon. This mountain towers above Caesarea Philippi and, at 9200 feet, is the tallest point in Israel. You can see snow on its peaks most of the year. 

Psalm 133 makes an interesting analogy:

See how good and how pleasant it is
    for brothers to live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
    that ran down on the beard,
    even Aaron’s beard,
    that came down on the edge of his robes,
like the dew of Hermon,
    that comes down on the hills of Zion;
    for there Yahweh gives the blessing,
    even life forever more. (Psalm 133)

As I mentioned last week, Hermon is the source of the Jordan River. The dew of Hermon feeds this river of life on its long journey from the highest point in Israel to the lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea. And Jesus would now begin His long journey from this height of glory to His great humiliation and death for our sake.

But before we go there, let’s focus our eyes for a moment on Christ’s glory! Like His disciples, let us be encouraged by the truth of who He is.

He was changed before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light. Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him.

Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let’s make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”

When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid. Jesus came and touched them and said, “Get up, and don’t be afraid.” Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Jesus alone.

(Matthew 17:2-8)

In scripture, the Law and the Prophets continuously speak of the Messiah to come, and here we have Moses, representing the Law, and Elijah, representing the Prophets, acknowledging Jesus as that Messiah. As if that weren’t enough, God the Father confirms His pleasure in Jesus His Son.

Listen to Him!

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Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain.

Journeys of Jesus: Bethsaida to Caesarea Philippi

For about the past month, we have been following Jesus as He has journeyed through primarily gentile lands including the regions of Syria and Decapolis. We continue that trend today, but we are approaching a critical turning point in Jesus’ ministry.

Jesus continued His Galilean ministry, teaching, preaching the Kingdom, and performing miracles especially in the towns we have already visited around the Sea of Galilee. In Mark 8:22-25, we see Him back in Bethsaida, healing a blind man. And then, He and His disciples turn north.

Jesus went out, with his disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi.  (Mark 8:27a)

Caesarea Philippi was in the Tetrarchy of Philip. Philip was one of the sons of Herod the Great. Herod had made a great temple here (some say the temple was to Caesar and some say to the Greek god Pan). Philip made the city his capital and renamed it Caesarea in honor of the Roman emperor. The longer name (Caesarea Philippi) distinguishes this Caesarea from the one on the Mediterranean coast (Caesarea Maritima).

Previously, the town was called Panias (after Pan), and today it is known by the Arabic variant Banias. The town was built on the bank of a six-mile stream coming from a cave at the foot of Mount Herman that is one of the four sources of the Jordan River.

Caesarea Philippi was 30 miles, or about a 10 hour walk north of Bethsaida, so Jesus and His disciples had plenty of time to discuss important theological topics.

Above, I only gave you half of a verse from Mark’s gospel. The second half is the beginning of one of those topics.

On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” 28 They told him, “John the Baptizer, and others say Elijah, but others, one of the prophets.” (Mark 8:27b-28)

What came next is the most important question any of us can answer.

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)

What is your answer to that question? Who is Jesus? Was he a great teacher? A moral leader? A prophet? A myth?

Peter got the answer right. 

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16)

Jesus is the Messiah, God’s Anointed One, the promised Savior of the world. Do you believe that? Have you put your faith in Him and His finished work on the cross?

This great confession of Peter’s was just the beginning of his journey of faith. 

Immediately after Peter’s confession, Jesus began His final journey towards His destiny in Jerusalem.

In Mark we are told:

He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. (Mark 8:31)

And in Matthew:

From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up. (Matthew 16:21)

His disciples didn’t want to accept this. The gospels tell us that Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked Him saying that these things must never happen. Jesus, who had just praised Peter’s faith, now cursed his resistance to God’s plan. Not much later, Peter would even deny Jesus three times. And yet, Jesus restored Peter, and the disciple’s understanding grew.

Much later, Peter wrote:

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear,  (1 Peter 3:15)

Do you have an answer? Are you ready?

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Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain.

Journeys of Jesus: Capernaum to Gadara

We have been looking at Jesus’ ministry in and around the Sea of Galilee. His home base has been Capernaum. In the next couple of weeks, Jesus will take a dramatic turn towards Jerusalem, but before we get there, I want to go back to a journey that I should’ve covered earlier, from early in his Galilean ministry.

The journey we are looking at today is recorded in Matthew 8:23-28, Mark 4:35-5:2, and Luke 8:22-27.

 
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let’s go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the multitude, they took him with them, even as he was, in the boat. Other small boats were also with him. 37 A big wind storm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so much that the boat was already filled. 38 He himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up, and told him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are dying?”

39 He awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?”

41 They were greatly afraid, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

5 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.

(Mark 4:35 – 5:1)

I’d like to focus on two geographical features in this story.

The obvious one is the destination. Matthew records it as the country of the Gergesenes, and Mark and Luke call it the country of the Gadarenes. There is some conjecture about the source of the name Gergesenes. I think the most likely is that Gergesa was a town near the Sea of Galilee in the general vicinity of Gadara. We have previously mentioned Gadara as one of the 10 cities of the Decapolis.

Gadara was about 6 miles from the Sea of Galilee. Given the story reported in the gospels, it is unlikely that Jesus actually visited that city, but where He and His disciples landed would’ve been considered within the region of Gadara. As with the rest of the Decapolis, this was largely a Gentile area, as evidenced by the herd of pigs being fed there (Mark 5:11,14). Jews would have nothing to do with these unclean animals (Leviticus 11:7).

This herd comes into play in the miraculous exorcism shown here (Luke 8:33). Afterwards, the man Jesus had rescued from the demons wanted to go with Him, but Jesus sent him to share the good news of the gospel with his own people:

“Return to your house, and declare what great things God has done for you.” He went his way, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8:39)

The second geographical feature worth examining is the Sea of Galilee itself. On this journey, we see a storm suddenly arising on the lake, which is a demonstration of the unique characteristics of this body of water.

The Sea of Galilee is really a medium sized lake. It is thirteen miles long (north to south) and seven miles wide at it’s broadest (east to  west). To give you a sense of context, that’s about the same size as Clear Lake in California, Table Rock Lake on the Missouri-Arkansas border, or Cayuga Lake in New York.

The Sea of Galilee is surrounded by hills. It is fed by the Jordan River flowing in from the north. The Jordan continues south of this lake, continuing down to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lake at the lowest elevation in the world, and the Sea of Galilee is the second lowest at about 700 feet below sea level. The Dead Sea is a salt water body, but the Sea of Galilee is fresh water – the lowest freshwater lake on earth. At its deepest, it is about 140 feet deep.

The hills surrounding the lake make it susceptible to rapid weather changes, with violent storms surprising sailors as we see in this passage.

Christ mercifully calms the meterological storm on the lake, but by doing so, he raises storm clouds in the minds and hearts of his disciples. Have you come face to face with this One who is sovereign even over the wind and sea? Do you know Him? 

Put your faith in Him and do not fear the storms of this life.

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Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain.

Journeys of Jesus: Decapolis to Magdala

The last couple of posts have followed Jesus as He has ministered in Gentile territories, first in the region of Tyre and Sidon, and then in the region of the Decapolis. The Gospels of Mark and Matthew both record these journeys, but they handle what comes next in ways that are subtly different, so that the next journey is not exactly clear.

In Matthew’s account, the Gentiles saw Jesus’ miracles and “glorified the God of Israel” (Matthew 15:31) and then the writer immediately flows into the miraculous feeding of the 4,000 (Matthew 15:32-38). If this occurred in Decapolis, these almost definitely would be mostly Gentiles.

In Mark’s Gospel, chapter 7 ends with the miracles referenced in Matthew 15:31 (Mark 7:37) and chapter 8 begins with “In those days” (Mark 8:1), implying that the feeding of the 4,000 that follows is not immediate, but generally during the times of His ministry around the Sea of Galilee. The location is much less clear. 

In either case, this was an amazing miracle, demonstrating Jesus’ divinity and sovereignty over creation. Immediately following this miracle, Jesus and His disciples sailed across the lake to Magdala (Matthew 15:39) or the region of Dalmanutha (Mark 8:10). Dalmanutha is an otherwise unknown place. One archeologist has claimed to have found it, very near Magdala.

(Note that, in the map above from the game Journeys with Jesus, as I’ve previously mentioned, I placed Gennesaret on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, when in fact it was located between Magdala and Capernaum. I did this, in part, to avoid crowding it in, while maintaining the close proximity of all these towns to each other and keeping them all located on the shore of the lake. We don’t know where in Decapolis the events of Matthew 15 and Mark 7 took place, but it’s logical they would be somewhere along the coast between Bethsaida and Gadara, so the white path shown connecting Gennesaret and Magdala may actually be very close to the route of the journey from Decapolis to Magdala.)

While the location of Dalmanutha is a mystery, Magdala is fairly easy to find. Today it is called Migdal. But we probably are more familiar with the name because many scholars believe that the name Mary Magdalene means Mary from Magdala.

This Mary was one of several women who travelled with Jesus (Luke 8:1-3) and served Jesus and His apostles from their own resources. Jesus had exorcised seven demons from her. She was present at Jesus’ crucifixion (Matthew 27:55-56, Mark 15:40, John 19:25), His burial (Matthew 27:61, Mark 15:47), and was the first to see our risen Savior (Mark 16:9, Matthew 28:1, Luke 24:8-10, John 20:1-18).

As significant as Mary Magdalene is in scripture, we know little of her hometown.

(The following paragraphs include affiliate links to Amazon. If you choose to buy using these links, my company will receive a very small commission from Amazon.)

To give you a sense for my process for learning about these places, I often start with Who’s Who and Where’s Where in the Bible by Stephen Miller.  I like this book because it is easy to use, with many people and places listed alphabetically. I usually like to verify the information here from other sources, but it’s a good starting point. There are two paragraphs in this book about Magdala, with the only “new” information being the unsurprising fact that it was a fishing village.

I often next turn to Understanding the Land of the Bible by O. Palmer Robertson.  This book is almost the opposite of Miller’s book, with long narratives giving a sense of the flow of geography and land and less details about specific places. I really like how it puts everything in a context that makes sense. Unfortunately, there’s no mention of Magdala in this book.

