The Unexpected First Moments of My Trip to Israel
On May 10, 2023, I was sitting on the beach, watching my pale (almost see-through) children get their fourth coat of sunscreen from my hyper-vigilant, redheaded, fair-skinned wife. We were with my wife’s family for their annual trip to Destin, FL. My phone buzzed on the arm of my beach chair. It was a text from Lynne Norris, our producer for Explore the Bible: On Location. Explore the Bible: On Location (henceforth mentioned simply as “ETB”) is a series of videos that exposes kids to interesting places and people around the United States. As kids engage in Bible study and application through Lifeway’s Explore the Bible: Kids curriculum, the ‘On Location’ videos help them make real-world connections to the truths they’re learning about each week in church. Lynne’s text said simply, “Got a second to chat?”
As is often my tendency when I receive unexpected texts with obscure possibilities of meaning, I quickly concluded the worst and thought, “I’m fired. Not surprised… only surprised I wasn’t fired sooner.” I got up from my beach chair, took a stroll on the white sands, and bravely called Lynne to receive my doomed fate. She answered her phone and said, “Wanna go to Israel?” After being resuscitated by the local lifeguards, I told Lynne, who had graciously stayed on the line during my loss of consciousness, “Yes, please!” (The fainting on the beach part was just a joke… my wife told me to make sure I clarified that. She has a different sense of humor than I do.)
Beginning with that call, our ETB team planned a 7-day trip to Israel to shoot all over the Holy Land and connect kids to many special places in their Bibles. I couldn’t believe it. I was going to Israel. The best part: everything I would be doing would be tailored to connecting kids to locations in the Scriptures!
The Most Emotional Moments of My Trip to Israel
After flights from Nashville to Philly and Philly to Tel Aviv, I was driven east to Jerusalem and dropped off at the hotel. I didn’t feel an ounce of jet lag. I was pumped to be there! I texted our director, Bill, and said, “I’m here.” He quickly texted back, “We’re wrapping another shoot tonight at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Wanna come with?” After being resuscitated by the hotel staff—oh, wait… I’m not supposed to do that joke anymore. Sorry, Lauren (my wife’s giving me an intense ‘stop, or else…’ kind of look right now). I gracefully made my way down to the lobby, met the crew, hopped in the van, and off we went to what many scholars and historians consider to be the most likely site of Jesus’ burial and resurrection.
The shoot the crew was finishing that evening was with a resurrection scholar and historian. As they concluded a week of shooting with a PhD, the crew prepared themselves for a week of shooting with a full-grown man who dresses in bacon costumes while playing popular sports with kids, feeds lemurs cereal while they crawl on his head, goes hang gliding to try to capture wind in a bottle, swims with dolphins in the ocean, rides 4-wheelers on mountain trails with stuffed animals he talks to, and gets routinely lost and highly emotional during self-guided cavern tours because he doesn’t listen to directions—all to help kids connect to truths they’re learning about in the Bible. As I’m sure you feel at the moment of reading this, I felt really bad for what this professional, highly-skilled crew was about to have to experience with this ETB man-child.
But before the madness began… as I was saying, we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher with a resurrection scholar and historian. And wow, it was amazing. When we arrived at the Old City of Jerusalem, we were shuttled in a series of golf carts. Then, up-close-and-personal, we toured the Old City at a steady pace. It was as if we had stepped out of a time machine. It was marvelous. I felt like I had arrived for the Feast of Booths thousands of years ago. Through the streets of Jerusalem we dashed, passing sites I’ve been studying since childhood.
Soon, we disembarked from the golf carts, navigated a few tight corridors, and entered the hallowed doors of one of the world’s oldest continually operating churches. We were given time and access to areas in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher few have experienced. Before a week began of standing in front of the camera and loudly proclaiming my lines to kids, I got a quiet, calm opportunity to stand behind the camera and listen to a scholar explain the historical and spiritual significance and splendor of that ornate structure. And more importantly, what the structure was built upon: the likely tomb from which Christ was raised. We were allowed to crawl into nearby catacombs carved from rock (similar to the one carved by Joseph of Arimathea). We went into the central structure upon which the original tomb of Jesus is widely believed to be situated. One day, an innumerable, all-nations multitude will worship before the Lamb. There I was on ground zero of that worldwide nuclear explosion of redemption and resurrection life. I was astonished, blessed, zealous, joyous, and at peace. If I could have knelt in reverence and danced in celebration at the same time, I would have.
Of all the places we visited in Israel, some of which I’ll mention below, there were two places that were so poignant, I had to overcome an unprecedented personal challenge. I’m 37-years-old and I’ve been standing on stages, holding microphones, and speaking into cameras since I was 15. I can’t change my own oil or properly hammer the nails back in through a wayward plank in my backyard fence, but I can look into a camera lens and deliver lines with a fair degree of emotional control. But not on the day I entered the Garden of Gethsemane.
We were given private, uninterrupted access to the setting in which our Savior fully surrendered to the suffering that would secure redemption’s price and satisfy the requirements of a Holy God—in our place. The peaceful presence of the Lord was so tangible among those ancient olive trees that I couldn’t physically deliver my lines. For the first time I can remember, I had to remove myself from the crew, withdraw to a somewhat solitary place, and weep freely. As if standing beneath a waterfall supplied with lifetimes of rain, the weight of my Savior’s willingness to sacrifice His life on my behalf poured onto my head and shoulders. The heights of the Almighty’s worthiness and the depths of His grace were too much to take in. If I recall correctly (which I’m not sure I do due to the immensity of the moment), it may have only taken 20 minutes or so to compose myself. It felt like hours without the ability to control my emotions. While I was eventually able to look into the lens (which I always picture in my mind to be the eyes of the children watching) and deliver my lines in that garden, my battle with tears was not entirely behind me.
At the Garden Tomb, perhaps the second most widely attested site of Christ’s resurrection, I was again powerfully affected. The director, Bill, had me walk into the open tomb and look around, and then proceed out of the tomb to preach the Good News of repentance and remission of sins in Jesus’ name to our young viewers. Thanks a lot, Bill! Yet again, this Mr. Professional-kids-video-guy had to go find a plant to water with his uncomfortably copious amounts of tears. But I couldn’t help it! Jesus is alive! He truly forgives sins, gives us the right to become children of God, and secures us in His family forever. In that hallowed space, the Gospel came into focus. Its clarity was devastating to my life-long attempts at developing emotional self-control. Grace surrounded me and blew its trumpets. It laughed as my walls fell flat and it made me undone. In that moment, I knew in a new way that the Gospel I had staked my eternity on is true. I knew that what I was saying into that lens to those precious kids is real and right and utterly preeminent. The Gospel is the power to save anyone who believes—even and especially children! I pray I never become too “mature” to weep in awe of and gratitude for the astonishing righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel. I thank God that those moments in Gethsemane and the Garden Tomb were entirely for ministry to kids. And if I should return to those deeply meaningful places someday, I will never have a better reason to go to Israel than for the sake of children hearing the Good News.
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