JACK BECK: THE LAND OF ISRAEL IS A LAND
OF INCREDIBLE GEOGRAPHIC COMPLEXITY.
I'M JACK BECK.
I'M A BIBLE GEOGRAPHER, AND I'M HERE IN THE HOLY LAND
IN ORDER TO EXPLORE ALL THE GEOGRAPHICAL DIFFERENCES
THAT THIS LAND HAS TO OFFER.
AND I'M DOING IT AS A BIBLE TEACHER
BECAUSE IN ORDER TO BEST UNDERSTAND OUR BIBLE,
AND THE STORIES THAT ONLY FIT IN THE PLACES THAT THEY OCCUR,
WE'RE GONNA GO ON A TRIP THAT VISITS ALL SORTS
OF DIFFERENT PLACES IN THIS REGION.
WE'VE BEEN FOCUSING ON THE GALILEE REGION
AND THE EXPECTATIONS SURROUNDING JESUS AND HIS MINISTRY.
WE'RE WRAPPING UP OUR TIME HERE,
BUT ONE CRITICAL QUESTION NEEDS TO BE ANSWERED
BEFORE WE CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY.
WHY DID JESUS SPEND ALMOST ALL HIS TIME
IN THE GALILEE REGION AND NOT JERUSALEM?
AND I'M TAKING YOU TO ONE OF MY FAVORITE COMFORT ZONES,
THE CLASSROOM, TO BEGIN TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION
ABOUT JESUS' TEACHING, HIS MIRACLES,
AND WHO WOULD BE INVITED INTO HIS COMING KINGDOM.
(BELL RINGING)
YOU KNOW, I'M OFTEN ASKED, JESUS SPENT ONLY THREE YEARS
IN PUBLIC MINISTRY ON THIS EARTH.
WHY DID HE SPEND THE BULK OF THAT TIME
UP IN THE GALILEE AREA AROUND CAPERNAUM
RATHER THAN DOWN HERE IN JERUSALEM?
WELL, I'M GONNA USE THIS MAP
TO HELP ANSWER THAT QUESTION FOR ALL OF US.
THIS MAP, I THINK, ILLUSTRATES VERY WELL
THAT THE LAND OF ISRAEL IS A LAND BRIDGE.
IT'S A BRIDGE THAT CONNECTS THREE DIFFERENT CONTINENTS:
EUROPE, AFRICA, AND ASIA.
THE BRIDGE ITSELF IS ONLY ABOUT 70 MILES WIDE,
BUT IT PROVIDES ESCAPE
FROM TWO VERY, VERY DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS,
THE SYRIAN DESERT TO THE EAST
AND THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA TO THE WEST.
NOW, WHEN ANCIENT MERCHANTS AND ANCIENT ARMIES
WERE MOVING BETWEEN THESE THREE CONTINENTS,
THEY WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH CLIMBING MOUNTAINS.
AND SO THEY CHOSE A TRAVEL ROUTE
THAT AVOIDED THE HIGH ELEVATIONS AS MUCH AS THEY COULD.
THEY CAME UP FROM EGYPT ALONG ISRAEL'S COASTAL PLAIN,
THEY MOVED NORTH, NORTH, NORTH,
THEY SNEAKED THEIR WAY THROUGH A PASSAGEWAY IN MOUNT CARMEL,
TURNED EAST IN THE JEZREEL VALLEY,
AND THEN NORTH INTO GALILEE.
YOU SEE WHAT THAT ROUTE TELLS US?
IT TELLS US THAT THEY AVOIDED JERUSALEM, THE RELIGIOUS CENTER,
BUT THE ECONOMIC CENTER, GALILEE,
WAS RIGHT IN THE BULLSEYE.
SO WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD JESUS SPEND
SO MUCH OF HIS TIME HERE ON EARTH IN THE GALILEE AREA,
WORKING OUT OF CAPERNAUM?
THAT'S WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE.
NOW, WE KNOW JESUS WAS HERE IN THE GALILEE REGION
BECAUSE MORE PEOPLE WERE HERE TO LISTEN TO HIS MESSAGE,
BUT WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE?
PLACES LIKE CAPERNAUM AND MAGADALA
HAD MASSIVE JEWISH POPULATIONS,
BUT WE'RE HEADED TO THE NORTHEAST SIDE OF THE LAKE
TO THE RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT KURSI,
BUILT TO MEMORIALIZE A FAMOUS MIRACLE JESUS PERFORMED HERE,
A MIRACLE FOR A DECIDEDLY NON-JEWISH AUDIENCE.
