HEADWATERS

Mount Hermon, Golan Heights, Israel
Banias Cave, Caesarea Phillipi, Israel
Headwaters of Jordan River, Caesarea Phillipi, Israel
Banias Waterfall, Caesarea Phillipi, Israel

Our Holy Land pilgrimage took us to the northern borders of Israel in the Golan Heights next to Lebanon and Syria. We explored the beautiful Banias grounds of the Hermon Stream Nature Reserve at the base of Mount Hermon. Mount Hermon’s highest peak reaches over 9,000 feet above sea level and it is snow covered two-thirds of the year. The porous Jurassic limestone of the mountain functions like a giant sponge to channel snow melt that feeds springs at the base. Many of these springs emerge at the base of the Banias Cave. The main tributaries called the Sa’ar, Si’on and Guvta streams merge into the Hermon Stream as it forcefully flows south through a steep canyon producing scenic waterfalls. Then the Hermon unites with the Dan and Sinar streams to form the life-giving Jordan River which empties into the Sea of Galilee and beyond. The Sea of Galilee remains relevant even to this day because it receives the Jordan waters and then dispenses them on out into the world. The Dead Sea remains essentially lifeless because it receives and retains these life-giving waters without passing them along—sort of how some folks receive grace.

Greek culture was brought to this area after the conquest of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE and a temple was constructed for Pan, the god of nature. The city was renamed Paneas. After Herod the Great died his Roman kingdom was divided among his three sons and the northern kingdom including the Golan Heights was awarded to his son Philip. He renamed the city Caesarea Philippi and made it his capital. Agrippa II continued to develop the city in the first century CE with a large palace and statuesque temples. We walked in Jesus’ footsteps here among the ancient ruins outside the large Banias Cave and dipped our fingers into the cool spring waters.

Jesus and his disciples centered their mission around the Galilee region, walking from town to town, healing and preaching in the local synagogues and out where the people congregated. Church fathers have identified Caesarea Philippi as the place where Jesus healed the outcast woman who had been bleeding for many years as she touched the edge of his cloak in the crowd. The gospels also record that Caesarea Philippi was the location where Jesus declared that he would build his church on Peter, the Rock. He then went on to predict that the Son of Man must suffer many things and that he must be killed and rise again after three days.

Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain--quite possibly Mount Hermon. God had previously appeared to Moses and Elijah on mountains, which are associated with closeness to God. Then both Moses and Elijah appeared talking with Jesus as he became radiant with a pure white transfiguring light. A cloud enveloped them as God declared, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Peter and the disciples did listen to Jesus and absorbed his teachings, much like the porous limestone on Mount Hermon. And once they fully understood the language of his life, death and resurrection after he joined them once again on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, they were inspired to rush out from their base in the Galilee and channel God’s grace and good news throughout the world.

JUST THREE DAYS

Resurrection, Wrightsville Beach, NC

Lots of folks deny the existence of God and the availability of His priceless grace for all. Some have witnessed or been a victim of such abhorrent experiences that they absolutely cannot believe a greater power would allow it to happen. Man’s own inhumanity to man accounts for much of this. But there are examples of people who have decided to work with God to bring good out of a bad situation. And when they do that, the rest of us are doubly impressed with their faith and character. The grace-full reaction of the woman in Kansas this week who discovered the senseless hate murders of both her father and teenage son comes to mind.

During this Holy Week of Easter, we’re reminded of Luke’s account of Jesus’ false arrest on the Mount of Olives during the night. Two of his twelve disciples denied him to set the stage for his death and our redemption. Judas, the group’s treasurer, was seemingly disappointed that Jesus was not the Messiah warrior king he was expecting to help defeat the ruling Romans, so he sold out for thirty pieces of silver. Later, as Jesus was being falsely accused of the crimes that Barabbas had actually committed, Peter denied that he even knew him a total of three times.

After Jesus’ resurrection on that glorious sunlit Easter morning, Peter was locked in an upper room fearing for his life and Judas was dead. But later, Peter received the personal forgiveness of Jesus and went on with his life to become the rock of God’s church. His testimony provided even more weight and assurance for God’s priceless grace. And it pales in stark contrast to the extraordinary possibilities of the message of forgiveness and hope that Judas could have delivered to countless generations in desperate circumstances, if only he had waited for just three days.

EASTER QUESTIONS

A New Beginning, Wrightsville Beach, NC

The recent focus on the events of this Easter season always gives us pause to ponder philosophical questions. Probably the key question that is asked would be “What would have happened if Jesus had not risen from the tomb and defeated death”? C. S. Lewis has noted if that had happened, Christianity would have drifted into the sands of time and never been heard of again. That event was pivotal in the course of God’s grace being dispensed to humankind.

And then there was the impetuous disciple Peter. When Jesus was betrayed by Judas with that infamous “kiss of death”, Peter’s knee jerk reaction was to draw his sword and cut off the ear of a servant of the high priest. Jesus immediately asked them, “Am I leading a rebellion that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me”? Jesus was leading a revolution, not a rebellion! Later, just before sunrise as Jesus was being tried, Peter fulfilled Jesus’ prediction and denied that he ever knew him, not once but three times. When he realized what he had done, he left weeping bitterly. What if a distraught Peter had hung himself after denying Jesus three times? He would not have been the person that Jesus appointed as the rock that He would build his church upon. This kingdom of God would ultimately be founded on the principles of weakness, poverty, suffering, loving and serving others, and remembering Jesus when breaking bread.

And then there was Judas the turncoat. Judas was the man this little band of brothers relied on to manage the finances and carry the money bag. He understood what sustained the inverted kingdoms of this world—power, money, swords and clubs. He was looking for a warrior king to vanquish the oppressing Roman rule of his people. Jesus was a big disappointment to Judas and so he betrayed him. Then, when he realized what the thirty pieces of silver had accomplished, he went out in anguish and hung himself. The term “kiss of death” now means an intimacy with something that subsequently causes your destruction. BUT, what if Judas had only waited three days? The resurrection showed all of the remaining disciples that Jesus was indeed the Son of God and they all went on to live inspired lives. Perhaps a forgiven Judas would have been the rock and redirected the rest of his life to the new revolution. A converted Paul that had originally persecuted Christians went on to write a significant part of the New Testament.

We absolutely know that God can bring good out of any bad situation that develops as mortal men continue to exercise their free will. And He will use the most unlikely human candidates to accomplish His will to demonstrate that His acceptance is available to anyone. History would then have recorded Judas as one of the most revered disciples instead of the most repulsive after the events of Easter. Both Peter and Judas illustrate the axiom that “It is better to be a follower who fails, than one who fails to follow”. What about us?