Why Churches Go to Israel: Reading the Gospels Where They Happened

Most churches that travel with us go to Israel first. The reason is simple. The Gospels are full of places, and once you have stood in them you read the text differently. Here is what that looks like on the ground, and what a church tends to bring home.

Galilee is smaller than you think

Much of Jesus’ ministry happened in a few miles along the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum, where he lived and taught in the synagogue, the hillside above it where tradition places the Sermon on the Mount, and Magdala, the home town of Mary Magdalene, are all within a short drive of each other. From the Mount of Beatitudes you can see most of them at once.

That changes how you read Matthew and Mark. You see why crowds could follow him along the shore, why the disciples could cross the lake in an evening, and how quickly a storm comes down off the hills onto the water. Most groups take a boat across the lake, and many pastors teach from Mark 4 halfway across.

Jerusalem is steep, old and crowded

In Jerusalem the distances are short and the climbs are real. You can walk down the Mount of Olives along the path of Palm Sunday to the Garden of Gethsemane, then look across the Kidron Valley to the walls of the Old City. At the Southern Steps you stand on stairs that led up to the Temple in the first century, where Jesus and the apostles would have walked. The Pool of Siloam, where he sent the blind man to wash in John 9, was uncovered in 2004 and is still being excavated.

Both traditional sites of the crucifixion and resurrection are on most of our itineraries: the Church of the Holy Sepulchre inside the Old City, and the Garden Tomb outside the walls, where many groups share communion.

The land explains the story

Away from the cities, the landscape fills in the Old Testament. The Judean Wilderness shows what David hid in and what Jesus fasted in. At Megiddo you look over the Jezreel Valley, where battles were fought from the time of the Judges onward. At Caesarea, where Peter baptized Cornelius and Paul was held for two years, you stand in Herod’s theater beside the sea. Many travelers are baptized in the Jordan River before they go home.

What a church brings home

The people who go come back with the same memories. A pastor can say “remember the steps” on a Sunday morning and thirty people in the room know exactly what he means. Small groups that traveled together tend to stay together. And people who have never been can see the change in the ones who went, which is often how the next trip fills.

Groups usually spend ten to twelve days, split between Galilee and Jerusalem, with a day by the Dead Sea at Masada and Qumran. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons. Many churches add Jordan, for Petra and the site of Jesus’ baptism at Bethany Beyond the Jordan.

Planning one for your church

Every expedition is built for one group on its own dates. We arrange the flights, hotels, coach, guides and most meals, and your group leader can teach at the sites. See our Israel expeditions, read how we look after groups in Israel, or talk to us about leading one.