Where Heaven touches earth

It is hard to believe we only have one day left on this amazing trip. I've been waiting for the moment of awe where everything in the Bible suddenly clicks and I see God in a totally new way. That hasn't happened. What has happened over the last week or so is that I have developed a new appreciation for the land, a better sense of the geography of land much of the Biblical text is set in, and a fresh understanding of God's involvement in human history.

Before I left I told my young nephew that my wife and I were heading to "God's country." He excitedly exclaimed, "You're going to heaven!?" I now see that in a way my 7-year-old nephew said something profound. Heaven touched earth in amazing ways in this country. God provided a ram in the place of Abraham's only son Isaac on Mt Moriah where we stood. God gave David the boldness to stand up against Israel's biggest enemy, Goliath, in a valley we got to see. John the Baptist prepared the way for the Messiah by baptizing in the Jordan River that we visited. A baby who would change the world was born in a small village called Bethlehem in the shadow of Herodium. We visited both places. Paul gave a powerful gospel presentation and appealed to Rome in Caesarea that we visited a few days ago.

Today we sloshed through the water tunnel Hezekiah built to prepare for Sennacherib's attack on Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 32), feeling the chisel marks as we went. We also went to the pool of Siloam where a man born blind experienced Jesus' healing (John 9). We then made our way to the steps Jesus would have walked when he went to the temple every year of his life.

Heaven touched earth all over this land. But heavenly feet touched earth as God became man. We visited Galilee where Jesus spent most of his time. It was amazing how long it would haven taken people to go from place to place in the first century. Jesus traveled all over Israel. He went to places you would expect like the Temple Mount and places you wouldn't like Caesarea Philippi where Peter confessed Jesus was the Messiah. Why would Jesus go to a community in the Decapolis region that represented a very non-Jewish way of life? It was at least a days journey. I don't love making all-day trips. But Jesus did. And his message spread beyond the walls of Jerusalem, beyond the Mediterranean and even across and ocean to offer eternal life to my lost soul thousands of years later.

And Jesus is still touching earth through His body the church. We are his witnesses, his hands and feet to the world. What God did here thousands of years ago impacts my life every day. And hopefully my life impacts others as the kingdom of God expands across the world.

May God's kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

—Jonathan

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