It’s a hazy day in Nazareth as we wake up and get going…something akin to a Santa Ana wind has been blowing since yesterday and so the sky is filled with dust, still it’s a beautiful view of the valley below from our hotel.
We visited the Church of the Annunciation where it is believed that Mary first saw the angel that told her that she would become pregnant with Jesus.
It’s a beautiful church, built originally during the Byzantine era, around the 4th century, but and so the old part of the church is a lower floor, with an upper floor built back in the 1950’s…the whole church is surrounded by large pictures of Mary sent by other countries around the world, really cool looking!
Later we stopped at a spot overlooking a valley in Nazareth with the hill it is believed where the people tried throw Jesus off after he read the passage from Isaiah 61:1-3 and said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing…” You can read all about it in Luke 4:14-30…I was able to read this passage as we were leaving this site…very cool…
While we were standing at this viewpoint, an air raid siren went off…very unsettling and so we asked our guide, Shlomi, what he thought and he listened for a minute and said, “It’s just a drill.” Can you say, “whew!”? Just a reminder of the tension that continuously exists here…
BTW, Shlomi is a retired Israeli intelligence agent, so we feel pretty good having him as our guide!!!
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