Pastor Alex Awad
February 19, 2006 - W0608

When people come to Israel, the Holy Land, they always visit the holy shrines and temples, the places where Jesus was born and crucified, and the empty tomb from which He arose. But let me urge you to also visit the living stones in Israel such as our Bethlehem Bible College where Arab Palestinians believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and where the body of Christ is alive and well.

We will base our tour today on a passage from Luke Chapter 5 where a fisherman by the name of Simon Peter has just returned from a fruitless fishing trip and is approached by Jesus Christ:

Can you imagine seeing these fishermen leaving their boats and fish to follow Jesus? They followed in His footsteps, but why? On our tour today, we will follow in the footsteps of Jesus and His disciples and learn what it means to be a Christian. Get on the bus; the first stop on our five city tour is Jordan.

The Jordan River Valley is where Jesus started His ministry. John the Baptist was preaching about repentance and the impending arrival of Jesus. Interestingly, Jordan is the location of the Dead Sea (the lowest body of water on earth with water so salty that it cannot sustain any life) and Sodom & Gomorrah (cities so wicked that God destroyed them and their inhabitants). Yet, Jesus came to this area known for its corruption and death, and He preached repentance, mercy and grace.

Jesus’ first message to the people of this region was to repent of their sins. The emphasis on repentance was very important because it is the gateway to God. Jesus said unless we repent, we will perish. Repentance was important then and is still important today. Repentance is our hearts asking for mercy for our sins, and because we are sinners, purifying our hearts should be done again and again.

The good news is…God is willing to forgive our sins no matter how big or small the sins are. If we are repentant, He is willing to completely pardon us and wash our hearts. Each of us has their own sin, and different lands and cultures have different sins; however, regardless of a personal sin, a community sin or the sin of a nation, God is able to forgive us of our sins if we humble ourselves before him and repent. So daily, I go before God and ask for His mercy and forgiveness.

The first stop on our tour was the Jordan of Repentance. Let’s get back on the bus and head north to where Jesus was raised, Nazareth.

Jesus’ disciples were excited to go the Nazareth because Jesus came from there. They thought they would be welcomed and respected there however, much to their surprise, the opposite occurred and they were disappointed.

In Nazareth, Jesus went and preached in the synagogues, but contrary to what the disciples expected, the people didn’t like His preaching. Instead of offering Jesus a meal (as the disciples expected), they dragged him out of church and wanted to kill him. Needless to say, Jesus and His disciples had a horrible experience in Nazareth; they were rejected.

In Nazareth, the disciples found out that following Jesus was not easy. It was rough for them being rejected; they were hated simply because they followed Him. This was an important lesson that Jesus wanted the disciples to learn: when you follow Christ, you will have opposition and will face rejection.

The same lesson applies for us today: when we follow Christ, we too will be rejected. Most of us want God’s salvation and blessings but we don’t want to suffer for it. Yet if we want to follow Jesus’ footsteps, we need to expect the world to reject us.

God is truth, love and righteousness; therefore, in a wicked and corrupt world, a clash of interests will sooner or later occur: a battle between morality and immorality and tension between good and evil. Jesus knew this and prepared His disciples. The lesson was…anyone who wanted to follow Him needed to take up his cross and deny himself. Jesus was an excellent example of this, the disciples also learned this, and we should anticipate this.

Our second stop was Nazareth of Rejection…we‘re now on to the city of Capernaum.

Although rejected in Nazareth, Jesus was accepted in Capernaum. In Capernaum, Jesus healed the sick and cast out spirits from the possessed. He also fed thousands with two fish and five loaves of bread. Capernaum was Jesus’ city of ministry where He taught His disciples how to serve and minister to others. The same goes for us today; if we are to follow Jesus, we need to be willing to serve others.

