Day 8 - October 4, 2026
It’s already day 8! Today we are all packed and the bus loaded for our transition to the north and the Galilee and Golan Heights areas. But first we went due east, just over the Mount of Olives, to Bethany (modern village of Al-Eizariya) to visit the Church of Lazarus and what is remembered as his tomb. The Church was designed by architect Antonio Barluzzi. The only natural light is from an aperture in ceiling to call to mind the tomb. There is a long history of churches and mosques at this site which have at various times covered the tomb and reshaped the area.
Then further to the east and into the Judean wilderness toward Jericho. We stopped above the deep Wadi Qelt to view the ridge along which Jesus would have walked between Jericho / Bethany beyond the Jordan to Bethany and Jerusalem. When it rains in Jerusalem, this wadi fills and a nice day can turn into deadly floods. In Jesus time there were many more wild animals - tiger, bear, jaguar. Today we just see sheep, goats and Dorcas deer. There is a monastery, St George, down in the wadi that is beautiful to look at from the other side. A perfect place to talk about the Good Samaritan and really get a feel for what a deadly situation the beaten and robbed man was in and how he would surely have died without the care love for neighbor expressed by the Samaritan.
Next we visited Old and New Testament Jericho. From a distance we were able to see the various palaces of Herod. We went down to the Jordan River, 10 or 15 feet across the River from the country of Jordan where Bethany Beyond the Jordan is. We discussed the important transitions that occurred here: Moses giving over the mantle of leadership to Joshua, Elijah doing the same with Elisha, and Jesus taking on the mantle of his earthly ministry. Over on the Jordanian side of the river we can see that preparations are underway to welcome what they hope will be a huge volume of Christian pilgrims in 2030 for what they are promoting as the 2000th anniversary of Jesus Baptism.
Then we had a nice long drive up to the Sea of Galilee and our home for the next 4 days at En Gev Holiday Village. We each have a small cabin right on the Sea. It’s cool, breezy, beautiful, and steeped in our salvation history. We can’t wait to get started tomorrow - but for now we are enjoying a break for rest and relaxation! Blessed Sunday to all of you, PB and Margery
Sunset over the Sea of Galilee
