The Psalms of Ascent
The Jewish festivals were replete with psalms and singing, such as the Psalms of Ascent (Pss 120–34), which refer to both the physical elevation of Jerusalem and the spiritual status of the temple. Galilean pilgrims generally approached Jerusalem by the steep ascent of the Jericho Road, while the vast majority of pilgrims entered the temple precincts by its stepped southern entrance, many coming up from the lowest point of the city, the pool of Siloam, a place of ritual purification. Pilgrims voiced these psalms as they drew near to the holy mountain: “who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?” (Ps 24:3).
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord. . . . Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise. Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. . . . For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness (Ps 84).
Christian pilgrims read the festival psalms in appropriate locations: on the bus as they ascend the Jericho highway towards the Holy City and, most poignantly, on the southern steps of the Temple Mount.
The Babylonian Exile
A central motif of Hebrew scripture, the Babylonian exile is the most formative event in early Judaism. An expression of coerced pilgrimage, the exile is a testament to remaining faithful in trying circumstances and highlights how one can be strengthened through difficult experiences. The exile speaks in profound ways to time, place, and journey, while its culminating theme, the Jerusalem homecoming, is about returning home as transformed people. Although Holy Land pilgrimage is a privileged experience, it is not without its challenges. Pilgrimage is about being faithful in all circumstances, allowing experience to strengthen us, being transformed yet remaining the same. While Jerusalem arrival may evoke a sense of homecoming—the Holy City has the tensional quality of being immediately familiar and forever foreign—the goal of Holy Land pilgrimage is to sojourn faithfully, returning home as transformed people.
Jesus as Pilgrim
The Imitation of Christ
Pilgrimage is the emulation others; above all, it is the imitation of Christ. To be a Holy Land pilgrim is to walk in the footsteps of Jesus: “for to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps” (1 Pet 2:21). Christians share the mind of Christ, who “did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness” (Phil 2:5–7). The Christian life is one of service and humility, and just as Christians imitate Christ in their everyday lives, the Jerusalem pilgrim lives holy in the Holy Land.
The Flight to Egypt
To imitate Christ is to remember that Jesus himself was a pilgrim. After the magi returned home, Herod unleashed his jealous fury, killing the infant males in the region. Warned in a dream, the Holy Family took flight to Egypt. Seeking safety through distance, they sought the succor of strangers. As a political refugee, the infant Jesus patterns the physical, emotional, and spirituality vulnerability of the pilgrim life. How might the flight to Egypt apply to today’s Holy Land experience?
Jesus in the Wilderness
Jesus’ wilderness experience embodies pilgrimage as time set aside for a special purpose. Jesus spent forty days in prayer and fasting discerning his identity, purpose, and calling: confronting temptation, persevering in faith. We find the same concept in the visitation. Mary spent the first three months of her pregnancy at the home of Elizabeth, her older cousin, who was likewise pregnant with John the Baptist. They presumably spent the time focused on self-care, shared experience, and interpersonal relations. While pilgrimage as bracketed time may—or may not—include an extended physical journey, a distinct location, and the suspension of one’s regular day-to-day routine, Holy Land travel is commonly used as a time set aside for learning, prayer, discernment, and healing.
Jesus as Wayfaring Messiah
As an itinerant prophet with no place to lay his head, Jesus led a peripatetic life (Matt 8:19–22; Luke 9:58–62). Jesus did not have a home nor did he linger for long in any one place. The relentless urgency of Jesus’ ministry is emphasized in Mark’s Gospel, which contains the Greek word eutheos, meaning “immediately” or “straight away,” over forty times. Jesus’ ministry was marked by the imperative of the present moment and the immediacy of the kingdom of God. He told a potential disciple who wanted to bury his father to “let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:59–60). To another who wanted to say farewell to his family, Jesus replied, “no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).
Following Jesus meant leaving the past behind, traveling without bodily comforts, and never staying too long in the same place. He was a wayfaring messiah, constantly on the road, always on the go, at home in other people’s houses. Pilgrims likewise live in the urgency of the present moment, proclaiming the good news of God, called to locations where people have no place to lay their heads. Jesus’ disciples are travelers on the road, servants of the street, guests along the way.
Holy Land pilgrimage is a whirlwind of non-stop movement. Reflecting upon the wayfaring Messiah turns privileged travel into an exercise of Christian formation, focusing our attention on the movements of Jesus’ ministry, the urgency of the present moment, and the image of the kingdom of God. Walking in the footsteps of Jesus is a peripatetic journey, which causes us to reconsider our attachments to the earthly life.
Jesus as Jerusalem Pilgrim
Jesus, above all, was a Jerusalem pilgrim, who followed Jewish practices and frequented the temple festivals. Forty days after his birth, Jesus was dedicated in the temple (Luke 2:23–24). As a twelve-year-old boy, Jesus attended Passover with his family (Luke 2:41–50), and the Gospel of John places him at the Jerusalem festivals throughout his ministry. Jesus was attending Passover when he overturned the tables of the money changers and discussed eternal life with Nicodemus (John 2:13–25; 3:1–21). The healing of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda occurred during an unnamed festival (John 5:1–18). John 7–10 concerns conversations during the autumn festival of Sukkot, while John 10:22–39 records Jesus’ presence at the festival of Dedication, or Hanukkah. All four Gospels set the final week of Jesus’ life during the Passover festival: he was a daily visitor to the temple and shared the Passover meal with his disciples. Notwithstanding Jesus’ critique of temple practice and his prediction of its impending destruction, Jerusalem pilgrimage was fundamental to Jesus’ life and ministry, and his relationship to the temple escapes easy characterization. While reflecting upon his Jewish background, Holy Land travelers assume Jesus’ identity as a Jerusalem pilgrim.
Pilgrimage as Mission
Having commissioned his disciples for a mission journey, Jesus sent them out to proclaim the good news of God, giving them authority over unclean spirits and power to cure disease and illness (Matt 10:1, 7–8). Pilgrimage is the proclamation of the kingdom of heaven. Pilgrims are missionaries—just as missionaries are pilgrims—actively engaged in Christian service, constantly witnessing to the love and power of God. What does it mean for pilgrims to practice the gift of healing, to possess authority over unclean spirits, and to proclaim the kingdom of God?
It important to understand that proselytizing, or the attempt to convert someone to another religion, is illegal in Israel, with significant implications for individuals, groups, and institutions that engage in the practice. Christians used to the religious freedoms of Western societies are often troubled to learn this. The prohibition, which offers