(For those who have been to the Holy Land and are thinking of making a presentation of your experiences, I submit this lesson as a guideline of what worked for my first of several lessons on Sunday Nights).
Set up: My presentation was built around overhead projections of scenes found in Bethlehem. I used pictures I and others have taken of the and made a printed copy (about 8 pages worth) of small pictures of the slides I needed shown in their sequence for the staff in the sound booth to make sure they presented the scenes in their proper order.
Before the presentation I set up a table with items I purchased in Israel and currency I brought back from Israel. As people came in they could come up to the table and ask me questions about the various items.
THE PRESENTATION:
(Slide of a Turkish Airline Plane in flight)
As you may have guessed, I didn’t take this picture… but this is the type of plane I flew in on my trip to Israel. Our plane left from O’Hare Airport in Chicago at about 10 p.m. and the flight to Istanbul took about 10 hours. In addition to that 10 hour flight I had to take into account that I had flown 8 hours in the future. Right now it’s about 7 p.m., but in Istanbul (and Israel) it’s more like 2 a.m. on Monday morning.
(Slide of the inside of a Turkish airliner)
This is how the seating on my flight appeared. Those screens you see on the backs of the seats are monitors on which I could watch numerous popular movies and TV shows while on the plane. And while this photo gives the impression of spacious seating… it’s not really all that roomy. It wasn’t really cramped… but after 10 hours of sitting (and sleeping) in those seats I was ready to get up and move around a little.
Now the airline has restrictions on how much baggage you can take with you on these flights - 50 pounds for suitcases that they store under the plane and about 17 pounds for carry-on luggage - and I was very meticulous in making sure I adhered to those regulations. But then I saw these foreign guys come back to my section. One of them is a pretty big man and – yes – his ticket has him sitting right next to me. That annoyed me, but (even worse) he seemed to have carry-on luggage that exceeded the limits I had believed were allowed… and that really annoyed me.
But then he gently asked me if his friend could switch seats with me (they were separated by my seat assignment) and he was so polite. We began to talk and I found that he was from Pakistan. In the course of the flight he helped me to figure out the controls for watching movies on my screen and I helped him with something that he was struggling with. He’s a really nice guy. At the end of the flight I told him how pleasant it was to have him sitting next to me and offered my hand to shake his. He smiled and offered instead to “fist bump” with me. And we laugh together.
(Picture of Ataturk Airport in Istanbul)
After 10 hours in the air we landed at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul. Ataturk was the name of one of the prominent leaders and reformers of Turkey’s government. He is still spoken of with respect and reverence by their people, and this airport was named in his honor. We had a layover for about an hour before boarding another plane for Tel Aviv that would last for another 2 hours.
(Picture of “Welcome To Israel” sign at airport)
We finally arrived in Tel Aviv, picked up our luggage and were met by a representative of “Imagine Tours and Travel” and ushered out to our bus and met our guide for the majority of our journey through Israel.
(Slide of our Tour Bus)
Most of the tour buses I saw were like this one made by Mercedes Benz. They are extremely comfortable and spacious. Notice the rear-view mirrors. They look a bit odd, and I’ve not seen anything like them in America, but they are apparently very effective because seemingly every tour company uses buses with this design in Israel. We got on the bus and drove to Bethlehem for our first night’s stay.
(Slide of “Shepherd House Hotel”)
This is a picture of the Hotel we stayed in. Every hotel we stayed at during our trip was either a 4 or 5 star hotel and this hotel was no different. We were treated like royalty and the staff was especially kind and helpful and we stayed here for the first 2 nights of our adventure.
(Slide of “Shepherd House” Lobby – a very impressive lobby)
On the wall in the lobby there was a sign saying that I could rent a laptop for $7 an hour. As I needed a computer to access my Facebook account (to stay in touch with people back home) I went to the front desk to rent a laptop. But the manager only smiled and said I could use one at no cost.
