Lessons to Remember Pt. 2

 As I continually wrestle with my own pride, fear, and anger, God has shown me again and again that I need to look to Christ. At the end of this semester, we spent a lot more time talking about Jesus in our Life of Christ class. Learning so much about what he did while here on Earth has given me a better picture of what it looked like for him to practice humility. Jesus spent so much time serving others–it was his whole ministry. He taught his disciples, healed the sick and lame, fought for the truth, and prayed to his Father. When his disciples expressed nothing but their own pride, he showed them humility by washing their feet (John 13).

Again and again, people fail to understand Christ’s message of the kingdom, but He is patient. Even His own disciples don’t understand Him when He tells them on multiple occasions that He is going to suffer, die, and rise from the dead. So how do they go from bumbling, uneducated men who don’t understand Christ’s mission, to strong evangelists who proclaim Christ with boldness in the face of persecution? The answer is found in the Book of Acts. God sent his spirit to dwell in the disciples and teach them and strengthen them. But for ten days they were waiting and praying for the promise (Acts 1:13). The last reading for our Life of Christ class was from Alexander Balmain Bruce’s book, The Training of the Twelve. He calls these ten days the incubation period of the Christian Church (541). I don’t think I understood before how extraordinary this time would be because there are many parts of Scripture they wouldn't have access to. I base much of my theology on the epistles, but all these apostles had was the teaching of Christ and their Tanaak–the Jewish old Testament. 

Bruce says “Of them, perhaps more emphatically than of most, it might be said that they knew not what to pray for as they ought” (541). I think back to the disciples in the garden on Jesus’ last night. This would still be a fresh memory in their minds. And now, over a month later, they were praying fervently, yet their master wasn’t with them physically. However, the promised Spirit did come on Pentecost, filled the apostles, and gave them tongues to proclaim the gospel in other languages. From there, the gospel went out to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and all the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). 

One of my favorite places we visited on our trip to the north was a coastal town called Caesarea Maritime. In 9 BC, when Herod the Great was rising in power, he transformed the site into a bustling port and renamed it after his benefactor, Caesar. In doing so, he changed the epicenter for trade from the northern port of Acco, eventually surpassing Alexandria as the greatest eastern Mediterranean port.

Several key stories of the gospel’s momentum stand out in this city. In Acts 10, Peter travels by divine direction to Caesarea and visits Cornelius, realizing that God has brought salvation to the Gentiles. In the final chapters of Acts, Paul is brought to Caesarea to defend himself before governors Felix, Festus, and King Agrippa. This fulfilled Jesus’ prophecy to Ananias in Acts 9:15, that Paul was a chosen instrument who would carry Christ’s name before kings. When we were there we read Acts 24-26 in the spot of Herod’s upper palace. This was probably the praetorium, where Paul would have made his defense. I was amazed at how we could relive this event so close to where it happened. As I sat on the hard rock and looked out at the coast beating against the ruins of Herod’s palace, I thought about Peter and Paul. They were both so bold in their witness of the gospel. I felt connected to this place because of the story of the gospel first coming to the Gentiles. It was like coming back to my roots.

The ruins of the Praetorium in Caesarea Maritime
Paul probably gave his defense in this very spot.

        The Gospels and Acts are so full of stories of God’s great plan of salvation for the world. I’ve read them many times, and yet seeing the places where the Gospel was first preached helped me to understand and imagine how important and earth-shaking this time would have been for the world.

God has taught me more than I can condense into a paragraph or paper. As I keep digging and delving into the Word, I am both happy and sad to be leaving Israel. I’m excited for the next adventure and being back with loved ones, but I’m sad because there is still so much to see and learn. Beginning to emerge from the Bible lessons I’ve been rummaging through for the past few months, I’m amazed at all the treasures I’ve found. My box is full of artifacts I want to share with my friends and family back home. But as I climb out and look at my surroundings I see that I’ve barely scratched the surface. The excavation site stretches for acres and acres. In fact, I can’t even see the end of the site. It would take many lifetimes to find everything here.

Like this field in the Galilee stretching out, the
Bible seems to have endless lessons to dig up. 
What else might we find under the surface?