Saturday, Oct 30 - Birthplace of John the Baptist, Caesarea, Mt. Carmel, Sea of Galilee

As we left Jerusalem early this morning, most of us felt a keen sense of loss and nostalgia. We've been told about how Jerusalem gets in your blood. I believe Jerusalem is a Christian's spiritual home no less than it is for the Jews. It's difficult to put in words but I feel like it's now my second home.

We immeidately saw something that has been a huge surprise for me. I pictured Israel to be the Judean desert where Jesus was tempted by Satan for 40 days. I pictured barren, somewhat desolate, rolling hills covered in rocks. Boy was I wrong. Just a few miles north of Jerusalem we entered a foggy, mountainous area covered with huge firs and pines. We were on our way to the cave where John the Baptist was born. Yes, a cave. Actually, many in Jesus' time were born in caves because it was safe and the temperature (65 degrees year round) is ideal for a newborn. It's in a small village built on the side of a hill called Ain Karem. The church built over the cave is called Convento di S. Giovanni Battista. Beautiful. Ornate. Full of paintings by famous painters all of whom wanted to commemorate and capture  the birth and life of the "precursor of our Lord and Savior."

Back on the bus to Caesarea. We passed through Tel Aviv again (where we arrived from London). Tel Aviv reminds me of the Dallas skyline. Lots of tall buildings and what I would call an Americanized look.

Caesarea is simply amazing. Built by King Herod to honor his friend Julius Caesar, it pre-dates Jesus. It's importance to Christianity is as the location where Cornelius the Centurion was the first Gentile to convert to Christianity. Before Cornelius, only Jews had been converted. It's also where Paul, a Roman citizen and therefore not subject to punishment by the Romans as were the Jews, was under house arrest for two years before he was sent to Rome to be tried by Caesar. Of course, Paul was executed in Rome.

Caesarea has an amphitheatre, hippodrome and offices and baths and swimming pools. The Romans built an aquaduct from the mountains to bring fresh water to Caesarea - which was built on a peninsula into the Mediterranean Sea. Here's the fascinating thing. The pipe was built to drop one inch per mile for the 30 miles or so to Caesarea. That meant a steady flow of water but gentle, not a rushing of too much water at one time. Our Israeli guide said engineers today can't produce that kind of exact slope in pipes even with sophisticated engineering tools including GPS.

The amphitheatre seats around 5,000. The hippodrome was where the more brutal entertainment was held. Chariot races, gladiator fights, and gladiator vs. lions and tigers. Here's what is so interesting about the Hippodrome. Ten years ago, no one knew it was there. Historians wrote about a Hippodrome but "experts" assumed they were lying to make the Romans look good. In fact, archeologists discovered it about 8 years ago and today you can see the stands, the stalls where they kept the animals, and the "admission booths."

You can see the original colorful tiles on some of the floors. You can see the steam baths (by heating water in pipes behind the rocks), the swimming pools, and the irrigation system that fed fresh water into the entire complex.

On to Haifa, called the "San Francisco of Israel." Beautiful city. Tall mountains to the east, condos and apartment buildings built cantilevered over the lush, green hills. Our lunch was at a German restaurant in what is called the German Quarter. Built in 1870. Haifa is a port city, the third largest in Israel after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Then onto Mount Carmel. You'll have to read I Kings 18: 19-40. It's where Elijah battled the false prophets of Baal and Asherah and proved to the doubters that the Hebrew God was greater than the false gods of men. We drove to the top of the mountain (with breathtaking views over Haifa and its harbor) and conducted an outdoors communion service. Larry asked me once again to Celebrate.  Incredibly moving to be where Elijah, the greatest of the prophets, once stood and where a church is dedicated to him.

We then drove an hour-and-a-half east to Tiberias, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It was built by Herod Antipas. While there's no mention in the Bible of Jesus connected to Tiberias, most assume He came through here because much of Jesus' ministry was in towns in this part of the Sea of Galilee. It's reasonable to assume He boarded a boat here to go to Capernaum.

 Byzantine church built over the cave where John the Baptist was born.

 Amphitheatre built by Herod at Caesarea on the Mediterranean Coast.

My good friend Dick Chote and me with the Mediterranean and ruins of Caesarea behind us.

 View from Mt. Carmel overlooking Haifa, called the San Francisco of Israel.

Conducting Communion at sunset on the spot where Elijah defeated the false prophets of Baal and proved that the Hebrew God was greater than their false gods.

We're spending the next three nights in the Royal Scots Hotel, built in the 1800s as a Scots Hospital. It's now a luxury hotel adjacent to the Sea of Galilee. We're up early tomorrow to begin a full day visiting Cana (where Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding), Nazareth, home of Mary and Joseph and of Jesus from the age of 2 until He was 30. Then we'll visit Mt. Tabor where Jesus was Transfigured. We conclude the day by going to the River Jordan where I'll purchase water to be used in future baptisms.