Reflections from the Holy Land – Foreword
July 12th, 20096-29 REFLECTIONS ON THE TRIP TO ISRAEL AND JORDAN NOW THAT I’M HOME…I begin this morning by pondering the simple question, “Why did I want to go to the “Holy Land”? Traveling to Israel has been a dream of mine since childhood. I’ve always wanted to walk where Jesus walked, to visit the Temple Mount, to visit the manger where He was born, to walk into the tomb where His body was laid, to see Jesus in the eyes of the people, His people. Since my college and seminary education in theology and history, I’ve also become “obsessed” with the Roman Empire– the controlling, world force at the time of Jesus. My travels to Rome and Turkey have only exacerbated this obsession and have also opened up my love for the early church. So what better place to see Jesus, the Roman Empire, and the early church than Israel?
For the past five years or so, I’ve been begging Pastor Marlin Wogstad (colleague and dear friend) to lead a study trip for pastors to the “Holy Land”. Marlin has traveled extensively throughout throughout the world, is an incredible scholar, and a great man of faith. Finally, after five years of nagging, Marlin relented, put together a fine itinerary with a fantastic New Testament Scholar Dr. Ray Pickett of Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (formerly of the Lutheran Seminary Program of the Southwest in Austin), and a fine group of theologians (myself included).
Before any of the Marlin and Ray Study Trips (of which now I’ve been on three– Rome, Turkey, and Israel/Jordan) an extensive reading list is prepared and expected to be undertaken. Not wanting to look dumb in front of my colleagues, I mean, always wanting to be prepared, I feverishly devour the list, or at least read enough to appear to be quite scholarly. Seriously, it is refreshing to be directed by a current seminary professor and a retired seminary professor in academic pursuits again. I feel I must continue to learn for the faithfulness and success of my ministry at Holy Comforter.
A few books titles for this trip included: “Prophet and Teacher: An Introduction to the Historical Jesus,” “Palestine in the Time of Jesus: Social Structures and Social Conflicts, Archaeology and the Galilean Jesus,” “The Birth of Christianity: Discovering What Happened in the Years Immediately After the Execution of Jesus,” “The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant,” “God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now,” “The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide.” We also utitlized a couple of journal articles including “The Galilean Fishing Economy and the Jesus Tradition” and “Jesus and the Renewal of Local Community in Galilee: Challenge to a Communitarian Christology.” Our primary text for the trip was, of course, the gospel of Mark while also comparing the Q document (from the German Quelle, “source”) a postulated lost textual source for the gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke.
Having said all that, why were we going to the “Holy Land”? Above I gave you a few of my reasons, and I’m sure my colleagues had a laundry list of their own. As a study group, our purpose was, in part, to “See! Walk! Feel! Think!”, I”m assuming Jesus (according to Marlin). We were going there to examine what factors of society, geography, economy, and politics impinged on Jesus– peasant, “community organizer”– that color the gospel narratives. We were going there to see what the walk, the sights, and the feel of the land would contribute to our theology, to our preaching of the gospel, and to our own self-understanding. Huge endeavor, huh?
So over the next few weeks or so, I’d like to spend some time reflecting with you how this all went. Keep in mind I’m still processing it all, and probably will be for years, But Jesus did something to me while I was there……and remember……”changed people change churches”.
More tomorrow………Peace, PB
One more thing: THERE WILL BE PICTURES!! 