MOUNT ARBEL IS A NATURE RESERVE THAT'S DESIGNED TO
HELP PRESERVE THE ECOSYSTEM IN THIS AREA
AROUND THE WESTERN SHORE OF THE SEA OF GALILEE.
THIS HIKING TRAIL WE'RE ON DOESN'T LOOK LIKE MUCH TODAY.
AT THE TIME OF JESUS IT IS THE INTERNATIONAL HIGHWAY,
THE HIGHWAY THAT CONNECTED ASIA AND AFRICA
AND EUROPE THROUGH ISRAEL. IT DESCENDED FROM LOWER GALILEE
THROUGH THE CUT IN THE TERRAIN HERE CALLED THE WADI HAMAM,
ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE SEA OF GALILEE,
ON TO DAMASCUS AND THE REST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.
I ALWAYS SAY WHEN I BACKPACK,
HALF THE FUN IS MEETING THE PEOPLE I MEET.
HEY, GUYS, HOW'RE YOU DOING? YOM TOV, YOM TOV!
HOW ARE YOU TODAY?
WHERE YOU HEADED? FROM THE MOUNTAIN TO...WHERE YOU...
TO GINOSAR. I AM... I LOVE BACKPACKING.
YOU GUYS HAVE AN AMAZING TRIP!
I'M WONDERING IF YOU'RE UP FOR A LITTLE BIT OF ADVENTURE.
I LOVE MOUNTAIN CLIMBING AND I'VE GOT A GREAT
MOUNTAIN FOR US TO CLIMB. IT'S A MOUNTAIN THAT
JESUS AND THE DISCIPLES CLIMBED MORE THAN ONCE.
IT'S JUST HERE, MOUNT ARBEL.
AS YOU PROBABLY HAVE GUESSED BY NOW, IT'S THE SETTING
FOR TWO DIFFERENT STORIES WE HAVE FROM JESUS' LIFE.
THE FIRST ONE CHRISTIANS CALL THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
IT'S A EXTENDED TEACHING TIME WITH THE DISCIPLES.
THE SECOND TIME JESUS COMES UP HERE
IS IN ORDER TO GIVE THE GREAT COMMISSION,
THAT DIRECTIVE JESUS GAVE THE DISCIPLES
WHICH CHANGED THE COURSE OF THEIR MINISTRY.
AND YOU PROBABLY GUESSED BY NOW, TOO,
THAT I THINK THEY'RE RELATED TO ONE ANOTHER.
I'M GETTING COLD AND IT'S... IT'S GETTING LATE,
AND THERE'S NO WAY I'M GONNA TRY TO CLIMB MOUNT ARBEL TONIGHT.
IT'S GOT A CHANCE, IT'S GOT A CHANCE.
AND I WISH MY KIDS WERE HERE TO SEE THIS BECAUSE THEY,
FOR A WHILE, THOUGHT THEIR FATHER COULD ONLY START FIRES
IF HE BROUGHT ALONG SOME LIGHTER FLUID,
BUT DRY GRASS WILL DO AS WELL. I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD
TOMORROW TO THE OPPORTUNITY TO CLIMB MOUNT ARBEL.
IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLACES IN ISRAEL, I THINK,
NOT ONLY BECAUSE THE VIEW IS SO EXTRAORDINARY, AND IT IS.
IT'S GOT ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY VIEWS IN THE LAND.
BUT IT HAS A STORY THAT AFFECTED MY LIFE,
AND REALLY CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER.
MY FOREBEARS WERE FROM EUROPE AND
THERE'S NO WAY THEY WOULD HAVE HEARD ABOUT A MAN NAMED JESUS
UNLESS JESUS HAD CHANGED THE SCOPE OF
THE DISCIPLES' MINISTRY, AND HE DID THAT ON TOP OF MOUNT ARBEL.
HE... HE TOLD THE DISCIPLES THAT AS THEY NOW BECAME TEACHERS,
FULLY AUTHORIZED TO TEACH EVERYTHING
THAT HE HAD SHARED WITH THEM,
IT MEANT THAT... THAT THEY WERE SHARING THE GOSPEL MESSAGE
WITH PEOPLE WHO TRAVELED ALONG
THE ROAD THAT I'M CAMPING NEAR,
AND THE ROAD ON WHICH I MET SOME FELLOW HIKERS BEFORE.
