Walking Where Jesus Walked Changes the Way We Read the Bible
The Bible can feel distant until you stand in the places where its stories unfolded. Suddenly, the text is no longer words on a page. It is a living, breathing story you can touch, see, and experience.
Overwhelmed by the Story
The first time I visited the Holy Land, I was overwhelmed with the sheer volume of what we saw. From baptizing in the Jordan River, to a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee, to standing on Temple Mount or praying at the Western Wall… it was a lot to take in. Suddenly, the Bible wasn’t a book “over there.” It was part of a grounded story. And I was standing on that ground.
When a Child Stood on 4,000 Years of History
On one of our early trips, we brought our daughter Ali, who was just four years old. As our guide explained the significance of the Bema Seat at Tel Dan, we heard this donk-donk, donk-donk sound behind us. Ali was standing on the ancient stone seat, teeter-tottering like it was a playground toy. Before I could rush over in a panic, the guide smiled and said, “That has been here for 4,000 years. She is not the first child to use it like that.”
Walking inside those ancient walls, touching stones that predate King David, looking over the hillside where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, and seeing the inlet where his followers once cleaned their nets made the stories come alive. Suddenly they weren’t just stories. They were real. They were history. They were my history.
The Land Itself Speaks
One of the most surprising things to me was the endless rocks and the steep hills. As we rode the bus from Jericho to Jerusalem, the landscape grew harsher, steeper, and more unforgiving than anything I had seen before. We couldn’t believe how dangerous the terrain looked. Suddenly the Good Samaritan parable wasn’t just a nice story. It was life or death. To be beaten and left for dead in that wilderness would have been terrifying. For the Samaritan to stop and help, and then carry a helpless man up that steep ground, was an act of incredible courage and compassion. It took my breath away.
Sharing the Story Together
But it wasn’t just the sites that shaped me. It was experiencing them together. I’ll never forget worshiping in the Garden of Gethsemane, standing near olive trees that have stood for two millennia. Some of those trees may have been young when Jesus prayed on the night of his arrest, sweating drops of blood in that very place.
We sat together in the weight of that moment, and then shared communion near the empty tomb just down the road. Those are moments that changed me forever, and they are moments I have been grateful to share with others on every tour since.
You Can’t Read the Bible the Same Way Again
After you have walked where the stories took place and opened the Scriptures in those very locations, you can never read the Bible the same way again. Each time you return to it, you see the landscapes, you feel the dust… you remember.
Why We Keep Going Back
That is why Rae Lynn and I keep going back. For us, these journeys are not just about travel. They are about entering the story of our faith, an adventure where the Bible comes alive in ways we never expected. And that is why we invite others to come along. It is more than a trip. It is a journey of discipleship.
I hope we get to walk these paths together someday soon.
Want to Learn More?
Journeyman Tours invites individuals, churches, and groups to experience the story in the Holy Land, Greece, Rome, and beyond. If you would like to receive stories like this along with updates on upcoming tours, sign up for our newsletter below.
