Wednesday 18 April

Blog written today by Paul Mercer

After dinner today, I made my way down a path to Lake Gallilee. The frogs were enjoying a balmy warm evening. At the lake I sat and surveyed the night vision. A cool light breeze was blowing. Music drifted over the lake from Tiberius. We had just experienced a long, hot, yet pulsating day. The breeze helped my memory to reflect. I was soon back in my room at Kibbutz Nof Ginosar and words came.

Some of us had been on this journey together for a week. We had enjoyed receiving more friends in Amman and then in Jerusalem and had all woken in Haifa. Wind or "ruah" is a good metaphor for our day.

The breeze was gentle as we warmed up our coach with a drive by glimpse of the majestic Bahia gardens. Aesthetics or beauty is a central plank of this religious devotion and we experienced rolling beauty as we travelled away from the greenery of Mt Carmel to the fertile valley of Jezreel, breathtaking Mt Precipice and Nazareth, then Cana and then Galilee in the twilight. The gentle breeze of beauty danced before us and was "pleasing to our sight."

At the edge of Lake Galilee all was calm but the memory of storm is deeply etched in the mind of all Christians. Our first strong wind for the day came as Anne S realised she had left her handbag in the lobby. We soon returned to our overnight hotel and an anxious Anne returned with joy and her handbag. Nate our tour guide, also joined my storm by leaving his bible at the Meggido Center, but soon we were back on track.

Nate was keen to show us Meggido and tell its story of contest. Archeology in conjunction with a dozen biblical references reveal a strategic city from antiquity, linked to caravan trade routes and the ebbs and flows of political power and empires. Nate told us of 16 sackings of this site. The violent winds of war have been so prominent here that John the seer imagines a final victory over God's enemies at the mountain of Meggido (Armageddon), a whirling powerful storm indeed, waged by Jesus, the lamb, whose sword is his tongue.

Travelling to Nazareth, we shared the story of Luke's account of Jesus' first sermon in the synagogue there. Although Nazareth is a name with messianic inferences, this small town was conservative and found Jesus' presentation confronting and insulting. The crowd angrily took Jesus to Mt Precipice. It would have been a hard walk and Jesus was able to confront this storm of righteous anger and walk away.

We were ready for a "family" lunch. The winds of joy powered by the same Spirit who had come on Jesus in the Nazareth Synagogue on the Sabbath was with us as we "communed" together. Winds of change now took us to the site of Jesus' first miracle at Cana. A prominent stone pot reminded us that Jesus indeed represented a wind of change for the Jews - the water of purity was to become the wine, symbolising his death and the ushering in of the gospel of grace.

Retracing our journey to Nazareth allowed for the delight and surprise of a visit to the "Nazareth Village" - a truly special place which very likely includes sites attended by Jesus as he grew up there. The wind of the spirit once again comfronted us as Jesus first sermon was read in a replica synagogue.

The gentle breeze of Galilee was calling us loudly now. Which way will the wind blow tomorrow? We are ready to hear the voice of Jesus speak through archeology, geography, history, Gospel narratives and our life together.