The Cross
journey in the land of Israel
Jesus lived about 2000 years ago in the same Israel we know today. If you travel there, and even to Nazareth, where Jesus grew up, you will find yourself walking the same paths he may have stepped on.
Also amazing is to sit in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus suffered in agony over the road he was about to walk, the road to a cross.
Pause here because it is an event that changed history and can change us.
This road turns from suffering to joy when we come to the tomb where Jesus lay. A woman named Mary Magdalene was the first to go to an empty grave, a stone rolled away, and an angel waiting to say, "Do not be afraid." Words of comfort we still need today. Jesus cast out seven demons from this woman of faith.
Jesus arose from the grave! This redeemed everything—victory over sin and death and crying and shame.
Can glory be found in a cross? Christ brings peace, help, and healing as we seek for hope in the hard times of life. True joy can be ours, and the way to peace comes in the cross.
(See Matthew 2:23, 28:5; Mark 14:32–24; Luke 8:2.)
Photo below, Caesarea in Israel
Nazareth
The village of Nazareth as it looks today, where Jesus grew up.
Garden of Gethsemane
"Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, 'Sit here while I go over there and pray'" (Matthew 26:36 NASB). He was here the night before he was crucified.
Ancient tomb in Israel
"An angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone" (Matthew 28:2).
This is an ancient tomb in the middle of Nazareth, similar to the one where Jesus' body was laid.
After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples. "He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, 'Peace be to you'" (Luke 24:36).
Jesus
He came to earth around 4 B.C. when he was born in a stable in the town of Bethlehem. He became a carpenter like his father, Joseph, and later had 12 disciples who followed him closely. He only lived to age 33 and has touched more lives than can be counted. His Father from Heaven authored the Bible, the #1 bestseller that answers all our questions of life.
Such greatness knows the greatest suffering, and that brings us to the cross. God was willing to give His only Son to take the blame for all the bad things we have done, so we can have hope and live a joy-filled life, even here, and in a new life to come.
Heaven awaits... if we come to the cross.
Jesus said, "Come, follow Me." (Luke 18:22)
