The Holy Lands

Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Israel, site where
the archangel Gabriel appeared to inform Mary that she would
be blessed to give birth to the Son of God, Jesus.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a country more steeped in religion than Israel, where three of the world's great religions began.

As we learned in Sunday School, Moses led his people on an Exodus out of slavery in Egypt, parting the Red Sea en route to the Promised Land.  Moses never saw the Land of Israel, because he could not follow directions.

No, he wasn't ignoring his wife and refusing to stop at a gas station to ask for help.

Old Testament Stories Depicted on
Door at Basilica of the Annunciation

Moses failed to follow God's commands exactly and took credit himself for God's miracle of bringing forth drinking water from a rock.

Interesting that water, the rights for which was the basis for the creation of cities and subsequent civilizations, can often be found at the heart of religions.

Anyway, Moses wandered in the desert for forty years, and in fact, everyone in his generation died before seeing their destination that is now called Israel. 

God gave the Jews many amazing military victories in their prime, and those stories for me as a child were as vivid as The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter for today's youth, thanks to engaging lessons from my great Sunday School teachers, Mr. Ball and Dave Willett, augmented by Charlton Heston movies.

Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine (Israel),
site of the manger where Jesus was born to Mary.

Unfortunately, the Israelites didn't stay faithful to God, and subsequently the Promised Land was overtaken by other kingdoms like the Assyrians, Babylonians and Romans, with Jews strewn throughout the world, often initially enslaved, then cyclically they earned freedom, built wealth, suffered persecution for being successful and eventually would be stripped of their wealth and livelihoods, at which point the process would start from scratch again.

Jesus's Childhood Home in Nazareth is thought to be a grotto.

As unlikely as it seems, they continued to practice their religion, which served as a reason to keep their language alive in foreign lands.

Over 2500 years later, Israel was re-established as a Jewish homeland in the aftermath of World War II.

Millions of Jews had been used as laboratory rats and slaughtered in the Holocaust, and some enlightened world leaders determined the best chance for ending the cycle would be to return the Israelites to the land promised to them by God.

Bustling Port of Haifa, Israel

Jews had already begun re-settling in their homeland from the late 1800's with the Zionist movement.  Prior to that, the land in what is now Israel had devolved over the centuries into mostly desolate wasteland under the neglectful care of nomadic wanderers, as you can easily read about in Mark Twain's reflections on the region during the 19th century, The Innocents Abroad.

Japan's Take On Madonna and
Jesus, Part of International Series
of Paintings in Nazareth at the
Church of the Annunciation.

In the interim between Israelites being scattered throughout the earth and the resurrection of Israel, the Jew Jesus of Nazareth rose to become the most famous person to have ever walked the earth.  His followers spread the word far and wide, establishing another great religion, Christianity.

Recently, Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, visited the United States to great fanfare.

The Catholic Church, of course, is headquartered in the Vatican, an independent nation located within Rome.

Catholicism was founded by a disciple of Jesus, the fisherman Simon whom Jesus said he would call Petros (Peter), which means "rock."

Some have speculated the name to be a small bit of black humor based on Jesus foreseeing Peter would deny Him three times before the cock crowed along the way to Jesus's crucifixion, but most believe it was because Jesus knew Peter's heart was always true.

Statue of Simon Peter in his hometown
of Capharnaum by the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus said he would build his church on this Petros, and it is said that Peter's bones are buried beneath St. Peter's Basilica, the incredible Catholic Church at the Vatican.

However, because these lands of Israel are where Jesus grew up, preached, died for our sins and resurrected, it has been considered the Holy Land by Christians for centuries.

Against all odds, Christianity spread to be the dominant religion throughout Europe thanks to Emperor Constantine, a Christian himself who issued the Edict of Milan in 313 AD that de-criminalized Christianity in the Roman Empire.

