Who are you, and what are you doing here?

Hello everyone,  

It has been a long and wonderful day here in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. We are working our way toward the center of the story of Jesus and his redemption. Daily we get closer to the center of the city of Jerusalem. The reality of the story of Jesus and his life becomes more and more real to us all the time. Today, we got more in depth about our understanding of the world Jesus was born into. The stories we hear in Sunday School, in reality, were filled with a lot more tension and life than we’ve grown accustomed to. We’ve spent our time in Israel filling those stories in with the color and detail and humanity they deserve.

We woke up this morning in Jerusalem, which was an experience in itself. This city is so beautiful and full of life. The way the modern world and the ancient world co-exist is something that we cannot explain. It’s something that must be experienced. Before we left our hotel for the day, Pastor Joe led us in our daily Sh’ma and Pastor Ralph led us in our devotion. He told a story of a Rabbi who lost his way while walking down a road. Because he walked to a place he wasn’t supposed to be, a Roman soldier asked him, “Who are you, and what are you doing here?” The two men have an exchange, ending with the Rabbi asking the Roman soldier if he would say this phrase to him every morning. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?” This question is for all of us. Do we know who we are? Do we know why we’re here? It is up to us to decide. Pastor Ralph encouraged us to start every day this way—to start every day with intention and focus. He then opened up discussion for the group. All of us have been profoundly impacted by the trip, but in different ways. We really do enjoy hearing from each other about how God is moving in our lives. One of our team members referred to our phrase, “Stay dusty.” We’ve learned this phrase both here in Israel and at Lifebridge Church. It refers to staying so close to Jesus that the dust from his feet ends up on us. One team member referred to this phrase regarding her children. “Am I so close to Jesus and so dusty from walking close to him that my kids get dusty too?” It’s a profound thought. We all stood around in a circle and shared our hearts with each other, a great way to start the day.

Our first destination for the day was the Herodium. This was Herod’s opulent palace built just southeast of Jerusalem. Herod was truly a mad genius. It doesn’t take much exploring in Israel to realize how cunning and calculated he was about his reign in Israel. Herod was unrelenting when it came to holding onto his power. We walked all the way to the center of the palace that acted as a reception hall in Herod’s time. Pastor Ralph taught us about the world Jesus was born into—a world dominated by Herod the Great. Not too far south of the Herodium is where Bethlehem is situated. Jesus was born in the shadow of Herod’s empire. Herod considered himself the King of the Jews and killed anyone who resisted him, so when wise men from the East showed up at his doorstep asking where the real King of the Jews was, what would his reaction have been? He wasn’t just angry. The Bible tells us that he flew into a murderous rage, calling for deaths of all Jewish boys under the age of two. This is the world into which Jesus was born. Pastor Ralph encouraged us to look around at what’s left of Herod’s empire. All that’s left are ruins. The kingdoms of this world pass away, but God’s kingdom is established forever.

We also visited the town of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. We walked down into some caves along the hillside where Pastor Ralph taught us. With all the information about King Herod and the world at the time of Jesus’s birth fresh in our minds, the teaching in Bethlehem was powerful for us. There’s so much about the birth of Jesus that we tend to overlook when we simply read Bible stories about it. For starters, Jesus was not born in a wooden, barn-like structure like most people (and retailers) in America think. He was born in a cave on the hillsides of Bethlehem. We sat in just such a cave as Pastor Ralph preached to us. We learned that all of Scripture and history looked forward to the life and ministry of Jesus. We learned that because of the fall of mankind, the rest of Scripture and human history served to tell the story of God’s redemption. When Jesus taught, he consistently referred to the Old Testament. We’ve become quite familiar with the word Remez on this trip. When referencing Jesus’s teaching, a remez is any time that Jesus used a connection to the Old Testament in his teaching. He did it constantly. His knowledge of the Old Testament was unlike anything anyone had ever seen, and he was consistently reminding all who would listen that he did not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to see them fulfilled. The day Jesus was born, God’s redemption became flesh and dwelt among us, and the story would only culminate with his death and resurrection. We learned so much in that cave today that it’s tough to put it all into words. From the time of Moses and the temple in the wilderness, to the writings of David and prophets like Isaiah and Amos, all of it pointed and still points to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We finished our day at The Shrine of the Book, which houses more information about the Dead Sea sect and the Dead Sea scrolls that were found at Qumran. It was special for us, since we just visited Qumran, to see the scrolls and pages of text in person. We also visited The Israel Museum in Jerusalem where our fearless guide, Yehuda, led us through the Museum explaining centuries of human history. We are continually more and more amazed by this man and all he knows. If any of you have the chance to visit Israel in future trips with Lifebridge Church, we’re certain that Yehuda will be a favorite of yours. It’s unfathomable how much he knows and how well he explains complex history and concepts. Our group at the end of the day today expressed their appreciation for our time at the museum. At this point in the trip, a lot of these places described in the museum we’ve already seen. The information we saw today, and the way Yehuda summarized it, tied everything together for us and made it connect—made it more understandable and impactful.

That’s all for this evening. We’re off to get some rest for another blessed day tomorrow. We are praying for all of you back home and we can’t wait to tell you more.  

Have a wonderful day!

The Lifebridge Team