(Slide of “Shepherd House” dining room, showing the cook in a chef’s hat)
In America we often think of a dining room being in the basement or ground floor of a hotel (if there’s even one to be had… I usually stay at a Super8). But not at this restaurant. Their dining is on the 6th floor where you can have a panoramic view of the surrounding area… and food was superb. Cheeses and meats and vegetables of all kinds were available at breakfast and dinner (we ate lunch on the road). For breakfast I could even order two eggs easy over. No bacon though… this was Israel after all.
Now, why do you think they called the hotel “Shepherd’s house”? (wait for a reply)
That’s right, this is Bethlehem. This is where the shepherds were watching their flocks by night when the angels appeared to them telling of the birth of the Christ. Nearby this hotel is the “Shepherds’ Field” - the traditional place where Shepherds saw angels.
(Slide of shepherds watching their flocks)
Of course, no one has any idea exactly where the shepherds were that night… but that hasn’t stopped someone from building a church on that spot. Wherever someone even “thinks” something happened in relation to Jesus’ life… they build a church. About half the time, they’re pretty close, but the other half – they’re just guessing.
There are churches built over where Jesus was born, where he was tempted, where he walked in Jerusalem… well, you get the idea. And that’s ok, because the folks who built those church buildings intended to honor Jesus by the buildings they built.
Many of these locations were “verified” by a woman named Helena – the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Constantine was a pivotal character in the existence of the church. The story goes that until his reign Christians were in constant danger of persecution by Rome, but when Constantine became Emperor that all changed. According to the story, he is faced with a difficult battle and prays earnestly that the “true God”, whoever that may be, will “reveal to him who he is, and stretch forth his right hand to help him.”
Later he tells his friend Bishop Eusebius the incredible story of that hour. When Eusebius reports it in his history, he admits it is hard to believe. Constantine suddenly sees a bright cross of light emblazoned against the noonday sky and upon it the inscription: “In hoc signo vinces” —“In this Sign Conquer.”
He accepts this as the answer to his prayer and orders his soldiers to inscribe crosses on their shields. Encouraged by his vision in the heavens, he hurls his troops against his rival Maxentius at Rome’s Milvian Bridge. Surprisingly, Constantine is victorious. Maxentius is among those who drown in the Tiber. (portions coped from https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/incontext/article/constantines-cross/)
From that day onward, Constantine encouraged and supported the church… but it was his mother Helena who took this new religion to heart. Shortly after 300 A.D. she journeyed to Israel and began to seek out the places where Jesus was born and preached and where He died and was buried. And the site at Bethlehem where Jesus was born is one of those locations that she identified. Many scholars agree this was the most likely spot for his birth.
Now, does anybody know what the name Bethlehem means? (House of Bread)
Why did God choose a city named House of Bread for Jesus’ birth? (wait for reply)
That’s right - Jesus was born in the “house of bread” because He is the bread of life. Jesus declared:
“I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” John 6:35
You see, Jesus’ birth was more than just an historical event. It was more than just a cute story meant to entertain our kids at Christmas. Jesus’ birth was the beginning of the change God wanted to bring about in our lives. Jesus came to be our BREAD of life.
Down through history, bread has been the main staple of food. In fact, bread has been called the “Staple of Life”. Bread was what most folks depended upon to just survive. That’s what Jesus was referring to when He said:
“Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew. 4:4)
Jesus was saying: You NEED bread to survive…but even more than bread, you NEED the Words of God more.
Back in the Old Testament, God set the stage for what Jesus came to offer us saying:
"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me; hear me that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.” (Isaiah 55:1-3)
(Slide showing the route Mary and Joseph may have taken to get from Nazareth to Bethlehem)
This slide shows the approximate route Mary and Joseph would have taken on their trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. When they arrived at Bethlehem they were given a very unusual place to spend the night.
Do you remember where exactly was Jesus born? That’s right – in a stable. But where was this stable? Was it a barn? No… more likely it was a cave.