Third, I turn to a very old copy of The Wycliffe Historical Geography of Bible Lands, which I bought at a library sale and this edition has a 1967 copyright. This one falls roughly between the two I’ve already mentioned. It is organized by region and has longer descriptions of the regions and their history, but also has entries for specific places in those regions. It has good indexes, including a Scripture Index. It often strikes me as being written from a skeptical perspective, giving more credence to secular perspectives than what we know from scripture, so again, I verify what I read there as much as I can.  This book does have a one paragraph section on Magdala, telling me that it was 2 miles north of Tiberias, was known to the Greeks as Tarichea, and was at the junction of the lake road from Tiberias and a road coming down from the western hills.

Next I turn to The Holman Bible Atlas. This book is mostly organized by biblical chronology, starting with the Old Testament and then covering the New Testament. Places that show up at different points in the Bible will show up in multiple places in this book, so it can take a little more work to pull together the information on any given place. The index lists Magdala on 4 different pages. Here we learn that the Greek name for Magdala suggests a place where fish were salted and so it was the center of the salted-fish industry for this area around the Sea of Galilee.

Finally, I turn to the ESV Bible Atlas. The first two thirds of this big book are organized like Holman, chronologically, but the last third is why I love this one – big beautiful detailed maps and a very helpful map index (with latitude and longitude coordinates). There’s one reference in the text to Magdala, but it doesn’t give me any new information.

Of course, the most important reference is the Bible itself. The search function at Bible Gateway helps me find all references to any place in dozens of different translations of the Old and New Testament.  It appears that Magdala is only mentioned once, in Matthew 15:39 (which we’ve already seen).

Let me know if you have other favorite references or ideas that might be helpful.

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Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain.

Journeys of Jesus: Tyre and Sidon to Decapolis

In our last post, Jesus visited the Gentile (and wicked) region of Tyre of Sidon in the Roman province of Syria as reported in Mark 7 and Matthew 15. The account of his visit is brief and it appears that He and His disciples almost immediately returned to the area around the Sea of Galilee.

Again he departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and came to the sea of Galilee, through the middle of the region of Decapolis. (Mark 7:31)

Specifically, Jesus was in the region known as the Decapolis. Decapolis literally means ten cities. Each of the cities in the Decapolis were Hellenized (Greek) city-states under the authority of Rome, but with a fair amount of autonomy.

There is some debate as to the specific cities and about the level of coordination between the cities. In 77 AD, Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, listed ten cities of the Decapolis:

  • Gerasa
  • Dium
  • Scythopolis (Beit She’an)
  • Hippos
  • Gadara
  • Pella
  • Philadelphia
  • Canatha
  • Raphana
  • Damascus

The only one of these cities west of the Jordan is Scythopolis. Most of the rest are east of the river and south of the Sea of Galilee in what today is Jordan.

Philadelphia had previously been called Rabbath Ammon, the capital of Israel’s bitter enemies the Ammonites (e.g. 2 Samuel 11:1). Uriah the Hittite was killed at the gates of the citadel of this city to fulfill David’s murderous orders (2 Samuel 11:18-21). Today, this city is Amman, the capital of Jordan.

Damascus is the capital of modern day Syria and is known as the oldest capital in the world. Damascus is about 35 miles north-east of Caesarea Philippi.

To get a sense for how far this collection of 10 cities stretched, look at the map above. Damascus is about 25 miles east of the top-most red dot on the map. Philadelphia/Amman is about twice as far south of the Sea of Galilee as Pella.

In the verse above we read that Jesus came “through the middle of the region of Decapolis” “to the sea of Galilee”, so he must’ve stayed in Gentile territory, passing to the north and east of the Sea of Galilee.

The rest of Mark 7 describes what Jesus did in this region:

They brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. They begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him aside from the multitude, privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue. 34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” 35 Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke clearly. 36 He commanded them that they should tell no one, but the more he commanded them, so much the more widely they proclaimed it. 37 They were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear, and the mute speak!” (Mark 7:32-37)

Although He continued to focus His ministry on His fellow Jewish countrymen (some of whom recognized Him as Messiah [Isaiah 35:5-6]), the good news was proclaimed widely, setting the stage for the Gospel’s and the church’s future spread to Gentile believers. Praise God!

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Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain.

Journeys of Jesus: Gennesaret to Tyre and Sidon

Last time, we left Jesus in Gennesaret as reported in Matthew 14 and Mark 6. In both accounts, the following chapter begins with encounters between Jesus, Pharisees, the people, and His disciples.

The text doesn’t tell us where these exchanges took place. Logically, these things probably happened in Capernaum, although we aren’t told. The next geographic information we are given is a bit of a surprise:

Jesus went out from there and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. (Matthew 15:21, cf Mark 7:24)

Gennesaret was a rather obscure place. Tyre and Sidon were not. Each are mentioned about 50 times in the Old and New Testaments. Both were in the region of Syria. (Specifically, they are located in what today is the modern nation of Lebanon.) This is the only time recorded in the Gospels when Jesus’ ministry took him beyond the borders of Israel, into a distinctly Gentile territory.

It is worth spending a few minutes looking at this region. The region of Syria is along the northeastern coast of the Mediterranean, just north of Israel. You may recall stories from David and Solomon’s reigns that at least hinted at the seagoing strength of Tyre, and the abundance of cedar wood from the nearby forests of Lebanon.

Tyre reached its peak of power during the period of Phoenician independence (1200-800 BC) which included David and Solomon’s time. But you’ll also recognize the names of other major people groups that dwelt in Syria over the centuries: including the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites.

In fact, just like Israel, Syria is on the natural route connecting Africa, Europe, and Asia. All of the major ancient empires swept through this region: Babylon, Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, Persia, Greece, and Rome. And many of these confrontations are reported for us in the Old Testament.

So, the region of Tyre and Sidon was militarily and politically strategic, and at times it was a great power, but it was not good. In 1 Kings 11:1 we read that Solomon took a Sidonian wife, and a few verses later we read:

For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. (1 Kings 11:5)

So Solomon’s wife from Sidon likely played a key role in Solomon’s backsliding.

It is also worth noting that in 1 Kings 16 we read of King Ahab: 

As if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him. 32 He raised up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 33 Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did more yet to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. (1 Kings 16:31-33)

And so, I find it surprising that Jesus would pick this place to visit in the middle of his active years of ministry. We aren’t told why Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon and we only read of one encounter that Jesus had there. 

A woman described as “a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race” (in other words a Greek speaking Gentile from Syria/Phoenicia). She asks Jesus to heal her daughter, but his response indicates that His blessings are only for the Jews. Her wise, humble, and faithful response earns His respect.

Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. (Matthew 15:28)

I myself am a Gentile by birth. I thank God that He has given us this picture of Jesus’ mercy on a Gentile with faith. Even more, I am eternally grateful for God’s mercy to me in His gift of faith that I may be grafted in to His kingdom!

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Journeys of Jesus: Bethsaida to Gennesaret

In our last post, Jesus and His disciples had travelled to Bethsaida on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Today, they travel across the lake to Gennesaret.

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. … 34 When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret. 35 When the people of that place recognized him, they sent into all that surrounding region and brought to him all who were sick; 36 and they begged him that they might just touch the fringe of his garment. As many as touched it were made whole. (Matthew 14:22,34-36)

We don’t know much about Gennesaret. It is only mentioned three times in the Bible – here in Matthew 14, in the parallel passage in Mark 6, and Luke 5 where the Sea of Galilee is referenced as the lake of Gennesaret.

According to Wikipedia, it was originally named Kinneret, but was Grecized to Gennesaret. The place name refers both to a small village, but also to a fertile plain along the west coast of the lake. As indicated in Luke 5, the Sea of Galilee was sometimes called the Lake of Gennesaret. It was also sometimes called the Lake of Galilee, the Sea of Gennesaret, the Sea or Lake of Kinneret (or Kinnereth) and the Sea or Lake of Tiberias. (More about this lake in a future post.)

Although we don’t know much about the place, archeologists are pretty sure of its location – on the northwestern shore of the lake – between Capernaum and Magdala. In the Journeys with Jesus game, I have placed Gennesaret on the south east coast of the Sea of Galilee. I did this in large part because the northwest corner of the lake was becoming very crowded on the gameboard. Since the gospels only reference traveling to and from Gennesaret by boat, making this town be on the Sea of Galilee and reachable by boat seemed a fair representation.

Jesus’ ministry in Gennesaret doesn’t stand out from much of his Galilean ministry. With just a touch He heals the sick.

But in the passage quoted above, I left out a big chunk, and this is what you probably remember best about Jesus’ journey to Gennesaret:

After he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into the mountain by himself to pray. When evening had come, he was there alone. 24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, distressed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. 25 In the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It’s a ghost!” and they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Cheer up! It is I!  Don’t be afraid.”

28 Peter answered him and said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the waters.”

29 He said, “Come!”

Peter stepped down from the boat and walked on the waters to come to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was strong, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got up into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Those who were in the boat came and worshiped him, saying, “You are truly the Son of God!” (Matthew 14:23-33)

On our journeys, may we keep our eyes fixed on Christ, trusting Him to save us, and knowing that he is truly the Son of God!

If you haven’t yet heeded Jesus’ command to come to Him, may you do it now, fully trusting that with Him nothing is impossible. No matter how far you have fallen, He can save you!

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Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain. 

Journeys of Jesus: Capernaum to Bethsaida

We have been looking at Jesus’ Galilean ministry, based out of Capernaum and today we visit the nearby town of Bethsaida.

The apostles, when they had returned, told him what things they had done. He took them and withdrew apart to a desert region of a city called Bethsaida. (Luke 9:10)

Americans who only speak English may not have an appreciation for place names. So many of our town and city names are borrowed from the places where the settlers originated (e.g. Plymouth, New Hampshire), or were named to show loyalty to European monarchs (e.g. Jamestown, Carolina). Some places retain names from the original inhabitants of the land (e.g. Manhattan, Kansas). But some were descriptively named in the language of the European explorers and settlers (e.g. Los Angeles, Vermont). 

Similarly, when we look at names in the Bible, they often were named very logically in the language of the time. Bethsaida is Greek for House or Place of the Fisherman. Jesus’ disciples Simon Peter, Andrew, and Philip were all fishermen from Bethsaida (John 1:44).

