We talked about Jerusalem tonight in our last group meeting before we depart for the Holy Land on November 8th. We will be there on the last five days of our 13-day journey. The history, spiritual significance, and tension in the area make Jerusalem the utmost center of our Holy Land pilgrimage.
While in Jerusalem we will be reminded of the place where heaven and earth come together as described in Revelation 21:2-4, “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
N.T. Wright says, “Jerusalem is a symbol of God’s great expectation, which will by no means coincide with our own. In Jewish history and scripture, you went there to meet God, to offer sacrifice, to celebrate his love, his salvation, his covenant. And the test of whether pilgrimage is genuine is therefore the question, whether you’re prepared for God to remake you, lovingly to break the brittle “you” that you’ve carefully constructed, to soften the clay in his hands until it’s ready to be remoulded, and then to make out of you what he had in mind all along, which may be quite different from what you wanted or expected.”
I want my pilgrimage to be genuine; I expect to be broken and remade in Jerusalem.
A movie, “Jerusalem: The Movie” is being filmed now to be released in IMAX 3D in 2013. Here is a 7-minute trailer of the aerial beauty of Jerusalem. As you watch this beautiful footage, will you pray for our 31 pilgrims?
Blessings, my friend,
Agatha