To this day in the Middle East there are people who will build their houses above caves… and then use those caves as “garages” to store their cars. This was most likely the practice of first century people who built their homes above caves that they used to stable their livestock.
It was in such a cave that Jesus was born.
(Slide of the Church of the Nativity)
The Church of the Nativity is the oldest continuously functioning church in Palestine. It sets over the likely location of Christ’s birth.
(Slide of the Door of Humility with a person about to enter)
This entry to the church is called the “Door of Humility”. Can you guess why they call it that? That’s right. It’s named that because you need to bow down in order to enter the church building. That’s a nice story, but that’s not the real reason this door was built so small. In the days of the Ottoman Empire this door was constructed small enough to discourage looters from wheeling in carts to carry off plunder, and to stop invaders from entering on horseback.
(Slide of the entrance to the Cave of the Nativity)
I could spend time showing you pictures of the Church of the Nativity, but that isn’t the real focus of this Holy site. Here you see the entrance to what is called the “Grotto of the Manger” where pilgrims come to pay homage, and even kiss the ground where this church says Jesus was born.
(Slide of the South Stairs)
Here is a backward view of the stairs that lead from that entrance down into the region where this church honors the birthplace of Christ. Of course, in the days of Mary and Joseph, there were no stairs and the floor was dirt… not marble and curtains and decorative lamps didn’t line the ceiling and walls. But those who decorated this cave in this way meant no disrespect. They used marble and elaborate lamps to honor this special birthplace of Christ.
(Slide of a Map of the Grotto’s layout)
This map gives you a bird’s eye view of how this special room is laid out. You can see the stairs that lead down into the grotto and another set of stairs that lead out. The birthplace of Christ is highlighted by a 14 point star at the bottom of the map, and a section over here to the left of the map where the faithful believe Jesus was laid in his manger.
(Slide of 14 point Star)
A 14 point Silver Star on the floor marks spot where Christ is believed born. The floor is paved in marble, and 15 lamps hang above the star (6 belong to the Greek Orthodox Church, 5 to the Armenian Church and 4 to the Catholic Church).
The 14 points of the star are said to represent the generations of Jesus’ ancestors from Abraham to David, then from David to the Babylonian captivity, and after that from the Babylonian captivity to Jesus Christ.
There are those who believe that these 14 points may also represent the 14 Stations of the Cross called the Via Delarosa in Jerusalem.
(Slide of the “manger section” with the baby Jesus laid in a golden crib)
Here we see a baby doll Jesus laid in a golden crib in the manger area. This is only done at Christmas because… Jesus was born on Christmas. Now, of course, Jesus’ manger was not made of gold and the ground of the cave was not made of marble. But once again, those who have set up this display are not necessarily trying to be pretentious as much as they are trying to show honor to the baby Jesus.
(Slide of door at back of Grotto of the Nativity)
This door at the back of the Grotto is not able to be opened, but if it were it would lead into another section of the cave… a section of the cave dedicated to the area St. Jerome lived for 30 years as translated the Greek and Hebrew sections of Scripture into what became known as the Latin Vulgate.
(Slide of stairs descending into Jerome’s section of the Grotto)
This slide shows the stairs Jerome would have used to access his section of the cave of the Nativity. The top of the stairs is grated over to deny access to visitors by this entrance.
(Slide of Jerome’s Crypt)
Jerome was buried here and this crypt holds his remains.
Now, Jerome was not a native of Israel nor a resident of Bethlehem. So why would he come to Bethlehem and make his home here for so long while translating the Vulgate? More than likely he did this because he wanted to honor Jesus by living next to the place where Jesus was born. Such a location would have been a constant inspiration to him.
Now this is a crypt. What is usually inside a crypt? Dead bodies.
There are more bodies buried here than just Jerome’s and all those additional bodies were those of young children.
Why would that be?
The answer: Matthew 2:16 tells us “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.”
