My Top 5!

And The Many Layers Of Jerusalem

The hardest question to answer about my trip to Israel is “What was your favorite part?” During our 10 day tour of The Holy Land we covered a lot of ground and probably visited about 50 sites. (Just ask my tired feet and legs)

Israel affects different people in different ways, for sure. What means so much to one traveler may not have affected another in the same way. But here are my top five favs of the trip. Not necessarily the most beautiful, or historically important, but the ones where I truly believed I was on holy ground and felt God’s presence.

1. The Valley Of The Winds And Doves.

This was our second morning in The Holy Land and after seeing both Galilee and Nazareth, we went to this beautiful valley beneath Mt. Arbel. It is the trail that Jesus would have walked from his hometown of Nazareth to Galilee to begin calling his disciples. I’m guessing he probably walked back and forth a few times. (You know a good Jewish boy would go home to see his Mama) It would have been a three day trip.

There’s a stream through the valley for water and you can just see Jesus resting up against one of the large boulders along the way. When we arrived, the valley was covered with wild flowers and I thought it truly looked like a piece of heaven.

We sang “Morning Has Broken”, prayed, and shared bread together as one would do to welcome weary travelers.

2. The Synagogue Church In Nazareth

This is where you have to start learning about the layers of Jerusalem. So, The biblical places you want to see have often been destroyed and built upon. Many times, it’s a church that has been constructed over the site. So, you have to use your imagination and also decide if you believe the scholars who think, (but don’t know for sure) that this is the exact spot.

That is the case with The Synagogue Church. It’s a bit hard to find, winding your way through the Nazareth market and it’s not a hot spot for tourists. But historians believe a small synagogue was here during Jesus’ time and it would likely have been the one he attended. Here Jesus would have read the ancient scrolls, prayed as a young man and later preached.

Our tour group sat alone in the small church that was built on this site in the 12th century. I truly felt the presence of God there, just seeing how Jesus’ church would have looked, and knowing that perhaps we were right above the actual spot. We read scripture, prayed, and sang “Sanctuary,” (We like to sing and sometimes another tour group would arrive and join in with us.)

#3 The Church of The Nativity/The Church of The Holy Sepulcher

Ok, I’m cheating a bit on this one, combining the two. But I love these churches for much the same reasons. Here you are going to find the tourists, lots of them. I’ve already written about The Church Of The Nativity and my few seconds touching the rock where tradition holds Jesus was born.

The Church Of The Holy Sepulcher is built on what historians believe is Golgotha. Here I was able to touch where scholars think Christ’s cross was placed and the rock slab where his body was laid. The tomb is also here, inside a dome and a smaller chapel-like structure.

After seeing the small synagogue of the humble servant in Nazareth, I loved also visiting these two majestic church “palaces” dedicated to the conquering King. People from all denominations and all around the world come to these churches to feel closer to their Savior.

#4 The Sacred Pit

Now we start digging into the layers of Jerusalem. When permission is granted, archeologists have started excavating down to the roads and structures of Jesus’ time. A pit for holding prisoners was found beneath the house of the High Priest Caiaphus.

It’s about a 15×15 foot dungeon with no windows or doors, just a hole in the top where a prisoner would have been lowered with ropes. Historians believe this is where Jesus was likely kept the night before his death. He was beaten and all alone in the dark. And he knew what was coming.

#5 The Jordan River

I flip-flopped between this one and The Teaching Steps for my fifth choice, but I’ve already posted about the main entrance to the Temple. Plus, since I was raised in the Baptist Church, I was baptized like Jesus, full emersion. So, seeing the place where He was baptized by John The Baptist was something special.

Churches have been built here over the years, but other than that, it remains much the same as in Jesus’ time. The river was rather high when we arrived due to recent rains. You can also see Jordan right across the river.

We held a ceremony remembering our own baptisms using seashells to hold the river water, but that wasn’t quite enough for me. No, I didn’t go in for a full dunk, (another small group was performing Baptisms nearby). But I did place several drops of the water on my head and thanked God for bringing me to this riverside and for my baptism some 40 years ago.

So, those are my favorites. It’s kind of like choosing your favorite child and if you ask me tomorrow, my list might change, I hope you have a Holy Land trip of your own someday, if you haven’t already. And you’ll be able to visit the places that will stay with you forever.