Josephus described Bethsaida as being on the Sea of Galilee, but there is great debate over specifically where the town actually was located.  That’s not unusual for places that existed thousands of years ago. What we do know is that it was on or near the northern shore of the lake, and it was fairly close to Capernaum. 

Although it doesn’t mention Bethsaida as the destination, Mark 6 seems to be a parallel passage to Luke 9.

Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. 31 And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. 32 So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. 33 But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. (Mark 6:30-33)

So, it appears that Bethsaida could be easily reached either by boat or by foot. We may not know exactly where this fishing village is, but we do know that Jesus performed a great miracle in its deserted region. In both Mark 6 and Luke 9, when the multitudes arrive, Jesus teaches them all day, and at the end of the day He miraculously feeds 5,000 men with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish (Mark 6:35-44, Luke 9:12-17).

May we be eager to follow Jesus wherever He leads, not because we seek bread for our bellies, but rather that which springs up into everlasting life.

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Journeys of Jesus: Capernaum to Nain

In our last post, Jesus came to Capernaum and made it the base for his ministry throughout Galilee and beyond. Today we look at one of the trips he made from Capernaum.

Soon afterwards, he went to a city called Nain. Many of his disciples, along with a great multitude, went with him. (Luke 7:11)

Nain was not a significant city. It is not mentioned anywhere else in either the Old or New Testament nor in any other known writings of the period. It still exists as a small Arab village called Nein.

It was like many towns and villages throughout Galilee. And yet, Jesus chose to visit and while there, he performed an amazing miracle (Luke 7:12-15). The town was on the very southern edge of Galilee and we are told that news of the miracle was heard “in the whole of Judea, and in all the surrounding region” (Luke 7:17). 

How could something done in a small village have such a big impact? The short answer, of course, is that God accomplishes all of His holy will. But specifically, Jesus came to Nain with perfect timing, and the village was perfectly located for this miracle to be reported far and wide.

I would imagine that Nain was normally a quiet city with the relatively few citizens going about their own affairs, but on the day that Jesus chose to visit, there was a major public event happening that had the attention of the whole community. The text tells us that “many people of the city” had gathered to grieve with a widowed mother in her immeasurable sorrow. Although we aren’t told, it would not be surprising if others from nearby towns were also there. All of these witnesses were able to join in her immeasurable joy when Jesus raised the woman’s only son from the dead.

Undoubtedly this would have a big impact on this small city. But because Nain was particularly situated, the impact spread far beyond its borders.

Nain is at the foot of the Hill of Moreh, on the northern edge of the Valley of Jezreel. This valley is also called the Valley of Megido, the Plain of Jezreel, and the Valley and Plain of Esdraelon (the Greek rendering of Jezreel).

The name Jezreel may sound familiar. The town of Jezreel was not far from Nain and was where evil King Ahab of the northern kingdom of Israel had his royal palace. Naboth had his vineyard there. Jehu carried out the Lord’s vengeance on Ahab’s family in Jezreel, killing Ahab’s son Jehoram, who had succeeded him to the throne, Ahab’s wicked wife Jezebel, and Ahab’s grandson Ahaziah, the king of Judah (and more) (2 Kings 9-10).

Because of Ahab and Jezebel, it’s natural that we have a negative view of Jezreel, but the name means “God sows”, and the valley of that name was broad and fertile. It stretched from Mount Carmel on the Mediterranean coast to the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River.

Because the valley cut through the highlands, it was an easy west-east path across the land. It became a route for invaders and the scene of important battles in Israel’s history. 

In Judges 6 we read that the Midianites and Amalekites would wait for the Israelites to raise their crops, then they would invade and take it all as spoil (Judges 6:3-5), but God raised up Gideon who miraculously delivered Israel from these invaders (Judges 6:33-34; 7:12, 22).

Later, King Saul set his armies at Jezreel, while the Philistine armies marched through the valley from the west to meet them (1 Samuel 29:1). Saul’s army retreated to Mount Gilboa where they were defeated and Saul and his sons were killed (1 Samuel 31:1).

And other battles were fought here, both victories and defeats for God’s chosen people. Symbolically, the book of Revelation even refers to Megiddo (Revelation 16:16) in describing God’s great final victory. 

But perhaps more relevant to the spread of the news of Jesus’ miracle was that, the Via Maris, passed through this valley, very near to Nain. Travelers stopping in and near Nain would’ve heard of God “visiting His people” in this place and would spread the news to all the surrounding region.

Perhaps you feel like you are in an insignificant place and time. Don’t be fooled. God can use you to accomplish His good and holy will. Spread His good news to all around you!

The map at the top of this post is a snapshot of a portion of the gameboard for Journeys with Jesus.  Note that, for gameplay purposes, in the game, there’s not a direct connection between Magdala and Nain, although in reality, the Great Trunk Road would be along that path.

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Journeys of Jesus: Nazareth to Capernaum

As I’ve said before, it is difficult, if not impossible, to perfectly determine the chronology of events reported in the four different gospel accounts. The beginning of Jesus’ life is easy, and the end of His life is easy, but in between it gets a lot more complicated.

For the past several posts, we have focused on the events reported early in the Gospel of John. Last week those reports took us from Judea, through Samaria, and back into Galilee, the region where Jesus had been raised. This week I’m going to shift my focus over to the synoptic gospels which all focus heavily on Jesus’ ministry in and around Galilee.

I think the second half of Matthew 4 does a good job of setting the stage for this phase of Jesus’ ministry:

Now when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,

15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
toward the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
16 the people who sat in darkness saw a great light;
to those who sat in the region and shadow of death,
to them light has dawned.”

17 From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

18 Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men.”

20 They immediately left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them. 22 They immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him.

23 Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. 24 The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them. 25 Great multitudes from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.

(Matthew 4:12-25)

We see here four important movements:

  1. Jesus returned to Galilee (presumable to His hometown of Nazareth).
  2. He moved from Nazareth to Capernaum.
  3. He called disciples to follow Him, specifically Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John.
  4. He went about Galilee, preaching the Gospel, and news of it spread throughout Syria and to Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and “beyond the Jordan”.

I won’t spend a lot of time on the return to Galilee. We’ve talked before about Nazareth and Galilee. Nazareth was a fairly insignificant village in the hills of Galilee. God chose it as a safe place for Jesus to grow, become strong in the spirit, be filled with wisdom, and to experience the grace of God (Luke 2:40).

But for the public phase of His ministry, Jesus fulfilled Biblical prophecy (Matthew 4:13-14) by moving to a city that was much better positioned for the light to dawn (Matthew 4:16) upon not only Jesus’ Jewish brothers, but the Gentile world as well (Matthew 4:15). We have talked before about the significance of Capernaum’s location both on the Sea of Galilee and on the Via Maris highway. And so now, Jesus has come to this place, perfectly positioned in time and space, for the gospel to go forth to the known world.

But Jesus not only wants to leave the good news as words to be written down by eyewitnesses, He is also going to establish His church. And so He begins to call the first leaders of that church to their new ministry. In this passage (and in the parallel passage in Mark 1:16-20) Jesus calls Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him. But wait, didn’t we already read about Andrew and Peter and others following Jesus back when Jesus was where John the Baptist was baptizing (John 1:40-42)? It would appear that they had returned to their work as fishermen, but now Jesus went looking for them and called them to leave that work and to begin building His church (becoming fishers for men).

And Jesus began to preach: “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” From His base in Capernaum, He went all over Galilee teaching, preaching, and healing. And the word spread. The news spread north to Syria. It spread south to Judea. It spread west of Capernaum to all of Galilee. And it spread to the southeast to Decapolis and the region beyond the Jordan. And people came and followed Him.

Have you heard the news? The Kingdom of Heaven has come! Repent and believe and follow Jesus!

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Journeys of Jesus: Sychar to Cana

In my last post, Jesus and His disciples started in Judea and headed towards Galilee, but they had to pass through Samaria. There Jesus encountered a woman at Jacob’s well, near Sychar. He called her to Himself and spent two days there leading a great revival. 

After the two days he went out from there and went into Galilee.  … Jesus came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water into wine. (John 4:43,46a)

This is Jesus’ second visit to Cana. We have already looked at this village, but we haven’t looked very closely at Galilee as a whole. The bulk of Jesus’ ministry, as reported in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), is spent in this region, so today I want to focus on what we know about this part of Israel.

It has always been curious to me that Judea is a prominent area for the Jews, Samaria is not, but then Galilee is again. What is the story here?

In his excellent book, Understanding the Land of the Bible, O. Palmer Robertson describes Galilee almost poetically:

Slopes descending from the mountains of Samaria connect Galilee with the rest of Palestine. Intermittent passes open this northern territory to the flat coastal plains along the Mediterranean that lead to Egypt and the rest of North Africa. Prominent among these passes was the one guarded by the fortress city of Megiddo, always ready to stand against advancing armies. … A second prominent feature of Galilee’s terrain are the broad plains running west to east on a slight diagonal from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River. Broken here and there with mountains, such as Gilboa where Saul fell and Tabor where Deborah assembled her troops, these broad expanses known as Jezreel (or Esdraelon) provided fertile soil for crops to grow and ample space for chariots to maneuver. … Across these plains marched the Assyrian armies of Sennacharib and the Babylonian troops of Nebuchadnezzar. The Medo-Persian, the Greek, the Roman, and the Crusader armies each in their turn trudged over this same soil. … But more significant than all these goings and comings of rising and falling nations was the strategic role of this same Galilee of the Gentiles in the spread of the Gospel of God to all the nations of the world. … Jesus opened his public ministry by deliberately situating himself at Capernaum so he could reach out to touch all nations with his Gospel. At this locale he could preach to all the peoples of the world — not simply the Jews — about the worldwide “kingdom of heaven” that was near (Matt 4:17).

Robertson hints at some of the key history of this region, but let’s dive a little deeper. 

The area known as Galilee largely aligns with the tribal allotments for Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. After the conquest, Judges 1 describes the success of each of the tribes in driving out the original gentile inhabitants. The description starts well with Judea in the south, but as it moves north it gets worse. First, we encounter pockets where the Israelites fail and the gentiles continue to live among them (e.g. Judges 1:21), but by the time we get to Asher (Judges 1:32) and Naphtali (Judges 1:33), the script is flipped and the Israelites live among the gentiles.

