Day 06 - Caesarea, Mt. Carmel & the Galilee

Hello Friends,

Last night, we stayed in a hotel just north of Tel Aviv. Over dinner, we celebrated Mary Beth’s birthday and had a time of open sharing with the whole team. Only being a group of 14, we have the opportunity to really get to know each other. Each of us shared three things: 1) a significant memory from seventh grade, 2) how the word “warmth” characterized our childhood, and 3) when did we first encounter God?

This morning, we took a short drive to Caesarea Maratima, the most significant Roman city in Jesus’ time apart from Jerusalem. Like Masada, King Herod went all out on Caesarea— seaside palace, artificial (handmade) harbor, aqueduct system for fresh running water, gymnasium for Olympic games, arena for bloody gladiatorial sport, infinity pools, all covered with brilliant white marble. It was the epitome of Greek Hellenism and the glory of Rome combined. As Rabbi Rod taught us, Hellenism is humanism— a society and worldview that puts humans at the center of it all. They were entertained and obsessed with the smartest, fastest, strongest, and the most beautiful…and Caesar, who graciously provided all these luxuries, was worshipped as God. This is the world that Jesus was born into.

A couple of hours later, we stood on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, where a humble Jewish Rabbi recruited a team of ragtag C+ students to learn how to walk the path of righteousness and usher in the Kingdom of Heaven. It could not have been a sharper contrast with what we had seen earlier in the day. And the question to us is, ”What does it look like to follow the Rabbi, now, in a world that is still saturated with Hellenism?”

Around 5 PM, we moved into a hotel that sits right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It’s a lovely location, and will be a great place for us to talk and pray and process all that we are learning.

Much love.

Shalom.

P.S. Between Caesarea and Galilee, we spent some time at the top of Mt. Carmel, where Elijah staged the great showdown of the God’s, between the prophets of Baal and the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (1 Kings 18:16-46)