Let me illustrate this with a story. I have a Muslim friend who’s from Pakistan. On one occasion, both of us were trying to convert the other. After three hours of debate, I did not become a Muslim nor did my friend become a Christian; however, my friend did admit that he sees God in Christianity. Wow, was I surprised! I wondered what I had said to make him think this. He then shared that wherever he goes in his country, he sees a Christian school, a Christian hospital or a Christian home for the handicapped helping his people. Through this, he saw God in our relation! “Let your light so shine so that people see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16) When people see the actions we take to help others, not only are we doing good but we bring glory and honor to God who made us in His image. This is the Capernaum of Ministry.

God has blessed each of us with special skills and talents and, like the disciples, if we are willing to follow His calling, He can do great things through us.

First stop, Jordan of Repentance. Second stop, Nazareth of Rejection. Third stop, Capernaum of Ministry. Next stop, Jerusalem…

The people of Capernaum loved Jesus and wanted Him to stay but Jesus prepared to go to Jerusalem. The disciples were not happy about this because they had heard of threats against Jesus from Jerusalem. Despite threats of humiliation, imprisonment and death, Jesus headed to Jerusalem.

As Christians, after we go through repentance, rejection and serve in a ministry, we may be asked to go through yet another challenge: the Jerusalem of Sacrifice. We’d all agree that none of us would want to be despised, humiliated and stoned yet Jesus faced it. And though it was not easy for the disciples to see Jesus suffering and dying, it was only by His suffering and death that they were able to experience the glory of His resurrection.

You see, the lesson of Jerusalem was not only suffering and sacrifice, but also victory. We see this lesson taught over and over throughout the Bible: Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac, Joseph was sold to slavery and unjustly imprisoned, and Moses had to lead his people through the desert in order to be truly victorious. As for us, we love greatness yet we’re often unwilling to go through our Jerusalem. If God is calling you to a challenging ministry, be courageous and say yes!

For example, my wife and I had both graduated from colleges in the United States with masters degrees in education. We decided to stay in America to teach and were building a house, when my brother in Bethlehem wrote me saying he wanted to start a Bible College in Bethlehem and asked if my wife and I would help him.

This was difficult for my wife and I because while we were on our way to living out the American dream, my brother was asking us to help him with his vision despite having no money for our plane tickets, no insurance and no salary for me! This was our Jerusalem of Sacrifice. After much prayer, we decided to give up our American dream and go return to Israel to help my brother start Bethlehem Bible College. Today, I am glad that I followed Jesus’ footsteps. Had I not followed Jesus’ footsteps to help my brother, I would have missed out on this great opportunity to help prepare and send these Bible College graduates out into the world to serve God.

Wherever God calls you to, be willing to go. There you will find your cross, you’ll see the empty tomb and more importantly, the resurrection. “As the Father sends Me, so now I send you” (John 20:21). You’ll experience the same victory & glory.

Our last stop today…Mount Olives.

Only a small group made it to Mount Olives to see the glorious Lord ascend to heaven. When the disciples were watching, an angel appeared and said to them, “…you men of Galilee, do not be afraid. This man Jesus Christ who went up to heaven will come back again for you” (Acts 1:11). And this is the Mount Olives of Hope.

As Christians, our hope is in Christ Jesus. We live and move in hope today and tomorrow. If our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are the most miserable people on earth. But if our hope in Christ is for this life and beyond, we can look forward to an eternity in heaven. And as the disciples were leaving Mount Olives, Jesus told them, “…lo, I will be with you always, even unto the end of time” (Matt. 28:20). This is our hope, not only because Jesus will return, but because His Spirit is with us even now.

So here ends our tour of the cities. We have traveled through Israel and traced the footsteps of Jesus and His disciples to through the lessons of Christianity. In order to get to the Great Hope of Mount Olives, we must first go through the Jordan of Repentance, the Nazareth of Rejection, the Capernaum of Ministry, and the Jerusalem of Sacrifice. Only then will we reach Mount Olives of Hope. Let us follow in the footsteps of Jesus for He is the way, the truth and the life! And in the end, He’ll say, “Well done my good and faithful servant”!