Revd Dr David Bryan, Principal of Lindisfarne College of Theology, gives his account of this year's memorable visit.
What a gift and a privilege to spend Holy Week in Israel-Palestine! What a time to be there – when Ramadan, Pesach and Holy Week all came together! This was a pilgrimage that would be hard to surpass for sixteen ordinands from the college, ten scholar-pilgrims from our two Dioceses, and four staff.
What a challenge for me to be the group leader in this particular year. I was glad that I was released to spend a couple of weeks in the Land prior to the arrival of the college party. It was my seventh visit to the Holy Land, and on each occasion, I have worked closely with Tantur Ecumenical Institute on the outskirts of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Even so, this visit was in the context of deep tensions among the Jewish communities about the Prime Minister’s plan to change the balance of power between the Knesset and the Judiciary. There was also acute anxiety about how the Old City would cope with up to 120,000 Muslim worshippers visiting the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, up to 14,000 Christians participating in the Palm Sunday procession from Bethphage to the Lion Gate, and many thousands of Jewish folk wanting to celebrate Pesach. Without the wise guidance of colleagues at Tantur, this pilgrimage would not have been possible.
The week began with a visit to the Plaza and the Western Wall. The sheer scale of the open space made us aware that it must have required an amazing force of personality for Jesus to have turned the table over in the Court of Gentiles. Later that day we found ourselves part of an amazing re-enactment of Jesus’ journey from Bethphage to the Old City, sharing with people from multiple nations in acclaiming Jesus as our King.
As the week unfolded, we spent Monday and Tuesday in Galilee, Wednesday at Masada and the Dead Sea, Thursday in Hebron, Bethlehem. The final three days were centred on the great and solemn events connected with Jesus’ Passion and Resurrection. It is impossible to sum up these days adequately. But some of our photographs (left and right) convey some of the highlights.
Without doubt one of the great highlights of the week was Holy Saturday. We followed the Stations of the Cross before breakfast. This was rescheduled fro
m the afternoon of Good Friday for safety reasons – the city was full of Muslim and Jewish pilgrims. We then travelled down to the River Jordan to renew our baptismal vows, and then returned later in the day ready to greet the Risen Lord in Jerusalem.
One of our group, Emily from Darlington, needed ‘conditional’ baptism. It was such a privilege to do this in the River in which Jesus himself was baptized. The site today – Qasr al Jahud – approached on a road that has minefields on either side, because the river forms the border today between Israel-Palestine and the Kingdom of Jordan. We were mindful that for Jesus the baptism was in no less a politically charged context.
Words cannot capture the impact of a week like this. The pilgrims gave me a book at the end of the week full of inspirational reflections. One movingly wrote, ‘I trusted you to take us to the Holy Land’ charting ‘a way that is real, earthy, messy, deep and what would above all provide the space for us to meet Jesus.’ This pilgrim felt that this had happened, and looking at the words of all the others, I think that this was widely felt. For that I am truly grateful. And I am deeply thankful to the College and all those who helped to support us financially and prayerfully during this special week.