Today our day started with a drive through the Golan Heights. As I stared out the window, I saw triangular yellow signs every ten yards or so lining the highway: “Danger! Mines!” Every year people ignore these warnings and are injured or killed by one of the million mines still active in this disputed region. The Golan is important strategically because it has natural water resources (the Sea of Galilee and natural springs) and is also higher in elevation than the rest of the Galilee; therefore, it has often been at the center of the ongoing Israeli-Arab conflict.
From there we headed to Hazor, a major trade center in Jesus’ day, and after that we went to Dan. We did some hiking through beautiful areas there, and I saw my first pistachio tree.
Our next stop, Caesarea-Philippi, was my favorite of the day. This is the place where Peter confessed Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16:16). Jesus responds by saying, “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church” (Mt. 16:18). This verse had always confused me. What is Jesus talking about? Even though “Peter” sounds like the Greek word for rock, I didn’t really know what He meant. Coming from Green Bay, WI, my idea of a rock is a large, fist-sized stone, or maybe a small boulder. However, at Caesarea-Philippi, the word “rock” took on a whole new significance as I gazed up at a giant rock cliff. This cenomanian limestone “rock” contains everything a community needs for life—water, fertile soil, and caves for shelter. This was the context when Jesus talked about the church being a rock. The church is to be big, strong, and provisional—it is to provide for the essential needs of the community.
Interestingly, in Jesus’ time, this city (like Caesarea) was also at the core of Hellenism and the Roman worldview, yet it is where Jesus chose to introduce the concept of the ekklesia, the church. This is a detail rarely mentioned by Bible commentators, but it is another important piece of evidence that tells us that Jesus intended for his church to include Gentiles. We, as the Church, are to be on a mission to the world.
Next we made a quick stop at a Druze market (the Druze are a sect of Islam that looks for a future messiah). From there I caught my first glimpse of Mount Hermon, the highest place in all Israel.
We ended the day at an abandoned military base looking into Syria. We looked over the road to Damascus, where Saul had his first encounter with Jesus. I walked through the underground bunkers with my flashlight as night fell. There were a few bunks still set up and even a plate and cup on a shelf. The walls were covered with graffiti, evidence of long months spent in cramped quarters.
I both started and ended the day thinking about the continual conflict in the Middle East. In between I continued my thoughts from yesterday about what Jesus intended the Church to be. What a contrast—and yet they are connected. God has chosen to use his church to bring his message of shalom to a broken, conflicted world.
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