…and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.” Matthew 2:23 While Nazareth was a small village in Jesus’ time, it’s a bustling city today. Given its connection to Jesus, it’s a more populated place than it would otherwise be. There are multiple churches remembering Mary being visited by the angel Gabriel and being told she would given birth to the Messiah. In the midst of the busy modern city, there’s a place that helps tourists to see what the the land was like […]
Monthly Archives: February 2014
On Top of the Valley
The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it.You created the north and the south; Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name. Psalm 89:11-12 We said good-bye to the Sea of Galilee and turned our car southwest. Driving through the hills of Lower Galilee, we eventually reached our next destination: Mount Tabor. This distinctive mountain can be seen for miles around and easily identified by its distinctive shape. At the top today is a Franciscan church which remembers Jesus’ transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13). While this mountain has been the […]
Cliff Faces
He who walks righteously and speaks what is right, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil–this is the man who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. His bread will be supplied, and water will not fail him. Isaiah 33:15-16 When Herod the Great was given the kingship of Israel by Rome, he still needed to secure it. His Jewish subjects didn’t all like the idea of him being king. One of the resistance points […]