took place under Roman rule more than 2000 years ago that was to shape human history from that time on. This momentous milestone was the birth of Jesus. Jesus, the son of the carpenter Joseph and Mary his wife, was born in Bethlehem, in a manger, the Gospels teach us, because “there was no room in the inn.” He grew to manhood in Nazareth, moved among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem and gained recognition as a preacher and performer of miracles. He died on the cross in Golgotha and bequeathed Christianity to the world. His life and teachings have affected hundreds of millions of people all over the world. Nowhere is Jesus’ life better documented than in the Holy Bible. Nowhere else on earth do the events of the Bible come alive as they do here, in Israel, the Holy Land. Pilgrim & Pilgrimage The term “pilgrim” denotes a traveler - one who journeys to holy places and sojourns among the local inhabitants, in a focused activity of faith that attributes significance to the journey and to the place, usually a site lifted to prominence by what happened there. Pilgrimage is a
rite of passage for some; for others, it may be a way of freeing one’s soul for spiritual explorations, or even a process to encounter Deity. Pilgrimage is also about remembrance. In both the Old and New Testament, the Bible focuses on the centrality of acts of remembrance on the part of both mankind and the Almighty, starting with events after the Flood, (Genesis 9, 8-17), when God points to the rainbow as a perpetual reminder of His everlasting covenant. This is but the first in a host of biblical correlatives between a physical act and the divine command not to forget. So important is this dictate, that when the prophets judge the People of Israel, one of the most serious charges against them is that they have forgotten the Lord their Maker (Isaiah 51, 13; Jeremiah 23, 27). Pilgrimage & its Significance Christian interest in the Land of Israel is closely associated with the birth, demise and subsequent resurgence of the pilgrimage movement. In both Islamic and Hebrew tradition, pilgrimage is regarded as a religious obligation imposed on the entire community of the faithful and
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