King Solomon also gave 20 cities to Hiram, the gentile king of Tyre (1 Kings 9:11), although Hiram wasn’t impressed. He called the cities Cabul, or good-for-nothing (1 Kings 9:13).

And thus, from the very beginning, Galilee was “of the gentiles”, as Isaiah described it (Isaiah 9:1, quoted in Matthew 4:15).

But, as Robertson noted, perhaps most significantly, the history of Galilee was shaped by the fact that it was the northern frontier of the promised land. The entry point for all of the invading armies. They were the first conquered and the first carried away captive (2 Kings 15:29). There is no record of these northern tribes ever returning to the land.

As we read last week, a remnant was left in Samaria who intermarried with imported gentiles and intermixed religions, but Galilee was left barren and eventually resettled by various gentile peoples who gradually moved in.

It appears that Jews didn’t return to Galilee until the time of the Hasmonean dynasty, which gained independence when the Seleucid Empire collapsed around 100 BC. The Hasmoneans expanded north out of Judea into Samaria and Galilee. They settled many new cities in the conquered territory, bringing in Jews from the south and perhaps converting many of the gentiles to the Jewish faith. For example, Joseph’s family was clearly from Judea, and Mary at least had cousins in Judea.

And so, by the providence of God, in the fullness of time, God prepared the way for Jesus to preach throughout Galilee of the gentiles, and for the gospel to spread from there to the nations.

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Journeys of Jesus: Judean Countryside to Sychar

In this week’s post, Jesus spends time in Samaria. If you’ve ever heard a sermon on the woman at the well, then you have undoubtedly heard about the animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans. But I think it’s worth taking a broad look at this region.

But first, let’s start with John’s account of Jesus’ visit:

Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself didn’t baptize, but his disciples), he left Judea and departed into Galilee. He needed to pass through Samaria. So he came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. (John 4:1-8)

Let’s start with geography. The region of Samaria was between Judea in the South and Galilee in the North.  The region largely aligns with the tribal allotments of Ephraim and the half of Manasseh that was west of the Jordan, (the two half tribes of Joseph).

The Jewish historian Josephus describes Samaria this way:

Now as to the country of Samaria, it lies between Judea and Galilee; it begins at a village that is in the great plain called Ginea, and ends at the Acrabbene toparchy, and is entirely of the same nature with Judea; for both countries are made up of hills and valleys, and are moist enough for agriculture, and are very fruitful. They have abundance of trees, and are full of autumnal fruit, both that which grows wild, and that which is the effect of cultivation. They are not naturally watered by many rivers, but derive their chief moisture from rain-water, of which they have no want; and for those rivers which they have, all their waters are exceeding sweet: by reason also of the excellent grass they have, their cattle yield more milk than do those in other places; and, what is the greatest sign of excellency and of abundance, they each of them are very full of people. 

When traveling between Judea and Galilee, most Jews would take one of two routes. Many would take the road along and to the east of the Jordan River in order to avoid Samaria, but the faster route often was along the Patriarch’s Way straight through the heart of Samaria. The Via Maris is a third route, largely along the Mediterranean coast, but this did not pass near Jerusalem, so for most travelers, this would be the longest route. It appears that Jesus often took the Patriarch’s Way, as He did on this journey, and that brought Him and His disciples to Jacob’s Well near the town of Sychar, which brings us to the history of Samaria.

In Genesis 12, we read: Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they went to go into the land of Canaan. They entered into the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time, Canaanites were in the land. (Genesis 12:5-6)

So, when Abram first entered the Promised Land, he came to a place called Shechem.  Shechem is very close to the location of the town Sychar in Jesus’ day. God spoke to Abram and made Him a promise: “I will give this land to your offspring.”  In response, Abram built his first altar to God in the land here (Genesis 12:7).

Later, Jacob came to Shechem when he returned to the Promised Land with his wives and his children (Genesis 33:18).  At some point, he must’ve dug the well referenced in John 4. Joseph also passed through Shechem on his fateful journey that ended with him as a slave in Egypt (Genesis 37:13). Centuries later, Joseph’s bones were buried in Shechem (Joshua 24:32). So, this area was prominent in the lives of the Patriarchs.

Shechem was in the valley between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.  Through Moses, God commanded that, when Israel entered the promised land, that half the tribes should stand on one mountain to pronounce the blessings of the law and half on the other to pronounce the curses (Deuteronomy 11:29; 27:11-15). And that they did (Joshua 8:33). Joshua set Shechem apart as one of the cities of refuge (Joshua 20:7). At the end of his life, Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem (Joshua 24:1) where he gave his great “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” speech (Joshua 24:15) and in response the people made a covenant with Joshua to serve God (Joshua 24:25). 

Much later, after Kings David and Solomon died, Solomon’s son Rehoboam came to Shechem to be made king of Israel (1 Kings 12:1), but there he was confronted by Jeroboam. Rehoboam chose bad counsel, responded poorly, and as a result, 10 of the 12 tribes were torn from his hand, as God had promised (1 Kings 11:31,35) — the kingdom was split in two. The southern kingdom, ruled by David’s descendants was known as Judah and the northern kingdom, ruled by a long line of ungodly kings, starting with Jeroboam, was known as Israel or Ephraim. The first capital of this northern kingdom was Shechem (1 Kings 12:25), but later it moved to a new city called Samaria (1 Kings 16:24,29). From that point on, Shechem became unimportant. In time the name Samaria at times was used to describe the northern kingdom.

Jeroboam feared that the people would return to Rehoboam when they went to Jerusalem to worship God, so he set up false gods for worship, one in Bethel (a little south of Shechem) and one in the far north in Dan  (1 Kings 12:28-29). He chose his own priests and his own worship rituals, not as God had revealed through Moses. This began the false worship that the woman at the well identified as separating the Samaritans from the Jews. “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” (John 4:20)

In time, God brought judgment on the northern kingdom. Most of the people were carried away by the Assyrians, but some were left. They also brought in people from the other nations they had captured (2 Kings 17:24). The people intermarried and they mixed the worship of God with worship of the false gods of these other nations (2 Kings 17:41). 

Later, God also punished the unfaithfulness of the southern kingdom and the Jews of Judah were carried away by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon. But later after Persia conquered Babylon, Cyrus sent Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1-3).  The Samaritans tried to join with them (Ezra 4:1-2), but the Jewish leaders would not allow them to pollute the pure worship of God, and so the Samaritans did all they could to stop the restoration of the pure worship of God in Jerusalem (Ezra 4:4-5).

It is this enmity that caused the woman at the well to be astonished that Jesus would speak with her (John 4:9). 

But Jesus quickly focused the discussion on what really matters — not the physical state of things, but rather the spiritual.

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” … Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:10,13-14)

The woman saw her sin, knew her need for a Savior, believed in Christ, and told her neighbors. Jesus led a great revival in that place.

From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, “He told me everything that I did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.” (John 4:39-42)

The apostle Paul would later explain how, in Christ, the walls of this world that formerly separated us have been demolished when we trust in Christ and are reconciled by Him.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

Hallelujah! Praise God!

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Journeys of Jesus: Jerusalem to the Judean Countryside

For the past several posts, we’ve been following Jesus’ journeys through John’s gospel account.

The synoptic gospels all report on Jesus’ baptism and His temptation in the wilderness and then Matthew and Mark transition to the next phase by telling us that, after John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus returned to Galilee and began His ministry there. (Matthew 4:12, Mark 1:14).

Today, the account in John continues and makes the point that the baptizer hadn’t yet been arrested, so these journeys are in the time period between the temptation and Christ’s Galilean ministry reported in the other gospels.

After these things, Jesus came with his disciples into the land of Judea. He stayed there with them and baptized. 23 John also was baptizing in Enon near Salim, because there was much water there. They came, and were baptized; 24 for John was not yet thrown into prison. (John 3:22-24)

This is another case where God has chosen not to reveal to us exactly where Jesus went in Judea to perform these baptisms.

He does tell us where John was baptizing at the same time (Enon near Salim). Archeologists and scholars haven’t definitively identified these places, but even if they did, the text does not indicate whether Jesus was baptizing near John or not, only that John’s disciples had heard that Jesus was baptizing and that it was “hurting business” – that people were going to Jesus to be baptized instead of John.

All that we know is that Jesus had left Jerusalem and gone with His disciples somewhere in Judea and that, from there they would later head north towards Galilee and pass near Sychar. When I put together the map for the Journeys with Jesus game, I picked a spot and called it “Countryside” to represent an endpoint for this journey, but I made clear in the game rules that we don’t really know where it is.

What we do know from this passage is much more important than any geographic location. John the Baptist responds to his disciples’ concerns with a powerful testimony of Christ:

John answered, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. This, my joy, therefore is made full. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease. 31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies; and no one receives his witness. 33 He who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. 36 One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:27-36)

Do you believe in the Son? If so, you have eternal life! That is what we really need to know.

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Journeys of Jesus: Capernaum to Jerusalem

In my last post we looked quite a bit at Capernaum and its significance in the Gospels. In the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke), Capernaum was the center of Jesus’ ministry, with Matthew even referring to the place as Jesus’ “own city.”

Today, we are continuing on with the story from the gospel of John, and John doesn’t give nearly as much attention to Capernaum. For John, it seems that Jerusalem was always the focus.

12 After this, he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they stayed there a few days. 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. (John 2:12-13)

In the synoptic gospels, there’s no mention of Jesus visiting Jerusalem during His ministry until the very end, but John has Jesus going there several times, and especially for festival times: Passover (John 2:13-23; 11:55), the Festival of Booths (John 7:2, 10), the Festival of Dedication (John 10:22), and an unnamed festival (John 5:1-3).

John seems focused on Jerusalem as the center of Jewish worship, and I think that’s somewhat reflected in John 2:13 when he says that “Jesus went up to Jerusalem”. Whenever I’m giving directions, I use the terms “up” and “down” to refer to the compass points on a map – up means going north, down means going south. But, that “north is up” orientation really only dates to European map making starting around the 16th century.  The Jews often spoke of going “up” to Jerusalem, even when heading south (as in this case). 