Herod saw Jesus as a threat to his Kingship and when he discovered that the Christ was living in Bethlehem and was about 2 years of age he sought to eradicate any threat this child might have to him.
But the children in this crypt were unlikely to be those slaughtered by Herod. This cave would have meant little to the inhabitants of Bethlehem at that time because they wouldn’t have sensed the significance of Jesus’ birth. However, when Jesus rose from the dead, parents might have seen this location as a place of honor for their children to be buried who had died while still young.
Now, WHY was Jesus born?
He was born to die for our sins.
How many of you here are sinners? (Everyone raised their hand)
And the same is true in the “Holy” land.
The land in which Jesus was born was - and is still - filled with sinful people.
Take, for example, the situation at the Church of the Nativity. This church is overseen by 3 separate denominations – the Greek Orthodox, the Arminian and the Catholic Churches. And they don’t play well with each other. They have drawn the church building - and its surrounding territory - into sections of ownership, essentially drawing lines in the sand to keep the other churches out of their areas. There are times when someone crosses those lines and fights break out.
Back in 2011 Palestinian police broke up fight at the Church of Nativity after scuffles erupted between Armenian and Greek Orthodox clergymen over jurisdiction in the Church. They were attacking each other with brooms. Both sides accused the other of encroaching on parts of the church to which they laid claim.
And those kinds of conflicts have happened repeatedly in history.
In Jerusalem, there’s a similar church run by these three denominations, and the rancor between them over turf is so intense that they don’t trust each other with the keys to unlock the doors. So, they gave the keys to the doors to Muslims.
Think about that.
But Turf designations and lines in the sand aren’t always a bad thing.
There’s a saying that goes: “Good fences make good neighbors” and Scripture agrees. For example, in Proverbs 25:28 we’re told “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.”
(Slide showing the walls of ancient Bethlehem)
Walls were used from ancient days to protect cities from invaders. Even Bethlehem had one, though it wasn’t very impressive. One source commented: ''At the beginning of the first century AD, Bethlehem was a village with not more than a thousand inhabitants: a small set of houses scattered along the side of a ridge and protected by a wall that was in a bad state of repair…''
(http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/first-journey-bethlehem-basilica-of-the-nativity-holy-land)
(Slide of present Day Wall at Bethlehem)
Those broken down walls have been replaced by a much larger and imposing wall. This wall doesn’t surround a city – it surrounds the entire “West Bank”. In some rural locations it is more of a fence than a wall, but the purpose or purposes remain the same.
(Slide showing Israel and the West Bank)
You see, Bethlehem doesn’t belong to Israel. Cities like Bethlehem and Jericho are behind a wall that is known as the “Green Line.” This wall serves partly as protection for Israel from terrorists, and partly as a mark of the superiority of Israel over the Palestinian people.
Down thru history, Palestine has switched ownership a number of times. Exodus tells us that God gave the land of Palestine to the Israelites and they took it over and ruled it for several centuries. But then, because of the sins of Israel, other nations came in and ruled over them and ultimately Rome destroyed the Jewish Temple in 70 AD. As the centuries rolled on, Muslims eventually took over the land. But in 1948 the U.N. offered displaced European Jews a “homeland” in the heart of Palestine.
As you can imagine, the Arabs were not happy with this arrangement. They saw the Jewish people as interlopers and Israel’s Arab neighbors repeatedly sought to run Israel out of the land. Over the past 60 years there have been about 15 different conflicts between Israel and its neighbors… every one of which Israel has won and progressively expanded their territory.
Arab hatred of Israel is so deep seated that most Arab nations at one time or another have been determined to total elimination of the Jewish state, and a few still hold to that goal. This hatred took a comic turn back in the 1960s when Hammond, Inc. (which made inflatable globes of the earth) shipped a large order of these inflatable globes to the United Arab Republic. Before the shipment reached its destination, however, it was temporarily impounded by customs agents. When the product finally arrived at its destination, people who bought the globes and tried to inflate them found they couldn’t get them to hold air. Why? The custom agents had snipped out the section belonging to the Jews, and all the air leaked out of Israel.
