Easter reflections

This Easter is standing out to me in a unique way.  It`s the first Easter since my trip to Israel with 33 LIFE listeners in November, and I'm finding that I'm thinking about it a lot differently than I ever have before.

It`s different reflecting on Easter when you've actually been to the places you're reading about.  They take on new meaning and significance.  Journey with me for a second, you may see things in a new light.

This is the Garden of Gethsemene, where Jesus spent His last night before He was crucified, praying to His Father and calling for His will, despite the pain that Jesus would suffer.  I pictured Jesus walking among the trees the same way that I did, but remembering how He created each tree in love, and looking at the temple a few hundred feet away...and crying that the people (that He loved so much more than the trees) did not understand His love and what He was trying to do.

I remember picturing Jesus being led from the garden and up these steps after he was arrested, escorted by an angry mob.

Those steps are right beside the house of Caiaphas, where Jesus spent his last night before He was crucified. Never once have I thought about what Jesus last night must have been like...until I visited the house of Caiaphas.  He spent it in a damp, dark, disgusting, 20 foot deep pit, where the only way in or out was by being lowered through a hole in the ceiling.  What a long night that must have been.  I bet He didn't sleep a wink.  He must have spent the whole night in prayer, praying for the souls of those about to crucify Him, and for the strength to go through with the pain and suffering He was about to endure.

In Nazareth we saw a replication of a cross from Jesus' day.  The crosses we have today in our churches and homes and around our necks are perfectly carved, ornate, and beautiful.  The cross we saw was a log for the crossbeam, mounted on another log, both jagged, both rough.  It also had a seat on it, which I never knew.  I knew that those being crucified would suffocate, then push up to get air, then go rest a bit, then push again, etc...horrible torture.  The seat prolonged that torture so that the person could sit for a few seconds, and then push up...awful.

It's believed Jesus was crucified here (can you see the skull in the mountain?  There's actually 2-3 of them)...

...and laid here (far left)...

...and the stone was rolled over the entrance...

As you reflect on Easter, remember the suffering Jesus went through.  The (perhaps) bittersweet feeling of walking through the Garden of Gethsemane, the long night in a dungeon, the beatings before the cross and the pain of the cross itself...  And it was GOD that went through that for US.  Doesn't make sense, should be the other way around.  Talk about leading by example - that's complete sacrifice..

Communion

I really wasn't going to blog about Israel (again) this week, but something happened on Sunday that has left me with no choice because it's all I've been thinking about since.

So what happened on Sunday?  Nothing major - we took communion.  That actually IS major when you really think about it, but most of us have just gotten used to it, myself included.  I've taken it a thousand times before...but I've never taken it like I took it this past week.  As we took the bread, all I could think about was my time in the Garden of Gethsemane almost exactly one month ago.  Being in the garden I thought of Jesus kneeling where I was standing, crying out to Father God in anguish and yet submitting to His will.  I pictured him standing in the garden and looking at the temple just up the hill, his heart breaking for the people who did not understand his message.  And in the garden, I had one of the deepest understandings of the love of Christ that I've ever had.  I pictured him walking past the trees with a heartbroken smile saying , "I remember creating you."  And as he looked at the temple, He must have thought about the people..."I just love you so much, I just want you to see the truth, I just want the best for you...and you don't see it..."

All these thoughts came flooding back this past Sunday during communion, and God reminded me how much He loves ME too...that I'm included in all that.  That understanding of God's love is one of the things I will cherish most from my trip to Israel...just pure love, no strings attached.  He just loves us.  I literally can't express it.  I'm humbled, and thankful, that He's given me what is probably just an inkling of understanding...which is enough in itself to floor me.

And with Christmas around the corner, it's even more poignant.  The phrase born to die has really taken on new meaning this with this communion.  Christ was born with one purpose - to suffer and die so that we could be saved.  Yes, He rose, but not after some serious anguish and pain.  All for us.

Did you catch that last part?

All for us.  That's you.  And me.

Torn between two worlds

I'm finding myself in a bit of an odd space right now.  I'm torn between two worlds, and yet they flow perfectly together, feeding off each other.  It sounds like a contradiction, but let me explain.

We've been back from Israel for a week and a half, but my thoughts keep going back to the trip.  In my spare moments, I find myself drifting back to some of the sights we saw, experiences we felt, the listeners I met who I now consider friends, and our guide Raffi and fearless driver David.  It's a bit like living in a constant nostalgic state, thankful for our fantastic trip but missing it at the same time.  I think of Raffi and David specifically because I don't know if I will ever see them again, in this or the next life.  With the listeners on the trip, we've agreed to keep in touch and do a reunion, and if we do lose touch years down the road at least we'll be reunited one day up above.  I wish I could say the same for Raffi and David, and it breaks my heart that (for now) I can't.  And that is the biggest part of the nostalgia to me, friends I will never see again and who won't share in our joys.  Hence, they will remain in my prayers.

And while I'm wresting down the nostalgia, I'm being thrust into the Christmas season.  I say 'thrust' because 1) it's happening so fast, and 2) I'm a bit stuck in the past three weeks as explained above.  Nonetheless, I'm getting really excited as I hear the Christmas music and see decorations going up.

So those are the my two worlds right now, how are they flowing perfectly together?  I'm finding more and more that my trip to Israel has set the perfect backdrop for Christmas.  As I read through the Christmas story (I was reading the first few chapters of Luke this morning) I better understand the text.  Names that I normally would have glossed over suddenly jump off the page as I recognize their significance.  The words and places have so much more context, and the story seems so much more real.  The more I read in the bible, the more I think about the trip.  And the more I think about our trip, the more I want to read my bible.

It's a vicious cycle, but one I don't mind being caught in.