Jerusalem was literally the city on a hill. From whichever direction you approach the city, you will climb an ascent as you approach the city. This sense of physically and spiritually going up to Jerusalem to worship is perhaps best reflected in the Songs of Ascent in the Psalms (120-134). Pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem would sing these psalms as they climbed towards the city where God had chosen to make His earthly abode (Ps 132:13). 

Out of the depths I have cried to you, Yahweh.
Lord, hear my voice.
    Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my petitions.
If you, Yah, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
    therefore you are feared.
I wait for Yahweh.
    My soul waits.
    I hope in his word.
My soul longs for the Lord more than watchmen long for the morning,
    more than watchmen for the morning.
Israel, hope in Yahweh,
    for there is loving kindness with Yahweh.
    Abundant redemption is with him.
He will redeem Israel from all their sins.
(Psalm 130)

When John spoke with the woman at the well, their discussion quickly turned to the topic of worship.

The woman rightly observed: Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” (John 4:20)

Jesus responded: Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father. 22 You worship that which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:21-24)

In John’s gospel, Jesus went to Jerusalem several times to worship God, but when His work on the cross was finished, Jerusalem was no longer mentioned.

Let us too worship God in spirit and in truth, crying to Him for forgiveness, setting our hope on His loving kindness and the redemption we can find in Christ.

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Journeys of Jesus: Cana to Capernaum

In my last post, Jesus traveled from the River Jordan to Cana where He, His mother, and His disciples went to a wedding, and Jesus performed His first miracle. Staying in the gospel of John, we aren’t told much about His next journey:

After this, he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they stayed there a few days. (John 2:12)

Cana and Capernaum are both in Galilee, so the journey was not extraordinary – about 20 miles. Probably a full day’s journey, but nothing like going to Judea.

On this trip, they only stayed a few days, but before long Capernaum would become the main base for Jesus’ ministry, so it’s worth taking a closer look at this fishing village.

Capernaum is on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The location of Capernaum is significant for two main reasons. First, it gave Jesus easy access to all of the villages around this large lake. Second, Capernaum is on the Via Maris (or the Way of the Sea), the main highway connecting Africa to Asia and Europe (and thus connecting the Gentile world).

In fact, Matthew emphasizes that Jesus’ move to Capernaum specifically fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy that “the way of the sea” would play an important role in the spread of the gospel:

And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles:
16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.”

17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
(Matthew 4:13-17)

In Matthew 9:1, Capernaum is referenced as Jesus’ “own city”, but in Matthew 11, he curses the place:

“You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, you will go down to Hades.  For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in you, it would have remained until today. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment, than for you.” (Matthew 11:23-24)

Jesus would perform many miracles in Capernaum (e.g. Luke 7:1-10; Matthew 8:14-15; Matthew 8:16-17; Mark 2:1-12), and many of Jesus’ disciples were from Capernaum. John, James, Peter, and Andrew were all fishermen in Capernaum (Matthew 4:18-22), while Matthew was a tax collector at a tax booth in Capernaum (probably along the Via Maris) (Matthew 9:9; Luke 5:27) .

So, it sounds like Capernaum was a very significant city in the region. It was strategically located, but there was a more important city on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Moving down the western side of the lake you would come first to Magdala and then to Tiberias. Both were Roman cities. Tiberias specifically had been built by Herod Antipas in A.D 18 or 19 and made the capital of Galilee. According to The Wycliffe Historical Geography of Bible Lands, Jews considered Tiberias to be an unclean city, so it was purely populated by Gentiles. Tiberias is only mentioned in passing in the New Testament.

But what is great in the world’s eyes is often not what God will use greatly in bringing about His will.

Capernaum will feature prominently in many of the journeys we will discuss in future posts, but at this point in His ministry, Jesus spends only a few days in the village. 

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Journeys of Jesus: Bethany Beyond the Jordan to Cana

The gospel of John often provides details that we don’t find in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). What Jesus did and where He went after being tempted in the Wilderness is a good example of that.

All three of the synoptic gospels say that, immediately after His baptism, Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted (Matthew 4:1, Mark 1:12, Luke 4:1) and then, after His temptation, they say “Now when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee.” (Matthew 4:12, Mark 1:14, Luke 4:14).

In contrast, John doesn’t say anything about Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, but instead tells about Jesus attracting disciples where John had been baptizing (Bethany beyond the Jordan). Andrew (John 1:40), Simon Peter (John 1:41-42), Philip (John 1:43), and Nethanel (John 1:49) all started following Jesus at this time.

Chapter 2 of John’s gospel begins with Jesus and His disciples traveling to Cana for a wedding. This journey would be about 80 miles, which would take about 27 hours to walk.

The third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus also was invited, with his disciples, to the wedding.” (John 2:1-2)

It’s not clear whether these things happened before or after Jesus’ temptation. My guess is that they happened after, but it doesn’t really matter. Jesus began His ministry, began attracting followers, and went to Cana.

We don’t know much about Cana. It apparently was near Nazareth and there are different theories as to where exactly it was. It likely wasn’t a major town and yet it plays a relatively significant role in the Gospels. 

This is the first recording of a public miracle performed by Jesus. He turned water into wine at the wedding.

“This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” (John 2:11)

Jesus returned to this area not long after and performed a second miracle.

“Jesus came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water into wine. There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  …  Jesus said to him, ‘Go your way. Your son lives.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. … This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come out of Judea into Galilee.” (John 4:46,50,54)

A third interesting link between the gospel story and Cana is that Jesus’ disciple Nathanael was from Cana (John 21:2). This is the same Nathanael who was critical of Nazareth, a town so close to Cana. 

“Nathanael said to him, ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?'” (John 1:46)

So, perhaps there was some regional rivalry between Cana and Nazareth. Suffice it to say that even those in Cana would agree that Jesus (the definition of good) coming out of Nazareth was a good thing!

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Journeys of Jesus: Bethany Beyond the Jordan to the Wilderness

In scripture, God often reveals to us specific places where historical events took place. I’ve set out to write these articles so that I can learn more about these places and specifically the geography that plays a role in the gospel accounts of Jesus Christ.

At times, however, it pleases God to not reveal to us the specific places. Today, I’m writing about one of those times.

The three synoptic gospels all tell us that, immediately following His baptism, Christ was tempted in the wilderness.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Matthew 4:1, also see Mark 1:12 and Luke 4:1-2)

The term “the wilderness” is not at all specific. In Israel, there are several areas that are called the wilderness. The area closest to Bethany Beyond the Jordan is the Judean Wilderness, but we don’t know if this is where Jesus was led and was tempted by the devil.

The Judean wilderness or desert lies between the hills of Judea and the Dead Sea. As clouds carrying moisture from the Mediterranean travel from west to east across the country, the high peaks seemingly scrape the water out of the clouds as rain that falls on the western slopes. East of the highlands, the land is very dry. While western Jerusalem gets about 2 feet of rain a year, the Judean wilderness averages around 4 inches of rain a year.

This land is also marked by deep ravines and rugged landscape. This is a harsh environment that has been largely uninhabited for most of history. David fled from King Saul to this area (1 Samuel 23:14; 24:1; 25:4; 26:3).

And yet, it can also be a place of beauty. In the springtime, when the normally dry wadis fill with rain, the desert bursts into life.

The wilderness and the dry land will be glad.
    The desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose. (Isaiah 35:1)

But just as quickly, the dry wind blows, the grass withers and the flower fades.

The voice of one saying, “Cry!”
    One said, “What shall I cry?”
“All flesh is like grass,
    and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers,
    the flower fades,
    because Yahweh’s breath blows on it.
    Surely the people are like grass.
The grass withers,
    the flower fades;
    but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8)

It was to this desolate place that Jesus was driven to withstand the temptations of Satan. When we find ourselves in a dry and desolate place in our lives, let us remember and draw near to Him!

For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. 16 Let’s therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace for help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)

The photo at the top of this post is titled Wilderness of Judea from Neby Mousa [i.e., Nebi Musa], close contours of hills and is from the G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection at the Library of Congress

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Journeys of Jesus: Nazareth to Bethany Beyond Jordan

In our last article, we completed the journeys from Jesus’ childhood described in Matthew and Luke. We have looked at the journeys he took as a pre-born infant, those he took as an infant and young child, and a journey he took as a twelve-year-old boy.

With this article, we jump forward 18 years to the beginning of his ministry. All four gospels begin this phase of Jesus’ life by describing his baptism by John at the Jordan River (Matthew 3:13, Mark 1:9, Luke 3:21-22, John 1:28-29).

From Mark’s account, we see that Jesus came from Nazareth: In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. (Mark 1:9)

And from John’s account we see that He came to John at Bethany beyond the Jordan: These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. (John 1:28)

As with most Gospel accounts, we don’t know what route Jesus took. He may have taken the Patriarch’s Way, which was one of the main routes between North and South. We discussed this route when we looked at the journeys between Jerusalem and Nazareth.  However, it’s also possible he took a road closely paralleling the Jordan River.

The Jordan River plays a major role in Biblical history. Lot chose to settle in the Plain of the Jordan near the Dead Sea (Genesis 13:11). In the exodus, Moses and the Israelites circled around until they were on the east side of the Jordan, across from Jericho (Numbers 22:1) and Joshua miraculously led the nation across the Jordan on dry ground (Joshua 3:17). The river also played a key role in many battles (e.g. Judges 3:28, 8:4; 2 Samuel 10:17). Elijah and Elisha also crossed the Jordan on dry ground (2 Kings 2:8, 14). Naaman’s leprosy was healed by the waters of the Jordan (2 Kings 5:14). 

From these stories, we might get a sense that the Jordan is a mighty raging river. It is not. The portion of the Jordan between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea averages 100 feet across and 7-8 feet deep. However, during certain times of the year, the river flooded (Joshua 3:15), overflowing its banks and became much wider and deeper.

Also, the river does drop significantly over the 65 miles from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea (from 680 feet below sea level to 1300 feet below sea level, the lowest point on earth). Especially at the very southern end, the river rushes into the Dead Sea.

In fact, one of the main features of the Jordan is that it is in a very deep gorge. You literally go down to the Jordan. Remember Jerusalem, just 20 miles from the northern end of the Dead Sea, is at an elevation of about 2500 feet above sea level, so the drop in elevation over those 20 miles is 3800 feet, or nearly three-quarters of a mile. 