NOW, THOSE HIKERS REMINDED ME OF THE MERCHANTS
WHO WERE VERY MUCH A PART OF THE WAY IN WHICH COMMODITIES
MOVED FROM ONE PLACE TO THE OTHER IN THE ANCIENT WORLD.
THEY WEREN'T JUST THE DISTRIBUTORS OF WOOL
AND AROMATICS AND SPICES.
THEY WERE ALSO DISTRIBUTORS OF THE NEWS OF THE DAY.
AND WHAT THEY DID WAS CAME THROUGH
THIS AREA THAT WE'RE IN RIGHT HERE,
JUST BELOW MOUNT ARBEL, AND THEY PICKED UP THE NEWS OF THE DAY
AS IT WAS TOLD BY THE DISCIPLES AND BROUGHT IT TO EUROPE,
SO THAT MY FOREBEARS MIGHT BE ABLE TO LEARN
THAT THEY HAD A MESSIAH, THAT THEY HAD A SAVIOR.
AND I'M THINKING ABOUT WHAT IT MEANT FOR THE DISCIPLES
TO HEAR WHAT PROBABLY WAS A...
NEWS THAT WAS A LITTLE UPSETTING TO THEM,
THAT, YOU KNOW, THEIR... THEIR MISSION ACTUALLY GOT LARGER,
BUT WITHOUT... WITHOUT THEM CHANGING THE SCOPE OF WHAT
THEY WERE THINKING ABOUT DOING, AT LEAST AT A HUMAN LEVEL,
I MIGHT NOT HAVE FOUND JESUS AS MY SAVIOR.
JESUS BEGINS THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT WITH THE BEATITUDES,
AND THE BEATITUDES REALLY ARE A SURVEY OF THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE.
AND AS HE TURNS THEIR EYES TO THE VIEW HE SAYS TO THEM,
"BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT
"FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
"BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN. THEY WILL BE COMFORTED.
"BLESSED ARE THE MEEK FOR THEY WILL INHERIT THE EARTH.
"BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS,
"FOR THEY WILL BE FILLED."
WHAT A POWERFUL WAY TO BEGIN THAT DISCOURSE.
IT JUST DOESN'T END WITH THAT SAME RHETORICAL FLOURISH.
AND I THINK IT DOESN'T END WITH A POWERFUL CONCLUSION
BECAUSE JESUS WASN'T DONE HERE.
I THINK THE LAST PARAGRAPH OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
IS ACTUALLY THE WORDS OF THE GREAT COMMISSION,
AND THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS
JESUS BROUGHT THE DISCIPLES HERE,
BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE THIS COURSE BEGAN,
AND THIS IS WHERE THIS COURSE IS GOING TO RECEIVE
ITS POWERFUL CONCLUSION. AND FOR A TEACHER LIKE JESUS,
WHO WAS VERY PARTICULAR ABOUT PUTTING IMPORTANT TEACHINGS
IN THE CONTEXT OF VIEWS THAT SUPPORTED THAT TEACHING,
I COULDN'T EXPECT LESS FROM HIM THAN TO PUT HIS FINAL WORDS
IN A SETTING AS DRAMATIC AS THIS.
HERE HE LIFTS THEIR EYES FROM THE PLACE
THEY HAD BEEN USED TO WORKING,
ON THE NORTHWEST SHORE OF THE SEA OF GALILEE, TO THE HORIZON.
AND HE SAYS TO THEM, I WANT YOU NOW TO GO
"AND TAKE WHAT I'VE TAUGHT YOU TO EVERYONE.
"THEREFORE GO AND TEACH ALL NATIONS."
THIS IS A PLACE THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING FOR THE DISCIPLES,
AND JESUS WANTED TO MAKE SURE HE HAD A FITTING PLACE TO
DELIVER THIS POWERFUL CONCLUSION TO THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
THAT FOREVER CHANGED HOW THEY THOUGHT ABOUT THEIR MISSION.
WELL, THAT'S IT.
WE'VE WALKED MANY MILES TOGETHER THROUGH THIS LAND,
LOOKING AT THE WAY JESUS USED GEOGRAPHY TO TELL GOD'S STORY.
AND THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE FINAL VIEW THAT JESUS USED
IN ORDER TO SPEAK THE LAST WORDS TO THE DISCIPLES.
HE SAID TO THEM,
"THEREFORE GO MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS."
THIS VIEW HASN'T CHANGED SINCE THEY HEARD IT,
AND NEITHER HAS OUR MISSION.