House of Bread

Our day began in Bet Sahour, home of the Shepherds’ Field. Bet Sahour means House of Watchers. An interesting question was posed: Why did God choose to deliver the good news to the shepherds first? A: They were ordinary people, and Jesus is called both the Good Shepherd and the Lamb of God. We learned another correlation between Jesus and sheep: Passover lambs were raised in Bethlehem and taken to Jerusalem for sacrifice.

Leaving there, we made our way to Bethlehem. In Hebrew, Bethlehem means House of Bread. In Arabic, it means House of Meat or Flesh. Hmm ... Jesus was called the Bread of Life and we read in John 1:14 that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

We visited the Church of the Nativity which is the oldest church in the Holy Land. This is the supposed sight of Jesus’ birth. Because 14 generations had passed from the time of Abraham to Jesus’ birth, a 14-point Jewish Star marks the spot some believe to be where He was born. This also is where St Jerome translated the entire Bible from Hebrew & Aramaic into the Latin Vulgate. When you read your KJV Bible, thank St Jerome. Currently the Church of the Nativity is home to 4 different congregations: Armenian, Catholic, Coptic and Greek Orthodox.

Making our way deeper into Bethlehem, we learned more about the last years of king Herod’s life. This megalomaniac was paranoid of losing his power, influence and money because his roots were with the Edomites. Obadiah has prophecy against Edom giving Herod even more paranoia that a King is coming who will overthrow him.

After Jesus was born in a cave in Bethlehem, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem to worship the King of the Jews. Hearing this, king Herod was troubled. He issued an edict that all the first born boys be killed thinking he could destroy Jesus. God had other plans! A angel appeared to Joseph telling him to take Mary & Jesus back to Egypt. The family made their way up to Nazareth so that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.

We made our way to the Pool of Bethesda where we read in John 5:1-9 that Jesus healed a man who had been sitting on its banks for 38 years! The rub was that Jesus healed him on the Sabbath. The life lesson here is to love your neighbor ... even on Shabbat. We spent some time here praying for healing in the lives of our fellow sojourners.

We walked the Via Dolorosa where Jesus was scourged, 39 lashes from each of 2 Roman soldiers, flaying His back open. Then He carried His crossbeam to His crucifixion.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is built on top of the hill called Golgotha, the place of the skull. The basement is at the street level of the first century where the crucifixion occurred. There’s a large stone slab in the entryway that is purported to be the place where Jesus’ body was laid and prepared for burial.

If this was the end of the story, it would be tragic, but we know it’s not. You see, Herod’s bones have been found, as well as all other dead kings, but there are no remains of Jesus. He is not dead! He is sitting at the right hand of our Father in Heaven. He is alive! He is risen!