One beloved story about Jesus in John 2 is about the miracle of him turning water to wine. In the village of Cana, Jesus attended a wedding which ended up running out of wine. They asked Jesus for help. He instructed them to draw 5 jars of water. Upon serving it, the water had turned to wine. John says this was his first miraculous sign. I recently visited Cana. Situated on a sizable hill (over 250 feet above the base), the top offers a commanding view of the Beth Netophah Valley. Several miles south, across the valley and up and […]
Author Archive: Brian Johnson
Sounds of the Old City
It’s easy to picture Jerusalem as this ancient city with these old walls and all this history. All this is true. However, there is a modern side to Jerusalem, too. It’s fun when the ancient is blended with the modern. For instance, for four evenings last week there was a musical event called Sounds of the Old City. There were different venues around the Old City for concerts plus some other fun stops along the way. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea from the various nights I went. All in all, a fun and unique experience. […]
Desert Fortresses
Herod the Great inherited or built a series of fortresses on his eastern frontier. He ruled as a puppet king for Rome on the empire’s eastern frontier. He needed to defend it from possible invaders from the East. A couple weeks ago we visited two of them that I had never seen before. West of the Dead Sea in the middle of nowhere (the Buqeia Valley) is a fortress called Hyrcania, founded by John Hyrcanus. Before Herod and Rome were ruling Israel, the Hasmoneans were in charge. This was about a century (c. 165 – 67 BC) of independent rule […]
Costume Party
Chag Purim Sameach! Happy Purim! The festival of Purim remembers the story in the book of Esther. The Jews were threatened with annihilation but emerged victorious. This is my first time observing the holiday in Jerusalem, which makes it extra special. One of the traditional ways it is celebrated today is by dressing up in costumes. Picture Halloween without trying to be scary. Why costumes? In the story, Esther conceals her identity. She married the king but kept her Jewish background a secret, revealing it later. Even more, God is hidden in the book. He is never mentioned! The author […]
Pause
The Biblical calendar has annual festivals which I’ve written about before (and will be writing more in days to come). However, Shabbat (the Sabbath) is a weekly mini-festival. Shabbat means rest or cessation. It is a break from everyday life and work to take a break and pause. Jews reckon a new day beginning at sundown so the Sabbath goes from Friday sundown until Saturday sundown. This past Friday evening, for one of my classes, we went to a local synagogue to experience a Friday evening service of welcoming Shabbat. It’s a joyful time, leaving behind the worries of the […]
In the Classroom
Just like my last semester here, I’m taking a full load of classes. The goal is to learn more but this time I’ll have a 1-year graduate certificate saying I accomplished something. Visit here for what I took last time. I have the same professors as before. Here are the classes I’m taking: Cultural Backgrounds of the Bible looks at the culture of the Bible (hence the name). How did these ancient people view the world? At the end of the semester we will go to Jordan for a few days and spend some of that time living with the […]
Ash Valentines
Today is Valentines Day and Ash Wednesday. Can I relate them somehow? We’ve been learning in class about social identity in Biblical times. Western culture is individualistic. I do this and that. I define who I am. The ancient Biblical world did not see it that way. The smallest unit of identity was the family, the beit av (house of the father). This is why you see people frequently identified as the son of so-and-so (possibly going back multiple generations). When the gospel of Matthew introduces Jesus, he begins with a long genealogy to show Jesus’ pedigree. A person is […]
Seasonal Differences
I’m participating in some of the Physical Settings field studies again. I enjoy visiting these places over and over. It’s a good review. I don’t want to merely repeat what I previously wrote, so you can read about the last time I did this field study with JUCÂ here. I just want to focus on one takeaway in this post. The key difference from last time is how the landscape is different in spring versus fall. Israel doesn’t get any rain over the summer so the terrain gets quite brown. On Mount Scopus (the northern end of the Mount of Olives […]
Life Isn’t Fair
I looked at the weather forecast back home: 20 degrees and snow. I was grabbing my earbuds to go for a walk around Jerusalem. With the sun shining on a wonderful 70 degree day, I set off. I passed the Old City wall. I decided to find a new street, ending up at a park which contains some 3rd-7th century tombs which had been converted to cisterns 1300 years ago. I made my way back eventually, grabbing some books to read for class. I settled in a cozy chair out in the JUC gardens with the warm sun smiling on […]
A Walk Around Jerusalem
In between classes, reading, studying, and more around campus, I’m making a deliberate effort to head out and explore the city. At home I normally go for a walk each day, so this is really an extension of that habit, but it’s more fun. I have a typical route at home I walk after work each day (unless it’s cold and snowy, in which I’m inside on my treadmill). I keep trying to find new places to walk here. Sometimes I’m with others; sometimes I’m alone. In past trips, my wanderings have been almost exclusively in or near the Old […]