(Readers Digest, January 1969)
To this day, the nation of Israel is effectively surrounded by walls, mine fields and military compounds… but no wall is as troublesome as the “Green Line.”
(Show slide of the Green Line)
The problem with this wall is that it has served to create even more animosity between Palestinians and their Israeli neighbors. Do you see how ragged this wall is and how it seems to intrude into the West Bank at several spots? This is the Israeli version of gerrymandering. The wall intrudes into the West Bank where major water sources can be found, effectively stealing the water from the Palestinians. In addition, the wall was not built “between” Israel and Palestine… it was built on what was supposed to be Palestinian property. Sometimes the wall even served the perverse purpose of dividing a Palestinian home literally in two.
Why did Israel do it this way? Because they could. So far, the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled multiple times that Israel’s construction of this wall has been improper, but the ruling parties have so far ignored those court decisions.
Unemployment in the West Bank stands at about 25% (unemployment among Christians in the West Bank is about 60%, and about 50% in Israel proper) and the best jobs to be had are on the Israeli side of the fence. In order to get those jobs, Palestinians need to apply for passes that can be revoked at any time. And the check points in the wall can be shut down at a moment’s notice. (and on a good day it can take a couple of hours to just get through “the wall” from the West Bank into Jerusalem.)
And the best hospitals are on the Israeli side of the wall. Pregnant Palestinian women have often been detained at those check points until they gave birth because there is apparently a Birthright law that allows children born in Israel to claim citizenship, and that is not something Israel wants to encourage.
When we visited Jericho we saw huge red signs indicating that it was illegal for Jewish people to visit this town. Why? Security is the stated reason, but another might be that Israel has an 18% tax on purchased items, but in Jericho (and other places in the West Bank) they don’t have this tax. Thus items purchased in places like Jericho are 18% cheaper and Israelites know this. It’s worth a citizen’s time to travel to Jericho and buy products there and then take them home… and the nation of Israel is thus denied their 18% cut of the transaction. But why would Jericho be able to avoid charging this tax? Because if Israel imposed that tax in Jericho, they would need to give the Palestinians there a voice in the Knesset. That is something they refuse to do… and so they make travel by native Israelis to that city illegal and punishable by fines.
Good fences make good neighbors… but this is not a good fence.
And its existence only adds fuel to the fires of Palestinian anger.
But walls are not always a bad thing. In fact there is a wall that Scripture encourages us to build upon.
Psalm 18 tells us “The LORD is my rock, my FORTRESS and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my STRONGHOLD.” Psalm 18:2
And Psalm 144 declares: “He is my loving God and my FORTRESS, my STRONGHOLD and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. Psalm 144:2
The best wall is the one that God provides for His people, and that is the wall that protects the churches I visited in northern Galilee.
(Slides of a Church Service in a small town outside of Nazareth)
For the past few years, the Christian HolyLand Foundation has worked with 6 couples in northern Galilee who have a unique attitude toward ministry. When John Samples first went to interview them he was only authorized to hire two of those couples. That’s all that the American ministry could afford to support.
When John came to interview these couples he intended to meet them one couple at a time, but when he arrived at the location he’d agreed to he found all six couples seated in the same room. This was exactly what he’d hoped to avoid. He was concerned that by meeting with all 6 couples would create a tension and conflict in their ministries.
Instead, one of the preachers in the group spoke up and said that they had talked it over and wanted John to know that whoever the American group choose to support, the other couples would not only support that, but that they would continue to support each other’s ministries. In other words, no competition, no walls, no seeking to protect their own turf.
At this point, those 5 couples minister at 4 ‘located’ churches in Galilee and about 2 dozen home churches and small groups. And they continue to rely on human walls, but insist on crossing over the borders of division and reaching out to Muslims and unsaved Palestinians in their region.
