My first visit to Israel in May 2012 came as a special birthday present from my husband.  I had always dreamt of visiting the land where Jesus lived, but it was not high on my husband’s bucket list.  He wanted to dive the Great Barrier Reef – which was not very high on mine!  But he died before we could do either.  When the opportunity arose to go to Israel it seemed as if he could give me one last, very special gift.  So I journeyed through the Holy Land.  The trip was poignant with the memory of the one who loved me and whom I loved.  And here, once again, I met Jesus who reassured me not just of sweet memories but of life eternal and promises fulfilled.  In the next couple of weeks I will share some of these experiences with you.  May they be a blessing to you as they are to me.

In a place such as this …

In a place such as this Christ preached the Sermon on the Mount … fed the 5000 … was crucified, died and was buried. In a place such as this He was laid in a tomb, the stone was rolled away … He cooked breakfast on the lakeshore … He ascended into heaven

The open-mindedness of our guide gave us the freedom to use our imagination. We saw Jesus lying in a manger at the back of a cave on the edge of Bethlehem, the ceiling blackened by the fires of shepherds and herders, the air redolent with the breath of donkey and cattle, the straw-filled manger a prickly bed for the infant Son of God.

In a place such as this – where images of bread and fish were carved on a rock by early Christians – we could see, by the lie of the land, Jesus speaking to the crowds who had followed Him and now needed food. Suddenly the wonder of the disciples and those present became real as we saw again the miracle of so many being fed with so little.

In a place such as this we stood in awe outside an empty tomb. We had seen others, also empty, on our journey, and so this was not, perhaps the miracle it should have been to us. Those others had been rifled and ravaged by time, by people, by sand and by earthquake. But this tomb – a tomb ‘such as this’ was empty for a different reason. For this was a tomb where they may have laid the Christ. I felt no spiritual connection here, but there was peace in my soul, for I know that in this area, this part of the city of Jerusalem, they had laid my Lord in a place ‘such as this’, and that that tomb, whichever one it may be, is empty because death could not hold Him. He is alive, my Saviour, and the tomb is empty.

I did not meet Him in this particular ‘place such as this’ but in the garden outside.  In the gentle beauty of created greenness I met Him walking the paths through flowers and shrubs that spoke of life. And as Mary met and knew her Lord, so I knew mine as He came to me in a place such as this – full of life and beauty, peace and quiet and deep running joy – here I met Him again in my heart – My risen Lord – Jesus – my Saviour. And I knew that I would meet Him again in a place such as this – and this – and this – wherever I may be, so He will be – always.