Knollwood Community Church: Burke, VA

The Fifth Gospel

by Brian Conaway on July 7, 2010

“Jesus left Tyre and went to Sidon, then back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns.” [Mark 7:31 NLT]

Israel is about the size of Massachusetts in square mileage. It is a long, narrow country. It contains many major geographic features – coastal plain, foothills, mountains, desert, a large fertile valley, and a large freshwater lake. Its elevation ranges from sea level up to 2500’ in a distance of 35 miles and then quickly drops to 1300 feet below sea level in another 25 miles. The lowest spot on the face of earth is located within its borders as is a large body of water so saline nothing lives in it. It has a Mediterranean climate – dry and warm/hot from April to October, cooler and wet the rest of the months.

 Jesus and His disciples hiked through most of it during His 3 year ministry including trips between His ministry headquarters in Capernaum, located near the Sea of Galilee, and Jerusalem about 100 miles to the south. They made the trip frequently, sometimes traveling through Samaria and sometimes on the east side of the Jordan River down to Jericho and then up to Jerusalem. In the verse above, Tyre and Sidon are both located on the northern Israel Mediterranean seacoast about 8- 10 miles apart and about 35 miles from Capernaum and approximately 45 miles from portions of the Decapolis located on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. In that one short sentence Jesus and His disciples covered at least 100 miles round trip. They went from a sub-tropical climate 600 feet below sea level to the ocean and back and then onto the predominantly Gentile region composed of the Ten Towns that made up the Decapolis. That trip would have likely taken about 5 days of travel not including time spent at Tyre, Sidon and other towns and villages where they likely stopped along the way so Jesus could teach.

The land of Israel is known as the 5th gospel because it is where Jesus was born, raised, ministered, died, rose from the dead and ascended back to heaven. To travel around Israel is to travel in the land of the Bible. Much can be learned as the gospels and other parts of the Bible ‘come alive’ treading where Bible characters trod thousands of years prior. If you’ve been there, you know what I am talking about. If you haven’t, visiting Israel should be on every Christian’s ‘bucket list’. If you are physically able, go on a hiking study tour of the Holy Land. You’ll never read the Bible the same way again after walking where Jesus and others walked.

There is a group of KCC folk planning to do an 11 day hiking study tour of Israel in late May, early June of 2011. If you are interested in learning more about the tour and maybe joining us, contact me and I’ll give you some more information.

Keep up with your gospel readings and 'stay dusty' this week as you follow closely behind the Rabbi.