In our very first article we told how Mary, carrying Jesus in her womb, visited her relative Elizabeth in the hill country of Judah. I didn’t mention it at the time, but Elizabeth was also miraculously pregnant. Her husband Zecharias had been visited by an angel who had given him the good news:

But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to prepare a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:13-17)

And now, 30 years later, God called John to his ministry, leading him to the Jordan river:

In those days, John the Baptizer came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” For this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
    make the way of the Lord ready!
    Make his paths straight!”

Now John himself wore clothing made of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. Then people from Jerusalem, all of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him. They were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. (Matthew 3:1-6)

Bethany beyond the Jordan was about 25 miles from Jerusalem and, according to Google Maps, it would take about 8 1/2 hours to walk there. This was no minor trek and yet people in great numbers (“all Judea”) were being drawn to hear the preaching, to confess their sins, repent, and be baptized.

But one came from well beyond Judea who had no sins to confess.  According to Google Maps, walking from Nazareth to Bethany Beyond the Jordan is a 130 km (80 mi), 26 hour journey.

John made the way of the Lord ready, telling his audience:

“I indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 3:11)

And when Jesus came, John didn’t feel worthy to baptize him.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 But John would have hindered him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?”

15 But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. (Matthew 3:13-15)

This was a long journey, but an important one. 

In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Immediately coming up from the water, he saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 A voice came out of the sky, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Luke 1:9-11)

God anointed Jesus for the work ahead of Him. His ministry had begun.

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Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain. 

Journeys of Jesus: Egypt to Nazareth

With this week’s article, we finish looking at Jesus’ earliest days. Last week we looked at Matthew 2, the story of the wise men from the east, and specifically we looked at Joseph taking Mary and Jesus to Egypt.

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” (Matthew 2:13)

So, Joseph took his young family to Egypt. We don’t know what route they took, but I used the journey as an opportunity to talk about the route called “The Way to Shur”, about Abraham and Isaac’s journey from Mount Moriah to Beersheba, about Hagar fleeing Sarai towards Egypt, and about the Israelites wandering in the wilderness of Shur.

Today, the text takes us back to Israel, and specifically to Nazareth.

But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 20 “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child’s life are dead.” 21 He arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. Being warned in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee, 23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets that he will be called a Nazarene. (Matthew 2:19-23)

It’s not clear from the text whether the young family returned to Bethlehem first, or whether they went straight to Nazareth.  I will assume the latter as an opportunity to talk about another of the major routes connecting Egypt and Israel (and really all of Asia and Europe).

The main highway from Egypt to the north and east is called by various names. Many scholars call it the Via Maris (or the way of the sea); many  scholars of Biblical history call it the Great Trunk Road; and the Bible references it as “the way of the land of the Philistines” (Exodus 13:17).

As you might’ve guessed, at least in part, it travels along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea on the western edge of Israel. As a major route, it was a well patrolled highway making it a relatively safe and easy way to reach especially the northern parts of Israel. However, its prominence also meant that, at times, key Biblical figures avoided using this highway to avoid being noticed. The highway also doesn’t get very close to the towns in the Judean hills, like Bethlehem and Jerusalem. But for someone wanting to go from Egypt to Nazareth, the Via Maris or Great Trunk Road would be a great choice.

Israel’s Mediterranean coast is unlike what I tend to think of when I think of other countries on this inland (its name literally means middle of the earth) sea. Unlike the major seagoing nations, Israel lacked a true natural deep water port. Here at the very eastern end of the Mediterranean, the seabed gently rises to the coastline. Sure, we read of Jonah putting to sea from Joppa in a relatively small ship (Jonah 1:3), but King Solomon had to do his major shipping out of the Gulf of Aqaba (2 Chronicles 8:17-18) rather than the Mediterranean.

Herod, however, sought to change that. He wanted a grand entrance to his kingdom, and so he built Caesarea Maritima, or simply Caesarea. Herod built many places that he named Caesarea to pay homage to his emperor, Caesar Augustus. Caesarea Maritima, about 35 miles north of Joppa, was a grand Roman city, but perhaps its greatest engineering feat was the creation of a man-made harbor. Stone blocks 50 x 18 x 10 foot were manually placed in the water to create an artificial breakwater.

As Bible readers, we perhaps know Caesarea best for the story of the Roman centurion Cornelius based in that city, who, at God’s command, sent to Joppa for Peter (Acts 10:1,5). But 30+ years prior to that glorious event of the gospel going to the gentiles, I imagine that Joseph would’ve approached this massive symbol of Herod’s power with trepidation.

At Caesarea, the Great Trunk Road bends inland, but still heading north, taking a route that would pass close by Nazareth.

If we read further into Acts, we encounter Caesarea again as Paul’s both prison and sanctuary (Acts 23:23-24) and the starting point for his journey to Rome. May we, like Paul, trust our sovereign God and be faithful to fearlessly carry Christ’s name to those who are perishing (Acts 9:15-16).

The map at the top of this post is sourced from Wikipedia. This is the attribution: Atefrat, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain. 

Journeys of Jesus: Bethlehem to Egypt

As I mentioned in my last article, the gospels of Matthew and Luke tell of Christ’s birth and his earliest days. The last few weeks we’ve looked at the narrative from Luke, where a few weeks after his birth, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem and then on to Nazareth.

This week I want to look at the narrative from Matthew. Unlike Luke, Matthew doesn’t provide much detail around the birth of Christ. Chapter 1 is almost entirely set before the time of the nativity and chapter 2 is set after. Only the last half of the last verse in chapter 1 seems set at the time of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem.

Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself; 25 and didn’t know her sexually until she had given birth to her firstborn son. He named him Jesus. (Matthew 1:24,25)

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1,2)

We don’t really know when these wise men arrived in Jerusalem. All the scriptures tell us is that it was after Jesus was born.  (The ESV, NIV, and NASB all say “after Jesus was born” while some translations, including the WEB say more vaguely “when Jesus was born”.) Popular cultural references give the impression that this was very shortly after Christ’s birth, but the only real clue to timing is that it was within a couple of years. 

You’re probably familiar with the story. The wise men came to King Herod looking for the “King of the Jews”. Herod was not only the official Roman-appointed king of the Jews, but a very paranoid king at that. He tried to convince the wise men that he too wanted to worship this king, but God warned them to not cooperate. So instead, Herod ordered the murder of all the innocent babies that might fit the description of this young threat to his crown.

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men. (Matthew 2:16)

I know this is a long intro and we haven’t gotten to any geography yet, so I’ll cut to the chase. I believe that these events probably happened between one and two years after the birth of Christ. In the intervening months, Joseph and family had gone to Jerusalem, and then on to Nazareth, and it appears that they had, at some point, returned to Bethlehem where they were now staying in a house.

He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.” They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them until it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:8-11)

So now we can get on with the journey.

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” (Matthew 2:13)

So, Joseph took his young family to Egypt.

There is a long history between Israel and Egypt. Egypt is in the northeast corner of Africa. Israel forms a land bridge connecting the continent of Africa (specifically Egypt) with the continents of Asia and Europe. At times, Egypt has been a major world power and Israel lay in direct path between the imperial forces of Egypt, and those of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia. 

But even before those imperial battles, going all the way back to the patriarchs, Abram and Sarai went to Egypt to escape a famine (Genesis 12:10), Isaac was tempted similarly to flee famine into Egypt (Genesis 26:2), and of course Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt (Genesis 39:1). Eventually Joseph brought his father and his brothers and all their families to Egypt (Genesis 46:26).

Since this journey from Israel to Egypt appears so often in scripture, we can get the sense that it was a a simple jaunt, almost like crossing the street into the next neighborhood. That is not the case.

It’s interesting, if I ask Google Maps how to walk from Bethlehem to Port Said (the city in Egypt closest to Israel and probably not far from the land of Goshen), the route is 706 km (439 miles) and would take 143 hours to walk (2 weeks at 10 hours a day). Google also doesn’t recommend a very direct route:

Why this indirect route? The simplest answer is that this is difficult terrain. 

Bethlehem, high in the Judean hills, enjoys a Mediteranean climate, with relatively high rainfall. We don’t know exactly what route Joseph would’ve chosen from Bethlehem to Egypt, but one likely choice would be to continue along the ridge road to Hebron and then on to Beersheba.

Heading south and west towards Egypt, a traveler on this route would have first reached Hebron, where the cave of Machpelah serves as the tomb of Abraham (Genesis 25:9) and Sarah (Genesis 23:19), Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah (Genesis 49:29-31), and where David first ruled over Judah (2 Samuel 2:11). Continuing on, he would come down out of the hills into the Negev, a region that takes its name from the Hebrew word for dry.

Wikipedia describes the Negev this way: “The Negev is a rocky desert. It is a melange of brown, rocky, dusty mountains interrupted by wadis (dry riverbeds that bloom briefly after rain) and deep craters.” (Psalm 126:4)

Beersheba is the largest town in the Negev and Genesis tells us that this is where Abraham lived (Genesis 22:19). Abraham and Isaac likely took a route very similar to this after the sacrifice on Mount Moriah.

Continuing south from the Negev, the traveler will enter the desert of the Sinai peninsula.  The road known as The Way to Shur is where Hagar fled from the wrath of Sarai (Genesis 16:7) and one of the main routes across the desert. Shur is likely a reference to a wall erected by the Egyptians on their eastern border to keep out raiding desert tribes. 

This is a difficult route. In Exodus, after miraculously crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites spent three days in this wilderness without finding water (Exodus 15:22).

Finally, after making it across the desert, and crossing the Suez isthmus, the travelers would find themselves in the lush region of the Nile delta. The land of Goshen, where Joseph settled Jacob and his family was probably near this border.

And perhaps Jesus’ step-father Joseph also settled his family in this same region for a time.

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Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain. 

Journeys of Jesus: Jerusalem to Nazareth

Up to this point in following Jesus’ journeys, I’ve been able to take a chronological approach with pretty high confidence. We can be pretty sure of the order of events at the beginning and end of His life, but the way the different gospels order the telling of stories in the middle of his life, I can’t be confident of the specific order of the different journeys Jesus took between those first and last days.

This week and next week we will deal with two journeys that are both very early in Jesus’ life. It’s not clear from the gospel accounts which came first.