THIS PLACE IS A REAL PUZZLE TO ME.
YOU KNOW, VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE STORIES FROM JESUS' MINISTRY
IN GALILEE TOOK PLACE ON THE OTHER SIDE
OF THE SEA OF GALILEE.
BUT HERE ON THE EASTERN SIDE,
WE HAVE THIS MONUMENTAL STRUCTURE
FROM THE FIFTH CENTURY.
WHAT IS THERE ABOUT THIS SIDE OF THE LAKE
THAT THESE BYZANTINE CHRISTIANS
ARE SO INTERESTED IN REMEMBERING?
ONE OF THE PLACES WE CAN LOOK FOR THE ANSWER
IS HERE IN THE MOSAICS.
FIFTH CENTURY BYZANTINE CHRISTIANS,
OFTEN IN THIS FLOOR ART,
TELL US WHAT IT IS THAT'S IMPORTANT TO THEM ABOUT A PLACE.
SO LET'S SEE IF THERE'S SOMETHING
IN THESE FIFTH CENTURY MOSAICS THAT'S HELPFUL.
I SEE A CHALICE, THAT'S PRETTY ORDINARY.
I SEE A LILY, THAT'S A SYMBOL OF THE RESURRECTION,
BUT ALSO PRETTY TYPICAL ART.
HMM, BUT RIGHT THERE, THE BASKETS.
THOSE SUGGEST A STORY
THAT MIGHT MOTIVATE THIS SORT OF BUILDING.
WHEN I THINK OF BASKETS IN THE CONTEXT OF JESUS' MIRACLES,
MY MIND ALWAYS GOES TO FOOD.
I'M JUST A LITTLE NORTH OF THE CHURCH AT KURSI,
WALKING NEXT TO THIS MODERN AGRICULTURAL FIELD.
IT'S HERE IN THIS AREA IN THE DECAPOLIS
WHERE JESUS DID THE MIRACLE OF THE FEEDING OF THE 4,000.
IT'S AN AMAZING MIRACLE WHERE 4,000 FAMILIES
CAME OUT TO LISTEN TO JESUS AND HE DID A MIRACLE,
MAKING SURE THAT THEY DIDN'T GO HOME WITHOUT A MEAL.
IF THAT SOUNDS FAMILIAR,
JESUS DID EXACTLY THE SAME SORT OF MIRACLE OVER THERE.
THE DIFFERENCE, THE MIRACLE ON THAT SIDE OF THE LAKE
WAS FOR 5,000 JEWISH FAMILIES.
THIS MIRACLE WAS FOR 4,000 GENTILE FAMILIES.
JESUS WAS EXPANDING EXPECTATIONS ABOUT THE KINGDOM.
JESUS WAS PREPARING THE DISCIPLES
TO HEAR THESE AMAZING WORDS,
AMONG THE LAST THAT HE DELIVERED.
"ALL AUTHORITY IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME,
"THEREFORE, GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS,
"BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER
"AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,
"AND TEACHING THEM TO OBEY EVERYTHING I'VE COMMANDED YOU.
"AND SURELY I'M WITH YOU ALWAYS TO THE VERY END OF THE AGE."
GENTILES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PART OF THIS LANDSCAPE.
AND THE QUESTION IS,
ARE THOSE GENTILES PART OF JESUS' VISION
FOR AN ETERNAL KINGDOM?
THE FEEDING OF THE 4,000 SAYS, ABSOLUTELY.
AND THAT'S INCREDIBLY GOOD NEWS
IF, LIKE ME, YOU ARE A GENTILE, WONDERING HOW YOU FIT
INTO THE COMPLEXITY OF THIS STORY AROUND THE LAKE.
JESUS FED THE 5,000 THERE,
THIS IS THE SIDE OF THE LAKE I WOULD'VE BEEN LIVING ON,
AND JESUS COMES TO THIS SIDE OF THE LAKE
TO TELL ME, "YOU'RE PART OF MY KINGDOM, TOO."
EVERY JESUS SAID AND DID IN THE GALILEE REGION
TRANSFORMED EXPECTATIONS PEOPLE HAD ABOUT THEIR MESSIAH.
JESUS PHYSICALLY CHANGED LIVES, HEALED SOULS,
CAST OUT DEMONS, CALMED STORMS, AND EMBRACED THE CROSS
FOR HIS SAVING GRACE TO BE OFFERED
TO ALL PEOPLE FOR ALL TIME.
(GENTLE MUSIC)