Israel - Days 1 and 2

I was hoping to blog yesterday but we didn't have good internet access, so days 1 and 2 will be one entry.  Also, forgive this blog if the punctuation is off - it's actually in Hebrew on my computer translated into English, and written from left to right...and I can't change it.  Hopefully it's showing up well on your computer.

I've heard many people say they are a bit overwhelmed when they come to a place like Israel…being here, I totally get it.  Christian Journeys told us before we came that literally, with every step you take in Israel, you are stepping somewhere in history.  Being here and thinking about that has blown my mind.  There's so much, you can't take it all in - on this 10 day trip, we will just be scratching the surface.  Let me start at the beginning of our trip though.

Wednesday afternoon we flew out from Pearson airport.  I love flying for reasons like this - flying over the Alps at sunrise.

 Eleven hours later we landed in Tel Aviv, Israel.  It was 11am in Israel, 4am Ontario time, so we were a bit tired, but we jumped right into action.  The first thing we did, even before going to our hotel, was to head to the city of Joppa, where Jonah fled from God (instead of going to Ninevah), where cedars were shipped in for Solomon's temples, where Peter raised Tabitha from the dead (Acts 9), and where Peter got the vision about eating unclean food - that it's okay to eat outside of the Jewish laws that they had been abiding by up until that point (Acts 10).  The port of Joppa is one of the oldest in the world, and is simply no longer used because of these rocks below - modern day ships are too large.  But in Jesus time, this is where Peter came into Joppa, and if Jesus ever came, he came through here…

This is the view from our hotel - that's the Mediterranean - unfortunately, we only got to enjoy this view for one night because the next morning (this morning) we were off again.

We started out with our bus driver taking us to a site overlooking the Mediterranean.  There we did a 5 minute devotional where I shared Psalm 121, and specifically verse 4, "indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep."  I've read that verse dozens of times, but I read it a lot differently this morning.  Then I shared about how although we were driving through a lot of developed areas, we had to remember that this is exactly where Jesus and his disciples walked.  That's when our tour guide piped in perfectly by telling us that where we were standing (below) actually used to be the road from    Joppa to Caesarea, and that Jesus, Peter, and the disciples likely walked this road many times (that's Tel Aviv in the background( .

After the devotional, we shot north 30 miles to Caesarea, which is incredible!  Remember Peter's vision in Joppa above?  Well the next day he walked to Caesarea (we did it by bus in 25 minutes) and shared with Cornelius and his household about the Christian faith (Acts 10).  They believed and were baptized, and Peter realized that his vision was not just about food, it was about believers - that the message was not just for Jews, it was for the Gentiles too (that's you and me).  Caesarea also housed ) Herod The Great's palace - this is his swimming pool (note the tile floor at the bottom of the picture.

In the public part of the palace is where Paul gave his defence of the faith to King Agrippa (Acts 25-26).  This is the exact room where he stood, giving his defence.  Shivers standing here.

Then it was off to Mount Carmel (which is actually a string of mountains), where Elijah and 450 prophets of Baal went at it.  They called on their gods, nothing happened.  Elijah called on the TRUE God, and fire reigned down from heaven.  The thought in my head as stood there…"Do I have enough faith to do that?"  This sculpture commemorates Elijah slaying the prophets of Baal.

As we stood on Mount Carmel, we also overlooked the Armageddon Valley (not the proper name), which is where many battles have been fought in the past, and where Revelation 16:16 says the final battle will take place.  Some believe it to be literal, others metaphorical.  Either way, it was amazing to be here and realize the battles that were fought, and the one that may be fought on this very land.

Finally, we rounded out the day by visiting Megiddo, which is actually where the name Armageddon comes from (although we had a better view of the Armageddon Valley from Mount Carmel).  Megiddo is a tel, which is a large hill that is prime for excavating.  A tel is created by one city being built on top of another city, and so forth.  At Megiddo, they cut out a swath of land 70 years ago and found 27 different civilizations or cities that were built on top of each other, including buildings from King Solomon's kingdom (the picture below is only a part of the swath).

This made me realize the difficulty of excavation - that if you want to get to the bottom levels, you have to destroy all the levels above, and in that way you're destroying pieces of history.  Tough choice to make.

Anyway, that's a synopsis of days one and two.  We're still a bit jet-lagged, but loving this journey. Two quick notes - the food...Oh. My. Goodness.  I'm not going to bother posting a picture, it won't do it justice.  The second thing is that we're in shorts and t-shirts.  Not bad !

Getting Ready

Travelling is awesome.  I love going anywhere.  I love to fly.  I love to experience different cultures.  I love history and walking in ancient places.  I love different landscapes, foods, languages, customs...  And I can't wait to jump on a plane in 5 days to head to Israel with 34 LIFE listeners.  It's going to be amazing walking in the places where Jesus and his disciples walked.

That being said, I haven't started preparing for it nearly as much as I'd like.  Ever notice that when you go away, on vacation or a work trip, you're swamped in the couple of weeks leading up to the trip, and swamped when you get back?  The first is because you're working ahead to make sure everything runs smoothly while you're away.  The second is to catch up after you get back.  Travelling is great, but it's a lot of work before and after!

So while I'm excited and it's starting to hit me, I still have about 274 things on my plate that I need to finish first.  Sufficed to say, it's going to be a long weekend  :)   One thing I definitely want to make sure to do is read my bible a lot more this weekend - kind of like studying for an exam where you prepare for what's on the test, here, I'm trying to prepare myself for what I'm going to see, so that I gain so much more of the biblical and historical context.  I'm hoping to blog and/or journal a lot when I'm there, so you can follow along.

On another note and completely unrelated, this video has kept me laughing for the past few weeks, so I thought I'd share.  JEN!