...

Reflection by: Ivan Francis

Mount Berenice

View atop Mount Berenice

Our day began with a drive up Mount Berenice where we had the most beautiful view of the sea of Galilee. The sea of Galilee has been a reminder of how the disciples were willing to immediately drop their fishing nets and follow Him, as soon as he called them. The sea of Galilee was their place of comfort and livelihood, and yet they were willing to leave it behind. Sometimes, I struggle with leaving my comfort zones to follow the way of Christ. In school, it is very easy for me to join my non-christian friends in secular thoughts and actions, as I want to be accepted by them. However, as I looked at the sea of Galilee, I realized that God is calling me away from my ‘sea of Galilee’ i.e., comfort zones to follow him, even though it might be challenging at times. 

Beit She’an

Afterwhich, we went to the ancient city of Beit She’an also known as Beth-shean, formerly Beisan is a town in the Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She’an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. The area was settled as early as 6000 years ago and has remained continually inhabited by the Canaanites and Egyptians before the Israelite rule during the Old Testament period. The name appears in the Bible several times and is famous as the site where King Saul and his sons hung from the city walls –  On the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilbo′a. And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armor… and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan ( 1 Sam 31:8-9) The city remained a significant metropolis during the reign of King David and King Solomon. In the 1st century AD  i.e, New Testament, Beit Shean became part of the Decapolis (10 cities) and was the site for many pagan practices. There was a temple built for Dionysus – the Greek god of wine, and amphitheaters and bathhouses, where several pagan and immoral practices were conducted. However, tradition and historical evidence holds that it was there where Jesus healed a deaf man by putting his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue; and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Eph′phatha,” that is, “Be opened.” (Mk 7: 31-37). As I heard about the pagan rituals and immorality of the city, it made me reflect on the distractions and immorality in my life. From my handphone to the people I hang out with, there are so many distractions and noise all around me, and there are a lot of times when I find it really difficult to hear God’s voice like I have become deaf. However, just as Jesus opened the deaf man’s ears in a city filled with immorality, I prayed that God will come into my sinful heart and break through the deafness of my soul so that I can hear and experience his Love and mercy.

Jericho

The next stop was at Qsar El Yahud which was near Jericho. Qasr al-Yahud, also known as Al-Maghtas, is the western section of the traditional site of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist on the Jordan River (Matthew 3:13-17). It has also been traditionally identified as one of the possible points through which the Israelites crossed the Jordan river as they reached the Promised Land (Joshua 3), and as the site where the prophet Elijah ascended to heaven (2 Kings 2:1-14). These 3 bible stories were told to me when I was young, and I was very excited and had high expectations of the site.

Jordan River

However, I was slightly disappointed when I arrived there. The place itself was warm and had a lot of flies and the waters of the Jordan looked polluted and murky. It was hard to comprehend that the 3 events that happened above, which had great implications for the Jewish and Christian faith happened there. This made me realize that God is not only experienced in mountainous regions, where there are breathtaking views and amazing weather. Instead, many times, God is in the ordinariness, in our brokenness, and in things that I despise. In the mass, Father mentioned that it was not necessary for Jesus to be baptized. Rather, Jesus immersed himself in the dirtiness of the river Jordan, which can be symbolic of the state of humanity, so that we might experience the glory of his divinity. He took our place so that we might be in his place. 

After Mass, we took a bus ride into the Judean desert. It was a huge contrast from the views that we had been seeing in the past few days. There was very little greenery and no water bodies to be seen. Instead, it was made up of hills of rocks and sand. It looked dry and never-ending. This reminded me of the exodus story, where the Israelites had to spend 40 years in the desert after crossing the red sea. At first, they were singing songs and rejoiced when they managed to escape from the Egyptians. However, they soon realized that living in the desert was extremely challenging, and they stumbled and gave into temptations many times. In contrast, after His baptism, Jesus was also tempted in the wilderness ( we also saw the mountain where Jesus was tempted by the devil during Lunch) but he relied on God’s word to overcome all temptations. In recent months, my spiritual life has been like I am living in the desert. I have no motivation to pray, and whenever I pray, I don’t get any ‘high’ or peaceful feelings. This made me pray less and indulge more in other forms of entertainment, as I had sort of given up on praying and God. However, as  I reflected on the temptations of the Israelites and Jesus in the desert, I realized that the Christian life is sometimes like the desert (Mk 1). But instead of giving up and complaining, as the Israelites did, I should follow in the footsteps of Christ, and continually meditate on the Word of God, so that I can overcome all temptations. 

Finally, we ended the day as we settled into our new hotel in Jerusalem.

Seraphinite AcceleratorBannerText_Seraphinite Accelerator
Turns on site high speed to be attractive for people and search engines.