Day 08 - Church of the Annunciation, Mt. Precipice, Kefar Kedem, Sepphoris, Tel Aviv

Tuesday morning started warm and balmy as we loaded our luggage and said farewell to Rich. As the GM of GTI, he is a busy guy and had to leave our group early to join another group arriving in Turkey tonight.

Ronen took the reins and gave us a brief teaching on the bus as we drove into old Nazareth. We did not have time for the Church of the Annunciation yet, so we stopped there first thing this morning.

It was established over what Catholic tradition holds to be the site of the house of the Virgin Mary.

The current Catholic Church is a 2-story building completed in 1969 over the site of earlier churches from the Byzantium, Crusader and Israeli-period churches. It claims to be the site of the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary and announced that she would be give birth to Jesus. As we walked around the exterior courtyard, we enjoyed seeing all the different depictions of Mary by nearly every country in the world! Another special feature was the set of front doors made of bronze and depicting major events in Jesus’ life. The Lower Church contains the Grotto of the Annunciation, believed to be the site of the house of Mary and her family. The Upper Church contains several images of Mary and continues to hold Mass (as it did when we were there).

One of the highlights of the day was going to the Mt. Precipice overlook. It was fantastic to see the panoramic view of the Jezreel Valley from east to west, including Nazareth. The famous valley which was the site of so many battles in Israel’s history is now some of the most fertile farmland in the country.

In all three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) there’s a story about Jesus returning to His hometown of Nazareth, specifically to the synagogue. The people of Nazareth were largely from the tribe of Judah and the line of David. They were convinced the Messiah would come from there. In fact, they named their town Nazareth based on the Hebrew word “netzer,” which means “shoot.”

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:1-2, ESV)

Jesus had been traveling throughout Galilee teaching the people and healing the sick. He’d begun to gain quite a reputation. So, when He came home to Galilee the people were ecstatic. He went to teach in their synagogue and opened the scroll of Isaiah 61.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon ME,
    because he has anointed ME
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent ME to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” (Luke 4:18-19, ESV; cf. Isaiah 61:1-2)

Jesus closed the scroll, sat down, and said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21, ESV). In no uncertain terms, he announced in his hometown that HE WAS MESSIAH.

The crowd went wild. This is it! This is the Messiah! We knew it! We knew He’d come from here!

But then Jesus reminded them that in the days of Elijah, there were many widows in Israel, but Elijah was sent to a widow named Zaraphath in the land of Sidon. And in the days of Elijah there were many sick in Israel, but Elisha was sent to heal Naaman the Syrian.

And the people turned on Him. They were outraged. They drove him out of the town and took Him to a nearby cliff. They intended to throw Him over, but Jesus passed through the crowd and went away.

What happened? They had just been cheering for Jesus! Why did his mention of Elijah and Elisha make them so angry?

Because Jesus was exposing their motives. They had a particular kind of Messiah in mind – one that would make their lives better. They wanted Jesus for what He could give them, not for who He was. They also wanted one who favored them, God’s Chosen People, instead of calling out Gentiles for their faith.

Ronen also snuck in a lighthearted stop at Karfar Kedem. We met a Jewish man named Menachem Goldberg who explained his family’s lifestyle on their land, then had us dress in 1st- century garb (for the second time this tour) and ride donkeys around the property. The point was that Joseph theoretically could’ve commuted on a donkey to Zippori for work (he was a “tekton”, stone mason, not carpenter – have you seen how few trees are in Israel??).

We then made our way to see the ancient city of Zippori. It was initially built by Herod the Great and then later chosen by Herod’s son, Herod Antipas, as his capital city. Antipas eventually moved his capital to Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee, but Zippori remained a large city heavily influenced by Rome.

At the end of the first century, the Jewish people were expelled from Judea. Many of them moved north to Galilee and some settled here in Zippori. During the Jewish rebellion of the second century, the people of Zippori opted to make a treaty with Rome rather than fight alongside the rebels.

How could they stand with the Romans rather than their fellow Jews? So, what happened? They’d been living immersed in the Roman way of life for decades. They’d begun to adopt Roman practices. They decorated their homes in the Roman fashion. Even their synagogue floor was an elaborate mosaic featuring the zodiac signs as its centerpiece. They went to the Roman theater which, by the way, was the primary vehicle for Roman indoctrination and propaganda. They were Jews living in Israel, but they lived and breathed Rome. Rebelling against Rome would be rebelling against the very culture they had so long embraced.

Before you judge either the citizens of Nazareth or the the Jews from Zippori, remember – we’re not much different ourselves today!

Late afternoon we headed down in elevation toward the coastline and Tel Aviv! Our hotel is directly across from the beach. We all enjoyed some free time walking by the Mediterranean Sea and choosing a place to eat dinner out instead of at the hotel.

LAILA TOV from Israel! Our last day on tour begins tomorrow.