In 325 AD, Constantine's First Council of Nicaea brought together diverse Christian sects (and actually some pagan rituals) into one orthodoxy.  About that same time, Constantine prohibited construction of new pagan temples, and by the end of his reign he was destroying them.

Mount of Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee,
where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount.

During our trip, we would visit many remarkable sites said to be the exact places where major events in the life of our Savior unfolded, but most were designated as such in 326 to 328 AD, when Constantine's 80 year-old mother Helena came to the Holy Lands to locate and consecrate them.

It is a matter of faith as to whether you believe she nailed them all exactly based on oral traditions passed down from the time shortly after Jesus returned from death (at which point His followers by all reports had been chased out of town or killed) or if she was duped by con artists seeking royal coin, but it is nonetheless moving to be in the right general areas.

Palace of the Grand Masters of the Knights of  St. John
in Rhodes,  Greece

You may recall that about 800 years later, Europeans became outraged by Muslim persecution of Christians in Jerusalem and began the Crusades to re-claim the Holy Lands.

That, of course, brings up the third great religion of the region, Islam, which accepts most tenets of the Old Testament and the New Testament, except the resurrection of Jesus and the belief that He was the fulfillment of the prophecies.  

Gateway to Old Jerusalem

Muslims believe Mohammed followed Jesus as the next great messenger from God, and in something of a repeat of history, Mohammed led his chosen people to nationhood in the Middle East.

In 570 AD, Mohammed was born in Mecca, which is the holiest city for Muslims.  Islam is linked to Israel because the foundations of his religion are in those earlier religions.  Plus, the Muslim version of manifest destiny calls for them to control all of the Holy Lands, including Israel.

In addition, Mohammed had a special connection to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, because he was taken there one night by an angelic beast named Buraq en route to ascending to heaven to meet the ancient prophets of the Jews and Christians plus even God Himself.

"I was brought by al-Burg who is an animal white and long, larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule, who would place his hoof at a distance equal to the range of vision. I mounted it and came to the Temple (Bait-ul Maqdis in Jerusalem), then tethered it to the ring used by the prophets."

Jerusalem, Israel

The Dome of the Rock Mosque on the Temple Mount in Old Jerusalem marks the spot of the ascension to heaven.

The mosque's location creates a major problem for Jews, because it blocks them from re-building the Jewish Temple on the site of the first one built by King Solomon in the tenth century BC.

Mural at Elvis Gas Station Near Jerusalem selling Elvis
postcard that read, "I saw the King in Jerusalem."

Because Israel is a free nation that respects property rights and allows people to worship in any way they want, there is nothing the Jews can do about it.

Let me stress here that there are many things about Islam to be admired, including the fact that followers pray five times each day.

River Jordan Baptismal Area Tiles

Muslims are required to make themselves clean before prayer, which encouraged good hygiene before anyone knew what germs were, similar to "religious" rules from the Old Testament, like the admonishment to never eat pork, which was literally an unclean meat that could make diners quite ill back in those ancient times 

A religion that encourages you to think about God throughout your day and to follow hygienic rules can't be bad, right?

Certainly, some great heroes from my youth like Lew Alcindor (who became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Cat Stevens still seem to be nice guys following their conversions to Islam, but unfortunately there are also some leaders who preach hatred.

Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives,
where Judas betrayed Jesus.

As peace loving Muslims, Kareem and Cat probably optimistically support the new nuclear agreement with Iran which is being touted to America as a peace agreement by President Obama's administration.

We are a secular country that respects all religions, but founded on Judeo-Christian principles.  Nonetheless, the USA is called "the Great Satan" by many Muslim leaders.

In presenting the same nuclear agreement to his people, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the crowds in cheers of "Death to America" and promised Israel would not exist in 25 years.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre on
the site where Jesus was crucified.

Tiny Israel has been threatened with annihilation by its neighbors since its re-birth but somehow has managed to hold its own and even win, much like the story of David and Goliath.