Both the gospel of Mark and the gospel of John start by describing the ministry of John the baptist and then Jesus’ baptism, marking the beginning of his ministry. Matthew and Luke both include the birth of Jesus and a few stories from His early life, so it’s from these two gospels that we have already seen Jesus’ earliest journeys.

In the last journey that we looked at, from Luke 2, Joseph and Mary took Jesus from Bethlehem to Jerusalem.  Today, we’re going to continue in Luke 2.

When they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. (Luke 2:39)

I believe that the next journey that Jesus took was from Jerusalem to Nazareth, still as a tiny baby. As I’ve said in previous posts, Jerusalem was in Judea in the south of Israel, while Nazareth was in Galilee in the north.

According to Google Maps, the distance from Nazareth to Jerusalem is 149 km (93 miles) and today (with modern roads and walkways) it would take 31 hours to walk between the two cities. So this was not an inconsequential journey. And yet it was one that Jesus and His family would take many times (Luke 2:41).

In the game Journeys with Jesus, I have only included one journey card for any given city pair, so the one card with Jerusalem and Nazareth represents many actual journeys that Jesus took between these two towns. And similarly, I’ll use this one post to talk about all those journeys over the same geography.

Israel’s topography is rather unique. As you move from west to east, you start with the gentle coastal plains by the Mediterranean Sea. You then cross the rolling hills of the Shephalah, before reaching a range of mountains running north-south through the middle of the country. As clouds roll west to east, they run into these mountains and tend to drop all their rain on the west side of the range, leaving the eastern slopes dry as they drop down into the Jordan rift (which includes the lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea).

Jerusalem is along that central mountain range and traveling north to Nazareth would largely be along that range along the “Patriarch’s Way”. Along the way, the travelers would’ve seen the mountains so important in Israel’s history, Mount Gerizim (Deuteronomy 11:29), Mount Ebal (Joshua 8:33), Mount Tabor (Judges 4:14), and when turning to the west for the final stretch to Nazareth, Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-21) in the distance. On these long journeys, these sights would be an encouragement and reminder of God’s faithfulness to His people.

It was on one of these journeys from Nazareth to Jerusalem that we are told the only story of what Jesus was like as a boy.

When he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast, 43 and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and his mother didn’t know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day’s journey, and they looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45 When they didn’t find him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the middle of the teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions. 47 All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When they saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I were anxiously looking for you.”

49 He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 They didn’t understand the saying which he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth. He was subject to them, and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2: 42-52)

May we be so blessed, to be increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. 

The map above is from the current prototype of the Journeys with Jesus game board showing the journey from Bethlehem to Jerusalem.

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Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain.

Journeys of Jesus: Jerusalem

Last week we looked at Jesus’ third journey — from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Before we move on from Jerusalem, I want to stop and take a good look at this city.

Jerusalem is mentioned by name 766 times in the World English Bible, with the first occurrence of the name being in Joshua 10 when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem forms an alliance with four other kings and they attack Gibeon in retaliation for the Gibeonites making peace with Israel. In one of the most amazing displays of God fighting for His people, the battle went long and didn’t end well for Adoni-Zedek and his allies.

But, many scholars believe that Joshua 10 is not the first mention of this great city. They believe that Jerusalem is the same city as Salem and we encounter a theologically important King of Salem in Genesis 14.

Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High. 19 He blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. 20 Blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave him a tenth of all. Genesis 14:18-20

And so, even from Abraham’s day, Salem was a spiritual center in the land. But many centuries would pass before Jerusalem would again become spiritually prominent for Abraham’s descendants.

In Joshua 10 we read that Adoni-Zedek and his army were defeated by Israel’s army, but in Joshua 15 we hear that Jerusalem, on the border between Judah’s and Benjamin’s territory, was not completely conquered.

As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah couldn’t drive them out; but the Jebusites live with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day. Joshua 15:63

After Joshua’s death, Judah and Benjamin again fought against the Jebusites in Jerusalem with limited success. (Judges 1:8,21)

So, why was Jerusalem so hard to conquer?

In short, it held a very defensible position.

The city was built on two ridges. The western ridge is what is now called Mount Zion. The eastern ridge is the southern spur of Mount Moriah. The Jebusites had built their fortress on the very southern tip of this ridge. The Tyropoeon Valley separated the two ridges, but more importantly, the Kidron Valley separates Mount Moriah from the Mount of Olives, and the Hinnom Valley runs to the south of both ridges and west of  Mount Zion.

From “The Holy Land in Geography and in History. [With maps and plans.]” (1899) (Public Domain)

These deep valleys create steep slopes up to the ridges, providing natural defenses. Mount Zion is significantly broader and higher than the eastern ridge, but lacked a good water source, so the Jebusite fortress was built on the eastern ridge on top of the Gihon spring.

This spring played a key role in the next major chapter of Jerusalem’s history.

In 1867, explorer Charles Warren discovered a shaft that connected the city to the spring down below. The residents could lower buckets by rope down this shaft and draw water into the city. A popular theory has been that when David sought to capture Jerusalem, Joab led the attack by climbing up this shaft (2 Samuel 5:7-8).

Israel’s first king, Saul, was a Benjamite and he made Gibeah his capital. Gibeah was 3 miles north of Jerusalem. After the death of Saul, David was first chosen as king of Judah and made his capital Hebron, 19 miles south of Jerusalem. After the death of Saul’s son Ish-bosheth, the remaining tribes came to David in Hebron and made him king over all of Israel.

After conquering the city, David strategically made Jerusalem, on the border of Judah and Benjamin, his new capital. He expanded the city and strengthened it’s fortifications. Jerusalem has continued as an important political center for Israel to this day.

However, perhaps more significantly, David and his son Solomon also made Jerusalem the spiritual center of the country.

During the exodus from Egypt, God had directed Moses to create the ark of the covenant with its mercy seat where God would meet with Moses. He also directed Moses in creating a tabernacle (tent) to house the ark. God also established through Moses the ceremonial system through which the Israelites would worship God. The alter at the tabernacle was the center of that worship. The tabernacle and everything associated with it could be easily packed up and moved as Israel continued its journey to the promised land.

Even after arriving in the land, the tabernacle continued to be the spiritual center of the Jews. At first, it was in the Israelite camp at Gilgal, but then moved to Shiloh in Ephraim (about 30 miles north of Jerusalem). Saul moved the tabernacle first to Nob and then to Gibeon, 10 miles northwest of Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 1:3). 

The ark of the covenant, however, was no longer with the tent of meeting. In Eli and Samuel’s day, the Israelites had foolishly taken the ark into battle against the Philistines, who captured the ark and carried it away. God brought judgment on the Philistines, who sent it back to Israel. It stayed for 20 years at Kirjath-jearim before David had it moved, first to Perez Uzzah and then finally, into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:15,17).

David wanted to build a house for the Lord in Jerusalem, a permanent temple to replace the tabernacle, but God would not allow it since David was a man of war. He told David that his son Solomon would be the one to build the temple. In his life, David gathered the materials, and God, in His providence, made clear the place for the temple.

God allowed Satan to tempt David to take a prideful census of the people, leading to God sending a pestilence on the land. As the destroying angel was about to strike Jerusalem, God commanded David to build an altar to the Lord at the threshing floor of Ornan, the Jebusite, where the angel of the Lord stood with his sword drawn. 

So David gave to Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place. 26 David built an altar to Yahweh there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on Yahweh; and he answered him from the sky by fire on the altar of burnt offering. 27 Then Yahweh commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. 1 Chronicles 21:25-27

Then David said, “This is the house of Yahweh God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.” 1 Chronicles 22:1

It must be noted that this was not the first time that a sacrifice had been offered in this place. We must again go back to Abraham’s day. 

He [God] said, “Now take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.” Genesis 22:2

So Abraham took Isaac and they went and Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his son, but God stayed his hand.

12 He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham called the name of that place “Yahweh Will Provide”. As it is said to this day, “On Yahweh’s mountain, it will be provided.” Genesis 22:12-15

And if we fast forward in time from Abraham to David and all the way to Jesus, we will see again on this same mountain another sacrifice, this time of God’s Son, His only Son.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Getting back to Solomon’s time, David’s son did build the temple on Mount Moriah.

Then Solomon began to build Yahweh’s house at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh appeared to David his father, which he prepared in the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 Chronicles 3:1 (see also 2 Chronicles 5:2,4-5,7)

Solomon’s temple became the center of worship for all of Israel.

Unfortunately, Israel’s kings and people sinned and turned away from God and His wrath burned against them. After nearly 400 years, He sent Nebuchadnezzer, king of Babylon, who conquered Judah, burned Jerusalem, and destroyed the temple.

By God’s grace, Persia conquered Babylon and Cyrus the Great allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem. Seventy years after the destruction of Solomon’s temple, these returnees rebuilt the temple. Four hundred years later, under Roman rule, just before the time of Christ, King Herod the Great greatly expanded and renovated the temple.

This is the Jerusalem and temple that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus visited weeks after His birth.

The map above is from the current prototype of the Journeys with Jesus game board showing the location of Jerusalem.

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Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain.

Journeys of Jesus: Bethlehem to Jerusalem

Last week we looked at Jesus’ second journey — from Nazareth to Bethlehem and then His glorious birth.

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as children. Galatians 4:4-5

Today we will look at his first journey outside the womb.

You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and no sin is in him. 1 John 3:5

1 John 3:5 describes what some theologians call Jesus’ passive obedience and His active obedience. His passive obedience was His willing suffering and death on behalf of His people “to take away our sins.” His active obedience was his perfect keeping throughout His whole life of the law that He was born under so that “no sin is in him.”

Although it’s hard to think of acts done by His earthly parents when he was a helpless babe as Christ’s “active” obedience, by the grace of God, Joseph and Mary did complete the steps required by the Jewish law for Jewish babies, and thus Jesus began His life in perfect obedience to the law.

Leviticus 12
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a woman conceives, and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her monthly period she shall be unclean. In the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. She shall continue in the blood of purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any holy thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her period; and she shall continue in the blood of purification sixty-six days.

“‘When the days of her purification are completed for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the door of the Tent of Meeting, a year old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove, for a sin offering. He shall offer it before Yahweh, and make atonement for her; then she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood.

