Welcome to St Marys, West Malling

From the ‘Vicar’

This month's article is almost certainly going to be unique amongst any that I might write in the future simply because I am typing this out some 35,000 feet above the ground after a week long study trip to Israel!

I have never been to Israel and the Palestinian Territories before and, if I'm honest, I didn't have much desire to go this time. It has never been something that felt very important to me to do. My faith in Jesus has never relied on the idea of ‘place’ very much. My logic has always been that if God is everywhere, I can sense him with me in Kent just as much as I can in Jerusalem. Moreover, the contemporary situation and the ongoing troubles between Israelis and Palestinians has left me cold with little desire to go and see a country so intractably troubled.

However, when the opportunity was afforded me to go, I found myself travelling; unsure of how I would react but also eager to explore sites that I’ve read about for so long.

One of the ways in which Israel is described amongst Christians is as 'the fifth gospel' and, having now explored some of the country, I can well understand why. The four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John give us different eyewitness accounts and theological slants on the person of Jesus of Nazareth. They point us towards him and encourage us in many different and vibrant ways to explore what it means to know this person for ourselves. However, walking the country he walked has given me a welcome fifth perspective and a new chance to get to know this man who has so changed the world and also changed me.

Being in Israel and the Palestinian territories has given me the chance to see the hilly topography of Galilee and a better understanding of what it means when the gospels say that Jesus went up on a mountain to pray. I've sat by the Sea of Galilee and watched fishermen gather in their nets in small boats as they have done since long before Jesus told Simon Peter to put down his nets a second time. I've climbed the steep hill and witnessed the uncompromising white craggy rocks of the quarry outside the old city of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified, now mostly covered in buildings or (inevitably) churches.

I must admit that I grew sceptical of some of the claims being made... ‘this is where Mary met the angel Gabriel’, ‘this is where Jesus wept over Jerusalem’, ‘this is the spot where John the Baptist was born’. It all felt a bit too much like The Life of Brian to me. When we went to the place of the Sermon on the Mount (with the obligatory church on top) I half expected John Cleese to pipe up, 'did he say cheese makers?'

Nevertheless, if you can get beyond some of the inevitable religious tat, Israel is a special place. Archaeological excavations have revealed some legitimate sites and authentic corroborating evidence for the gospel stories. In some places, often slightly off the pilgrims' beaten track, treasures are to be found. Such ongoing archaeological work is producing new evidence that gives us greater understanding of their world, insights into Jesus’ mindset and also much that serves to back up the authenticity of the gospel accounts.

To hear some in our culture talk about Jesus, you would think belief in him is on the same level as Father Christmas or the Tooth Fairy - belief in his existence. Nothing could be further from the truth for informed people. Jesus definitely lived. Of that, there is no doubt. The question isn't whether you believe he existed. The question is whether you believe the testimony of the four gospel writers who describe this man as God.

If you get a chance to visit Israel and read their accounts surrounded by the places they describe, it only adds further depth and resonance. And if you accept what they say about Jesus to be true - well, that's huge. That's a life changer.