(Beth Shean a city of the Decapolace)
This day, more than any other presents a clear theme and a great challenge for everyone on this journey. We begin our day in Beth Shean, critical for controlling trade routes in northern Israel and eventually a magnificent city of the Decapolis. By far the grandest city we have seen on this trip. But, as we peel the history back a painful reality emerges; the beauty came at a price. Greco/Roman grandeur was built on the backs of slaves and exposed children. Brilliant architecture, genius engineering, genuine advancements in human flourishing through city design, cleanliness, and public goods, but tainted by slavery, greed, and pride. This tension is not an ancient one. The forms have changed, but Beth Shean's challenge is the same—what do the people of God do with a culture that is opposed to God's flourishing life? Do we retreat like the Essenes? Fight like the Zealots? Compromise like the Sadducees? More importantly, what would our savior have us do?
(Our Group Walking through the Ruins)
We asked that very question shortly after as we drove into Nazareth to Mt. Precipice, the place in Luke 4 where Jesus was almost stoned by his hometown. Besides being an excellent vantage point overlooking the Jezreel Valley, it’s even better to ponder Jesus’s response to the question of outsiders. In Luke 4 Jesus reads the Isaiah scroll (Isaiah 61). He tells his hometown that the year of God’s favor is here, blind seeing, lame walking, poor rejoicing but critically he stops before the paragraph begins; he does not read “The day of vengeance of our God”. Jesus then confronted his hometown with two messages from the Bible about God caring for outsiders. The message was clear—Jesus told them he was the Messiah and he was not coming to bring vengeance to their oppressors; he was there to rescue all of them from Satan.
(Mt Carmel overlooking an olive grove)
Continuing our theme, we carried on to Mt Carmel, where Elijah confronted the Prophets of Baal. We expanded the scope and told the whole story, the story of Elijah’s victory and Israel’s backslide. God showed up, he made himself known, and the people responded violently. Destroying the prophets of Baal. But, ultimately his zeal was fruitless. Israel was not turned back, and Elijah ran for his life. We read this story at this site and sang. It was powerful.
(Caesarea Harbor and Hippodrome)
We finished at Caesarea the Roman city Herod the Great built. It is an absolutely astonishing city and home to several stories in Acts. Peter and Cornelius, The death of Herod Antipas, and the trial of Paul. It is this last story that rounded off our day. You see Paul considered himself a Zealot. He was a man who persecuted the church of God. He followed the example of the Maccabes, Elijah, and Phineas. That was until Christ overwhelmed him on the Damascus Road. In Acts 26 we see Paul fully transformed, from the zealot prepared to kill Christians to a man so wrapped up in Christ’s love that he wants his Roman captors and the leaders/oppressors of his people to find forgiveness and new life in Christ. Paul discovered true power in Jesus a power far greater than the sword. The power that is available to all who call on Jesus's name even today.