I personally think Naziism rather than Islam is to blame for the hatred of the USA and Israel spread by Khamenei and his ilk, but some followers take it on faith when their Imam or Supreme Leader tells them they will be blessed and rewarded in heaven if they strap a bomb on their chests or fly planes into buildings to kill civilians, "because it is the will of Allah."

Yes, these three great religions often find themselves at war with each other, whether both sides actually seek to destroy the other or not.

Getting back to history, as the decades unfolded following the birth of Islam, the Christian Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire, which had ruled the Holy Lands for centuries, gradually receded.

St. George statue at
Church of St. Catherine, built
on the site of a Crusader Church
which had been built on the site
of a 4th Century Monastery
in Bethlehem.

In the late 11th Century, Catholic Pope Urban II called for a Crusade to recapture Jerusalem.

Over the last 50 years or so, movies, novels and even textbooks have re-framed the Crusades as a reckless encroachment by Christians on Muslims.

The power of Hollywood in particular to influence popular opinion should never be underestimated, and while I won't deny there being multiple sides to every story, I think perhaps Crusaders have been overly vilified of late.

To put it in perspective, consider the middle three letters in JerUSAlem happen to be USA.

If the USA was overrun by people taking away our Constitutional freedoms, would we not want to re-claim our country?

As you probably know, Muslims conquered most of the region, and eventually the great Ottoman Empire arose as one of the richest and most powerful kingdoms ever.

Hagia Sophia (means "Holy Wisdom") was the
greatest church in the Byzantine Empire
from 537 AD to 1453. In 1453 it was
converted into a mosque.  In 1935, Turkey
re-opened this Istanbul highlight as a museum.

The name of the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire's former capital, Constantinople (named after the Christian Roman Emperor Constantine), became Istanbul.

Constantinople's most spectacular church, Hagia Sophia, was converted to serve as a mosque.

As we all know, even within these great religions, there are differences.

Protestants and Catholics fought many wars over whose version of Christian religion was closer to what God would want, but not lately.

Other newer spin-offs of Christianity that feature latter-day prophets of a sort include Mormonism, Christian Science, and Religious Science, but they generally haven't killed each other as a matter of principle.

The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem

While Ultra-orthodox and Orthodox Jews may not fully approve of Liberal Jews like our guides, who work or even ride in buses on the Sabbath, they aren't trying to kill them.

With the new millennium, we have grown accustomed to seeing hatred within Islam between Shia, Sunni and Kurds, as played out in Iraq, continuing as it has for centuries.

Baha'i World Center and Gardens in Haifa, Israel

A spin-off from Sunni Islam is Baha'i, which is now headquartered in Haifa, Israel.

Baha'i expands on the basics of Islam, including its foundations in Judaism and Christianity, while adding the lessons of  Buddha, Krishna and essentially anyone else who has some positive words of enlightenment.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre
in Jerusalem Where Jesus
Was Buried and Resurrected.

In the 1800s, their new prophet, Bahá’u’lláh, proclaimed there is only one God, worshiped by different religions in their own rituals, and that there is a spiritual unity of all of mankind.

So, of course, he was forced into exile.  Early Baha'is were slaughtered, and present day followers continue to be persecuted in Muslim counties, including present-day Iran where the religion started.

I don't present this as an attempt to imply any status of absolute truth to Baha'i or to convert anyone.

Rather, I think it is a good modern day example of the challenges Moses, Jesus, Mohammed and their followers overcame spreading a gospel of love in an age long before the existence of mass communication that encircles the world in an instant.

Wes in Big Comfy Couch on Azamara Journey

Yes, this is a long-winded opening to the Holy Lands we explored on Azamara Journey, but if you think about it, compared to all the chapters of history that have unfolded during that time, this wouldn't even qualify as a Cliffs Notes version.

By the way, you can click on any of the photos to enlarge them to make them easier to see, and the hotlinks take you to pages I selected to share for anyone who wants to know more on that topic.