I want to tell you about our pattern of traveling. We get on the bus and arrive at a site. We gather and hear the pertinent story from the Bible. Then our chaplain gives a one to two minute reflection. Following a site orientation by our leader we are given some amount of time to explore the site on our own. Then we gather, load up, and drive to the next site. The only exception to this is when we are in the Old City of Jerusalem when we must walk everywhere. Our group is 40 and consists of about 1/2 clergy and 1/2 laity from US, Canada, Britain and Australia.
We began our last day in the Galilee at the same spot where Jesus ended his last day In the Galilee – on Mount Tabor, the site of the Transfiguration. Then we continued to follow Jesus’ footsteps back to Jerusalem, driving by , but not stopping at the village of Nain, where Jesus raised the widow’s son.
Jesus continued through Samaria stopping for water at Jacob’s well (where Jacob first saw Rachel.)
“Now when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, and the sheep of his mother’s brother Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of his mother’s brother Laban.” (Gen 29.10)
We too stopped at Jacob’s well which is in the town of Nablus (in the OT this town is called Shechem and in the NT it is called Sychar). Nablus is in the West Bank. The well is there and reaches down to an underground spring. Of course a church is built over the well now, and an elaborate iron structure is over it along with a modern bucket and pulley system by which the well reaches into the same water source as it did 3,500 years ago. Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the same well when he stopped there for a drink on his way to Jerusalem. We drank from the same water as Jacob and Jesus both drank.
From there we continued on Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem stopping in Bethany the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus just six miles away from his final destination. Bethany is also in the West Bank and is now called Azariah.
“Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out…” ( Jn 11.43b-44a)
The church built here is an active Greek Orthodox Church filled with simply fabulous icons. There was a stunning icon of the raising of Lazarus. We went inside what has been venerated as the tomb of Lazarus for centuries. It required quite a bit of gymnastics and limbo to get inside but we managed.
We are back in Jerusalem and tomorrow continue walking in Jesus’ footsteps on Palm Sunday.
Looking Out Seeing Within 