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Spiritual Journey to Holy Land March 18-26 2013

Led by Pastor Russell Smith

Day 1: Monday, March 18                                Depart USA

Our spiritual pilgrimage begins as we depart Virginia/Orlando/Boston on an overnight flight (12 hours)   at  11:30 pm  from  JFK in New York  to Tel Aviv. Flight was delayed leaving due to snow storm. We arrive in Tel Aviv 2:50 PM the next day.

Day 2: Tuesday, March 19                        Arrival Tel Aviv

3:50pm We are  welcome to the Holy Land by our Guide Meir Elia and  Driver Roni who will assist us through passport control and provide transportation to our hotel. First visit to Old Jaffa located on Mediterranean Sea, home of Simon  the Tanner. .We will check in and enjoy our first dinner in Israel.

                                                                                    Overnight in Tel Aviv x 1

Day 3: Wednesday, March 20      Nazareth / Tiberias x 2 After breakfast, depart   hotel and drive  to Caesarea built by Herod the Great. Here Paul was imprisoned and tried, and where he converted Cornelius first  gentile. Paul was imprisoned  here  for two years until he was sent to be tried in Rome.  Ahaziah was slain here by Jehu and Josiah fell in a battle with Pharoah   Necho  of Egypt. Proceed to Megiddo (Armageddon), one of King Solomon’s Chariot Cities. On to Nazareth where Jesus spent his early years, and visit Mary’s Well and the Church of the Annunciation. where the Angel Gabriel  told  the 14 year old Mary she would  become the mother of the  son of God.   Continue to the Village of Cana   home of the Apostle Nathaniel . This is the site of Jesus first miracle  where the 12 year old boy Jesus would turn water into wine at a marriage ceremony  at  this church . Dinner at  the hotel.

 

 

 

 

                                                        Overnight in Tiberias x 2

Day 4: Thursday, March 21   Tiberias: Tabgha & Jordan River

After breakfast, begin the day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus calmed its  stormy waters. Then from  Tiberias to Nof Ginossar.  View the remains of a boat from the time of Jesus. Continue to Capernaum, center of Jesus’ Ministry. Located here are the ruins of an ancient synagogue and the site of Peter’s House on Shore of Sea of Gallilee.  Proceed to Tabgha, the site of the Miracle of the Loaves ad Fish and see the fish mosaic from the 5th Century Byzantine Basilica. Drive  to the Mount of Beatitude, site of Jesus  Sermon on the Mount.”  Take some time for personal meditation. Travel through the Upper Galilee to Banias Springs (Caesarea Philippe) where Peter made the confession of faith. Drive to Yardenit on the shores of the Jordan River and renew Baptismal promises. Dinner at   hotel and   for introduction of  members  and prayers. 

 

Day 5: Friday, March 22    Tiberias: Capernaum,  & Mount Tabor / Jerusalem

After breakfast,  Visit Mt Tabor, site of the Transfiguration. Drive through the Jordan Valley River Rift to Beth Shean, where excavations have revealed 18 levels of  history. Continue to Jericho, the oldest and lowest inhabited city in the world. In midst of sand storm from North Africa ascend the Judean Hills  and see Shepherds  herding   sheep to reach Jerusalem the City of Peace, home of the three monotheistic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) . For Christians, it is the place where Jesus was crucified, for Moslems it is considered the third holy place in the world where their prophet Mohammed was sent to heaven, and for Jews it is the site where the First temple and Second temple was built. Check in and enjoy dinner at the hotel.

 

 

Day 6: Saturday, March 23  Jerusalem: The Old City

After breakfast, drive to the Mount of Olives for a breathtaking view of the entire city of Jerusalem. Pose for group picture on top of Mount  of Olives with backdrop of the city of Jerusalem. Walk down Palm Sunday Route  where Jesus enters the west Gate of the Holy City on a donkey to the Church of All Nations and Garden of Gethsemane. Witness oldest   Olive Tree that was present   in  garden of Gethsemane during the time of Jesus. Visit Bath of Beshida and tour Old Jerusalem  and witness the Holy City and walk Fourteen Stations of Jesus  to his cruixifiction. Drive via the Kidron Valley to Mt. Zion and visit the Room of the Last Supper and David’s Tomb. Enjoy the panoramic view of the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount. Continue by foot in the Walled City. In the Jewish Quarter see the Cardo and Western Wall.  In the Christian Quarter visit St. Ann’s Crusader Church, Ecce Homo (Lithostrotos), Antonia Fortress and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. End the day with a communion service in The Garden Tomb (Cordon’s Calvary). A Catholic Priest show of the hill where the cruxification took place and quotes the seven last sayings of Jesus. They are as follow.

1. Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do

Luke 23:34

Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do".

This first saying of Jesus on the cross is traditionally called "The Word of Forgiveness".[ It is theologically interpreted as Jesus' prayer for forgiveness for those who were crucifying him: the Roman soldiers, and apparently for all others who were involved in his crucifixion.

2. Today you will be with me in paradise

Luke 23:43

And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you today you will be with me in paradise".

