Depart the USA

Transfer from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv to our hotel on the Mediterranean Coast

Continue to enjoy the Mediterranean as we tour the spectacular Roman complex and engineering feat of Herod the Great, known as Caesarea Maritima. View the Jezreel Valley from Megiddo, the place imagined as the stage for the great final battle between good and evil. Recall the childhood of Jesus at Mary’s Well and the Basilica of the Annunciation. Stay overnight in Tiberias.

Simultaneously step back into ancient Israelite religion and politics at Biblical Dan amidst the natural beauty and modern political importance of its Nature Reserve. Recall Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ at Caesarea Phillipi and have lunch in a Druze village. Visit the Old Testament city, New Testament fishing town and home of several disciples, Bethsaida. Stay overnight in Tiberias.

Jesus’ home away from home: Capernaum. Recall the feeding of the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish at Tabgha and John 21 at the Church of the Primacy of Peter. Look into the life of first-century fishermen with the ancient boat at Ginosar and experience a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. Meditate on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount with Holy Communion on the Mount of Beatitudes and visit the hometown of Mary Magdalene at Magdala. Stay overnight in Tiberias.

Get a glimpse of Jewish worship in the Byzantine period (6th century) at the Beit Alpha Synagogue. Recall the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) at Jacob’s Well in Nablus (ancient Shechem). Explore the ruins of Samaria, the ancient capital of the northern kingdom of Israel built by Omri and later inhabited by Ahab and Jezebel. Stay overnight at the Dead Sea.

Visit Masada, the grand mountain-top fortress of Herod the Great and the place of the Zealots’ last stand against the Romans. Enjoy a free afternoon for rest and renewal as you choose. Options include the pools or a massage at the hotel spa and visiting/floating in the Dead Sea. Stay overnight at the Dead Sea.

Continue our experience of life in the wilderness as we see where the Dead Sea Scrolls, including some of the oldest biblical manuscripts in the world, were found at Qumran. Visit the lowest and oldest city on earth, Jericho. Remember our baptism at one of the places John the baptizer was active, Bethany Beyond the Jordan. With the Psalms of Ascent, join ancient and modern pilgrims as we end the day going up to Jerusalem! Stay overnight in Jerusalem.

Our morning begins on the Mount of Olives to recall Jesus acquiring the donkey for his triumphant ride into Jerusalem, the giving of the Lord’s Prayer at Pater Noster Church, Jesus weeping over Jerusalem at Dominus Flevit and his praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, commemorated by the adjacent Church of All Nations. Next, we continue our Holy Week journey as we experience the setting of the Last Supper in the traditional Upper Room and recall Peter’s three-fold denial of Jesus at the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu. We then enter the Old City through Zion Gate to begin the historical Via Dolorosa outside what we now know as the Praetorium, the place of Christ’s condemnation, proceeding then to Calvary and the empty tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Stay overnight in Bethlehem.

View the Judean Hill Country and Judean Wilderness from Herod the Great’s hilltop fortress and burial place known as the Herodium. Honor all those touched by the Holocaust at the Yad Vashem museum and memorial. See some of the original Dead Sea Scrolls at The Shrine of the Book and a massive outdoor scale model of Jerusalem as it was at the time of Jesus at the Israel Museum. Stay overnight in Bethlehem.

Dialogue with Pastor Ashraf Tannous, Lutheran Pastor in Bethlehem, and ponder the holy mystery of the incarnation at the Church of the Nativity. Recall the angel’s announcement at Shepherds’ Field. Return to our hotel for closing dinner before transfer to Ben Gurion airport for departure. Travelers will keep rooms until transport to the airport for packing and clean up.