You’re really connected to the Word and the story...

Chris Rolfe visited Jerusalem ahead of the recent escalation in conflict surrounding Iran, when the Foreign Office warned Britons against “all but essential” travel to the region. Her visit to the holy Land cast the Easter story in an entirely new light, she says.

This Easter I will read the story of Jesus’s death and resurrection in a completely different way. That’s because, after visiting Jerusalem, I can picture for myself the places where Jesus taught, died and rose again.

My trip was a five-day taster tour of the holy Land last November, hosted by the Israel Ministry of Tourism in the UK to allow our group of Christian journalists and leaders to walk where Jesus walked in Galilee and Jerusalem.

It’s always good to gain a fresh perspective on familiar Bible passages, and as a first-time visitor to Jerusalem that’s what sites like the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane and the Garden Tomb provided.

Our believer guides shared a mixture of historical facts to ground these places in first-century culture and scriptural context, then allowed us space to reflect on everything that happened there.

Jerusalem felt weighty at times. The joy of the healings and miracles of Jesus’s early ministry that we remembered in Galilee contrasted strongly with the horror of His betrayal, arrest and crucifixion that we reflected on in Jerusalem.

But as any Christian who has been to Israel will tell you, visiting the holy Land brings these passages to life.

As one of our guides, Dr Hagay Dvir explained, “We say there is a fifth Gospel, the land of Israel. Visiting it connects you with the Word and the story.”

That was definitely my experience.

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.