This saying is traditionally called "The Word of Salvation".[ According to Luke's Gospel, Jesus was crucified between two thieves (Dismas and Gestas), one of whom supports Jesus' innocence and asks him to remember him when he comes into his kingdom. Jesus replies, "Truly, I say to you.

3. Behold your son: behold your mother

John 19:26-27

Jesus saw his own mother, and the disciple standing near whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold your son". Then he said to the disciple, "Behold your mother". And from that hour, he took his mother into his family.

This statement is traditionally called "The Word of Relationship" and in it Jesus entrusts Mary, his mother, into the care of "the disciple whom Jesus loved

4. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Matthew 27:46

Around the ninth hour, Jesus shouted in a loud voice, saying "Eli Eli lama sabachthani?" which is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Mark 15:34

And at the ninth hour, Jesus shouted in a loud voice, "Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

It is the only saying that appears in more than one Gospel, and is a quote from King David in  Psalm 22:1. This saying is taken by some as an abandonment of the Son by the Father. Other theologians understand the cry as that of one who was truly human and who felt forsaken. Put to death by his foes, very largely deserted by his friends, he may have felt also deserted by God.

5. I thirst

John 19:28

He said, "I thirst".

This statement is traditionally called "The Word of Distress" and is compared and contrasted with the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan Woman at the Well in John 4:4-26.[12]

As in the other accounts, the Gospel of John says Jesus was offered a drink of sour wine, adding that this person placed a sponge dipped in wine on a hyssop branch and held it to Jesus' lips. Hyssop branches had figured significantly in the Old Testament and in the Book of Hebrews

This statement of Jesus is interpreted ] as fulfilment of the prophecy given in Psalm 69:21 (cf Psalm 22:15

6. It is finished]

John 19:30

Jesus said, Tetelestai, meaning "It is finished".

This statement is traditionally called "The Word of Triumph" and is theologically interpreted as the announcement of the end of the earthly life of Jesus, in anticipation for the Resurrection.

Pastor Hamilton from "24 Hours": "These last words are seen as a cry of victory, not of dereliction. Jesus had now completed what he came to do. A plan was fulfilled; a salvation was made possible; a love shown. He had taken our place. He had demonstrated both humanity's brokenness and God's love. He had offered himself fully to God as a sacrifice on behalf of humanity. As he died, it was finished. With these words, the noblest person who ever walked the face of this planet, God in the flesh, breathed his last.

The verse has also been translated as "It is consummated.

7. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit]

Luke 23:46

And speaking in a loud voice, Jesus said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit".

From Psalm 31:5, this saying, which is an announcement and not a request, is traditionally called "The Word of Reunion" and is theologically interpreted as the proclamation of Jesus joining God the Father in Heaven.

Pastor Hamilton from "24 Hours": "When darkness seem to prevail in life, it takes faith even to talk to God, even if it is to complain to him. These last words of Jesus from the cross show his absolute trust in God: 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit'. This has been termed a model of prayer for everyone when afraid, sick, or facing one's own death. It says in effect:"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 7: Sunday, March 24  Masada / Dead Sea /Jerusalem

After breakfast, drive via the Good Samaritan Inn (Luke 8:25-37)  to Qumran – the Coty of the Essens – where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in a cave by a Bedwin shepherd. From there travel to the mountain fortress of Masada, the stronghold of the Jews in the war against the Romans. Here a mass suicide took place of the 960 defenders. Ascend to the fortress by cable car to visit the palaces of  Herod the Great with its Roman hot baths and pools. On the way back to Jerusalem  stop : the lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea. Dip and float in the most salty body of water on earth.  Return to your hotel in Jerusalem and enjoy dinner and overnight.

 

Day 8: Monday, March 25  Jerusalem / Bethlehem

 

After breakfast, tour the New City of Jerusalem beginning with the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum where the Dead Sea Scrolls are displayed. See the Hold Land Model – a scale model of ancient Jerusalem in the time of the Second Temple. Continue to the Yad Vashem Memorial of the Holocaust. Today is a special day: the evening of Passover – a Jewish festival that commemorates the story of the Exodlus in which the ancient Israelites were free from slavery in Egypt. You will   get a unique opportunity to see how Jerusalem is getting ready for the festivities. In the afternoon group say farewell to guide(Meir and Roni)   and meet with a local tour guide (Wally) who will accompany you on your tour to Bethlehem*; visit the Church of the Nativity and the Milk Grotto. Return to Jerusalem  and drive to a local restaurant to  enjoy a farewell dinner. A Personal Pilgrim Certificate will be presented to each of you. Transfer to the airport for your flight departing after midnight. 

 

 

 

Day 9: Tuesday, March 26           Tele Aviv  / USA

6:40 am arrive at JFK and proceed with your domestic flight back home.  Had the pleasure to meet   and say farewell  to fellow group members and especially to Hugh and Dorothy Brockington.  Please see the interview of their   book Unbroken  This is the epitome of   triumph over tragedy manifested from   her faith in God.

 

 

Though we have left the Holy Land it shall never leave us!