The Holy Land Day 2 ... discovering new meanings

Jesus asked, “Who do people say I am?”  Matthew 16:13-20

I have always loved this passage, but I have a new context for the question after being in the place that Jesus asked the question.  This place was the center of pagan culture.  It was a place of decadence, wealth, and the pluralistic acceptance of idolatrous religions.  Imagine Jesus asking this question of his disciples while standing on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills or on the Vegas Strip or at Times Square …

In light of all the cultural influences … how will you respond?  Your response will be the most important answer to the most important question ever asked.  Jesus declared the answer is foundational.

Wow! There are a lot of people that come to this place and seemingly all at once on busses.  Who knows if it is the exact place? It is the Jordan River.  This place is a spectacle.   Why even after you get baptized in the River, you can purchase a video of the event.  I must admit that it felt more like I was exiting the Log Ride at King’s Island than it did a holy place at that point.

People are everywhere.  People from everywhere are everywhere.  Languages from everywhere are being spoken all around me.  People of all colors and nations are gathered in this place.  What makes it so special?

John was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins.  Everyone in Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the Jordan River and were being baptized by John as they confessed their sins.  Mark 1:4-5

People from everywhere came to John. Why? What must that have been like?  Were there people are everywhere?  How many different dialects were being spoken?  Was the crowd that came to John made up of people of all colors and nations?

John was the forerunner to Christ and we know that the crowd he gathered was the start to the crowd that followed Jesus.  And perhaps that crowd looked like the crowd I witnessed today.  And perhaps the desire to be like Christ is played out in a place that allows one to do something Christ did in the water of the Land that Christ walked.  And if that is case then I guess it really doesn’t matter if it is the exact place.

Up next: A boat ride on the Sea of Galilee