Who do people say that I am?

Hello! I'm very excited to be writing the blog entry for today! It almost seems like we are fitting more and more into each day. We started today by taking a short bus ride to the traditional site of the Sermon on the Mount. At the traditional site a church as been built but instead of going to the church Michael lead the group down a dirt road. After a short walk we were on top of a hill looking over the Sea of Galilee. It was so easy to imagine Jesus standing and telling a large group of people what the Kingdom of God looks like.

After a few minutes we boarded the bus and drove to Dan. Dan was one of two places in the northern kingdom of Israel to have an alter for sacrificing. This was used so citizens of Israel did not have to travel to Jerusalem to sacrifice at the temple. Even though the sacrifices were still being made to God this was a small compromise that lead to bigger consequences. Michael talked about how we also make small compromises in our relationship with God as well. As we walked through the beautiful ruins we crossed several city gates. These were used for many things such as a security checkpoint, a place where taxes where collected, and where money could be exchanged.

Following Dan was a short trip to a huge waterfall. We hiked down to the stream and followed it uphill until we reached Caesarea Philippi. It is mentioned in Matthew 16:13 that Jesus was at this city with his disciples. It is strange that they are here because it is far from the Jewish towns. There was also a huge temple to the roman god Pan. We don't know why he was there but it was at this location he asked "Who do people say that I am". To which Peter replied "You are the Christ, the son of the living God". This is the first time the disciples understand who Jesus is.

As we left Caesarea Philippi we went to a small outpost on top of a hill that overlooked into Syria. It was freezing cold and we all huddled together to keep warm while Ronan told us the history of the area. At the very top there was a military base and two UN soldiers stationed looking into Syria to monitor the civil war. We quickly grabbed some coffee and were off to the Jordan River.

At the Jordan a good number of people including myself decided to get baptized. With worship music playing each of us was baptized either for the first time or to in a way renew that vow with Jesus. It was beautiful but maybe a little chilly. At that time the sun was setting and it was time to go back to our hotel.
I hope you enjoy reading along with our adventures! I will see you all soon!

Noah Badgett