January 12-17th
You have all been such good students that I decided to give you the last four days off. I hope you made good use of the break. You can also thank the schizophrenic internet connection here.
The last few days have been very nice, though there haven’t been a ton of new sites. We are now finally in Jerusalem. I really did not want to leave Galilee, because it is so beautiful there. I can understand why Peter tried to keep Jesus from going to Jerusalem. It wasn’t so much about avoiding the cross. He just didn’t want to leave the beauty of his home. (I’d be an awesome revisionist historian.)
Before I tell you about the sites, I wanted to share some realizations I had this week. First, it dawned on me that when I bring pilgrims back here years from now, it will not be like it is now. It is such a blessing to be able to go back to sites over and over again, by myself, for leisurely prayer. Pilgrimages are so rushed that deep prayer rarely gets to happen. Second, I had thought for the first half of this pilgrimage that I would be able to bring people here and show them the sites myself. I will have been here for ten weeks, which would make me a quasi-expert, right? Well, eventually I realized the stupidity of that thought. The local guides we’ve had are invaluable. No foreigner, even with Holy Land experience, could ever give what they give. Finally, related to this last realization, I have come to appreciate the fact that this land and its history and its present problems can never be “figured out.” It is complex beyond belief, and I’m not going to understand it better than anyone else. All I know is that this place needs Christ’s peace, and therefore it needs Christ’s disciples here to spread His message. We need to support Christians in the Holy Land (and pray that they stop arguing with each other.)
Capernaum
We had Mass here on the 12th. For some reason this was one of the places I was most excited about visiting. This is primarily because it was the home of St. Peter, who has always been one of my favorite saints. (I can sympathize with his mistakes, and I hope that I can ultimately respond to Christ’s calling for my life the way he did.)
Capernaum was located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, placed along the Via Maris, an important international trade route in Galilee. The town was located right on the border between the tetrachies of two of Herod the Great’s sons, Philip and Antipas. This meant that tolls were collected there for travel along the Via Maris. This would explain why Levi (or Matthew,) the tax collector, was called by Jesus here. It also meant that the plethora of foreigners that passed through were able to see Jesus’ miracles and spread the stories throughout the Middle East.
Like many places in Israel and all along the Syrian/African Rift, the city was destroyed in the 749 earthquake. Jesus did say that things wouldn’t go so well for Capernaum because they saw His works but did not believe. So, moral of the story: if you’re planning on not believing God’s miraculous actions in your life, make sure you design your buildings for a 9.0 magnitude earthquake.
Presently, the excavations have exposed several buildings, including a fourth or fifth century octagonal Byzantine church over the spot of Peter’s house. In 1989, after waiting eleven years for a permit, they built a modern church over the spot. It is not attractive, but it is an engineering marvel, suspended over the ruins on only 8 piers and designed to withstand another large earthquake. There is also a synagogue from the fifth century. It had to compete with the popular church over Peter’s house, so they built it in the elaborate basilica style, even though it was a gentile style. You could throw a rock from Peter’s house to the synagogue, which is where it would have been at Jesus’ time. Jesus performed a lot of miracles in Capernaum, in and out of the synagogue, and as His following grew, His enemies in the synagogue leadership probably also grew. So, Jesus was probably in hot water well before He made His way to Jerusalem.
Tel Dan
In case you are not familiar with the term “tel,” it is a site where several civilizations built on top of the previous ones. It creates a big mound, which archeologists uncover level by level, starting with a shaft through them all that helps establish layers and the periods they represent. This particular tel goes back to the 9th millenium BC (note, I really mean 9000 years before Christ!!!!) It still had exterior city walls that went all the way back to several millenia BC. Some of them were 20 feet tall and still in good condition. I’m sure all the retaining walls I designed in Kansas City will last that long.
The tribe of Dan took over the area in northern Galilee near the Golan Heights well over 1000 BC. This town was built up by the tribe, but its real significance came in the 9th century BC. Jeroboam, a northern kingdom leader, tried to turn this area into a significant place of worship and sacrifice so that his people wouldn’t go to Jerusalem to worship, giving their allegiance to the southern kingdom of Judah. He didn’t even care if the sacrifice was pagan, which led to all sorts of problems, obviously, ending with the Assyrian defeat of the northern kingdom in the 8th century BC. Moral of the story: don’t go sacrificing to other gods because you’re kingdom (or its modern equivalent) will be destroyed by the Assyrians (or their modern equivalent) and you’ll be bummed (or a modern equivalent.)
Church of the Beatitudes
They aren’t exactly sure where the Sermon on the Mount took place. The church at the top of a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee is from the 19th or early 20th century. They have found ruins of a much older church, but it is in a slightly different location. I personally don’t really care whether the present church is at the exact spot or not, but our guide made an interesting note. He said that locals will go to pray at the church at night, sometimes, and they can actually hear the fisherman talking out on the water, over a quarter mile away. So, the location has great acoustics, but the key is that the speaker has to be at the bottom of the hill. So, perhaps, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was at the bottom with followers sitting comfortable sitting up the hill, easily hearing everything He had to say. Who knows? Well, I guess some people do, but they’re too busy singing God’s heavenly praises to worry about it.
Jericho
There really wasn’t much to see here. They have done some excavating, but there wasn’t enough for us to bother going into the site. So, instead, we ate lunch next to the oldest city in the world.
From Jericho we could see the Mount of Temptation, where it is thought that Jesus was tempted while He fasted in the desert. There is a monastery about 2/3rds of the way up the cliff. We didn’t go. It’s run by the Orthodox, so we’d probably be shoed away anyway.
Notre Dame Center
Okay, so we have been in Jerusalem for a few days. I haven’t quite wrapped my mind around the fact that I am sitting just a few football fields from the spot where Christ died and rose, saving us from our sins. I actually didn’t go to the Holy Sepulcher for the first couple days because I didn’t feel spiritually ready to go there. Eventually, yesterday, I did the Stations of the Cross with the Franciscans. The last five or six stations, of course, happen inside the Holy Sepulcher, so I finally got inside, though I have yet to make a visit inside the tomb. All in due time, I’m sure.
The place we are staying at is called the Notre Dame Center. Right across from the New Gate, it was built over a hundred years ago and has mostly served as a spot for pilgrims. It is now run by the Legionnaires of Christ and it is very nice. The director, Fr. Kelly from Ireland, gave us an introduction the other day, which included going to the roof, which overlooks the Old City. We could see so much, and he did a great job of orienting us to the area, including walking us through Jesus’ Holy Week. Then we all sang Holy God, We Praise Thy Name. I happened to be looking up at the stars when we reached the line: “Infinite Thy Vast Domain.” Yes, all those stars were created through the same Person of the Holy Trinity Who, just yards away, suffered and died for little old you and me. Incredible! Praise God!!