“‘This is the law for her who bears, whether a male or a female. If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons: the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.’”

This is the Jewish law concerning the birth of a child. And Joseph and Mary obeyed it with the birth of Jesus.

When eight days were fulfilled for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Luke 2:21

We are not told otherwise, so presumably, this circumcision happened in Bethlehem. And then, after 33 days, they traveled to Jerusalem. In the days of King Solomon the Tent of Meeting had been replaced with a permanent Temple in that city. 

When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),24 and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Luke 2:22-24

Bethlehem was not far from Jerusalem, just 8 km or 5 miles (less than a 2 hour walk according to Google Maps). Although the elevation of Bethlehem and Jerusalem are similar, they would’ve passed through a couple of dips, with the final climb into the royal city being fairly steep.

From Google Maps

When they arrived, they were greeted by two very interesting characters with prophetic messages that would especially stick with young Mary.

Luke 2:25-35
Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Jesus, that they might do concerning him according to the custom of the law, 28 then he received him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

29 “Now you are releasing your servant, Master,
    according to your word, in peace;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,
31     which you have prepared before the face of all peoples;
32 a light for revelation to the nations,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

33 Joseph and his [Jesus’] mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him, 34 and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against. 35 Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Luke 2:36-38
There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, 37 and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day. 38 Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.

There is much we could unpack from these messages, but I leave that to more capable men. Suffice it to say that these two rejoiced at seeing their savior and redeemer. May we rejoice as well!

The map above is from the current prototype of the Journeys with Jesus game board showing the journey from Bethlehem to Jerusalem.

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Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain.

Journeys of Jesus: Nazareth to Bethlehem

Last week we looked at Jesus’ first journey — from Nazareth to Judah — when his mother visited her relative Elizabeth while Jesus was still in the womb.

After three months (Luke 1:56), Mary (and Jesus) returned to Nazareth.

Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to David’s city, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David; to enroll himself with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him as wife, being pregnant. (Luke 2:1-5)

Jesus’ second journey, still in Mary’s womb, was from Nazareth to Bethlehem. As with last week’s journey, this was a relatively long one. Nazareth is in the north, in Galilee, and Bethlehem is in the south, in Judaea. According to Google Maps, the distance is about 160 km (or almost 100 miles) and would take 33 hours on foot on today’s modern paths and roads.

It is also a hilly journey. Nazareth is located in a range at 1145 feet above sea level. Bethlehem, like Jerusalem, is in the hill country of Judea with an elevation of 2556 feet. In between the two, the travelers would have come down into the valleys and crossed the Plain of Esdraelon (or Valley of Jezreel) before crossing the highlands of Samaria, and then ascending again into the hill country of Judah. For example, they likely passed near modern Mizra (elevation 341 feet) in the Plain of Esdraelon just 5 miles south of Nazareth, and near modern Nablus (elevation 1768 feet) in the Samaritan highlands. (So 1145 ft -> 341 ft -> 1768 ft -> 2556 ft.)

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come out to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings out are from of old, from ancient times. (Micah 5:2)

Last week we learned that Nazareth was small and obscure in Jesus’ day. Bethlehem, even though small, had appeared several times in the Old Testament from the earliest days of the patriarchs.

In Genesis (35:19 and 48:7) we read that Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel died giving birth to their youngest son, Benjamin, on the way to Bethlehem.

Much of the beautiful book of Ruth is also set in and around Bethlehem.

So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. (Ruth 1:22)

But, it was Ruth and Boaz’s great-grandson who truly made Bethlehem famous.

Yahweh said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided a king for myself among his sons.” (1 Samuel 16:1)

David, the youngest of Jesse’s eight sons, was a humble shepherd tending the sheep in the fields around Bethlehem when he was called home and anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel.

Mary’s Joseph was descended from this David and so it was that, in response to Caesar Augustus’ decree, Joseph brought his young family to Bethlehem and it is here that Jesus was born.

That glorious event was announced to shepherds watching their flocks in the nearby fields, similar to how David had once spent his nights.

There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.” Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:8-14)

When we read the Bible, there are many things we don’t know or understand. Sometimes it’s because God just hasn’t given us all the details in His Word (for example, from last week’s story, the name of Elizabeth’s town). Other things we probably misunderstand because the way people lived in Israel over 2000 years ago was very different from how we live today.

For example, we are told: She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7)

When we read this, it is hard for us not to imagine something like a modern hotel and something like a modern barn or stable. But that is not likely what Joseph and Mary encountered in Bethlehem.

The earliest historical description of a specific birthplace is from Origin in 248 AD who describes a cave in Bethlehem with a manger that is pointed out to visitors as where Christ was born. The Church of the Nativity is built above such a cave.

But perhaps a more compelling picture is painted by Kenneth E. Bailey, a New Testament scholar who spent 40 years living and teaching in the Middle East. In his book Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, he explains “In the Middle East, historical memories are long… In such a world a man like Joseph could have appeared in Bethlehem and told people, ‘I am Joseph, son of Heli, son of Mattat, the son of Levi’ and most homes in town would be open to him. … Being of [David’s] famous family, Joseph would have been welcome anywhere in town… Simple rural communities the world over always assist one of their own women in childbirth regardless of the circumstances. … Surely the community would have sensed its responsibility to help Joseph find adequate shelter for Mary and provide the care she needed….”

And so he calls into question our traditional understanding of the “inn” and the “manger” (or “feeding trough”).  He explains “simple village homes in Palestine often had but two rooms. One was exclusively for guests. That room could be attached to the end of the house or be a ‘prophet’s chamber’ on the roof, as in the story of Elijah. The main room was a ‘family room’ where the entire family cooked, ate, slept and lived. The end of the room next to the door was either a few feet lower than the rest of the floor or blocked off with heavy timbers. Each night into that designated area, the family cow, donkey and a few sheep would be driven. … Such simple homes can be traced from the time of David up to the middle of the twentieth century.”

“If Joseph and Mary were taken into a private home and at birth Jesus was placed in a manger in that home, how is the word inn in Luke 2:7 to be understood? … the Greek word does not refer to ‘a room in an inn’ but rather to ‘space’ … The Greek word in Luke 2:7… is katalyma. This is not the ordinary word for a commercial inn. … Literally, a katalyma is simply ‘a place to stay’ and can refer to many types of shelters. The three that are options for this story are inn, house, and guest room. Indeed, Luke used this key term on one other occasion in his Gospel….” 

He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him into the house which he enters.  Tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’  He will show you a large, furnished upper room. Make preparations there.” (Luke 22:10-12)

So, we have Jesus completing his second journey, from his family’s home in Nazareth to a lowly and common space (whatever form it took) where He made His visible entry into this world.

The map above is from the current prototype of the Journeys with Jesus game board showing the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

If you’ve found this interesting and would like to continue to read these stories of the journeys and places in Journeys with Jesus, sign up in the sidebar to receive updates.

Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain.

Journeys of Jesus: Nazareth to Judah

I started down the SDG Games path because I didn’t know as much about Biblical geography as I wanted. My goal wasn’t to become an expert in the topic, I just wanted to understand the context of the Biblical stories as I read God’s Word.

However, as I’ve started developing the first game, Journeys with Jesus, I’m learning things that many would never encounter, so I want to share with you some of the more interesting and helpful facts.

So today I’m starting a new series of articles about things I’ve learned along the way, and I thought a good way to do so would be to focus on the journeys I’m including in the game Journeys with Jesus. Let’s start at the very beginning…

Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. (Luke 1:26-27)

The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and shall name him ‘Jesus.’  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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”  (Luke 1:30-33)

Mary and Joseph were from Nazareth and in a wondrous miracle, Mary became the mother of Jesus.

Nazareth is in Galilee, which is in the north of Israel. In Jesus’ day it was a small village, probably with fewer than 500 people. It isn’t mentioned anywhere in the Old Testament or in non-Biblical writings prior to the time of Christ.

Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” (John 1:46)

Interestingly, in modern times, Nazareth is a much more prominent city with a population of nearly 80,000. Today it is most notable for two identities. As the boyhood home of Jesus, it is a center for Christian pilgrims and tourists. It is also the political center for Arabs in Israel. According to Wikipedia, the population of Nazareth today is 69% Muslim and 31% Christian.

Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah, and entered into the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. (Luke 1:39-40)

Jesus’ first journey is described later in Luke 1 when Mary, carrying Jesus in her womb, visits her relative Elizabeth. We don’t know exactly where Elizabeth and her husband Zacharias lived, it is only referenced as “a city of Judah”.

Judah was in the south of Israel. By the time of Jesus, the area previously called Judah was now usually called Judea (sometimes spelled Judaea). In fact, I think this passage is the only place in the New Testament (other than direct quotes from and references to the Old Testament scriptures) that the name Judah is used for this area. Towards the end of Luke 1, when Elizabeth gives birth to John, the area where they live is referred to as Judea.

Fear came on all who lived around them, and all these sayings were talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea. (Luke 1:65)

Judea appears to be the Greek adaptation of the name Judah. When Joshua led the conquest of the promised land and the allotment of the land to the different tribes of Israel, the tribe of Judah received a large portion in the very southernmost part of the land.

Later, after King Solomon’s death the kingdom was divided, the northern portion was called Israel or Ephraim and the southern was called Judah, but also included parts of what had been Benjamin’s, Dan’s, and Simeon’s allotments. From that point on, the definition of the territory called Judah and then Judea became a political definition rather than a tribal one and the border would move around a bit over the years, decades, and centuries.

Earlier in Luke 1, Zacharias had been serving in the temple in Jerusalem, so it’s possible that he and Elizabeth lived near Jerusalem. According to Google Maps, the distance from Nazareth to Jerusalem is 149 km (93 miles) and today (with modern roads and walkways) it would take 31 hours to walk between the two cities.

Because I don’t know where Zacharias and Elizabeth lived, I don’t include this first journey in the game, although there is a journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem, which reflects the annual trips that Jesus’ family would take to Jerusalem.

His parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover. (Luke 2:41)

The image above is from the current prototype of the game board showing the journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem in Judaea.

If you’ve found this interesting and would like to continue to read these stories of the journeys and places in Journeys with Jesus, sign up in the sidebar to receive updates.

Note: all scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the World English Bible which is in the public domain.