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The following chapter resources Holy Land travelers through a survey of biblical images that speak to our experience of God, self, and the Other through time, place, journey, and people. Scripture departs from Eden, traverses Calvary, and arrives in New Jerusalem. Exile and return are central themes of the Old Testament: Egypt to the promised land, Babylon to Jerusalem. The New Testament also contains a collection of journeys: the arrival of the magi, the flight to Egypt, the prodigal son, the road to Emmaus. Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem provides the climax to the Synoptic Gospels, while missionary journeys spread news of the risen Christ. Pilgrimage is about place as much as journey, and the scriptures are set upon a religious topography of centers, points, and edges, pathways and intersections, boundaries and borders, profane and sacred locations. Biblical places, like Golgotha, Mount Sion, and the Jordan River, assume spiritual meanings that transcend their physical dimensions. The Bible contains perspectives on time, hope, and memory, on compassion and hospitality, on the Other and the earthly life. When its themes are collectively considered, pilgrimage is one of the dominant images of the Bible.

How does the Bible resource the modern-day pilgrim? While the Bible contains recognized expressions of the pilgrim life, pilgrimage is never defined.13 There is neither a Greek nor a Hebrew word that specifically or consistently means pilgrimage, and the word “pilgrimage” only occasionally appears in English translations of the Bible.14 Instead of focusing upon specific terms, our interest is in biblical content that contains pilgrim themes.

The Biblical Prototype

Christian pilgrimage is implicitly governed by a biblical prototype, or metatemplate, that envisions the Christian life as a journey to New Jerusalem. The prototype is an amalgamation of biblical images, stories, concepts, and teachings that depict our relationship with God as a movement from sin to salvation, or, in pilgrim language, from being lost to being found, from being out of place to spiritual arrival, from alienation to union with God. The spiritual life is one of change, transition, and progress; destination represents wholeness, completion, and fulfillment. The prototype presents the human condition as being lost, depicts a pathway to God full of assistance, choices, and challenges, and conveys destinational images of banqueting tables, the kingdom of God, and New Jerusalem. To repent is to change direction, to make a u-turn, to find the right path. Grace is the strength to act in the first place and includes times of being carried. The metatemplate is also informed by the Mosaic narrative: wilderness wandering, the Jordan River crossing, and arrival in the promised land. The prototype is not a concrete blueprint of the Christian life; rather, it governs as a composite ideal. While the prototype contains a number of indelible images, it has a kaleidoscopic quality that is open to interpretation, as evidenced by the spectrum of Christian traditions.

Even so, the prototype has a fundamental influence on our understanding of the Christian life. To begin with, it depicts the Christian faith as a journey to God—Paul describes it as a race. Secondly, Christian pilgrimage is not about any or every journey but those that appeal in some way to the prototype, which distinguishes Christian pilgrimage from non-Christian expressions. Third, the character of pilgrimage as incarnational, metaphorical, autobiographical, and corporate, and pilgrim virtues, such as patience and perseverance, are grounded in the prototype. Fourth, providing an unparalleled context for examining the pilgrim’s relationship with God, Holy Land travel metaphorically patterns the New Jerusalem destination of the Christian prototype.

The Journey of the Magi

We begin our survey of the biblical material with a favorite Christmas story: the magi’s journey to Bethlehem (Matt 2). The magi left their country, traveled a long distance, worshipped the Christ Child, and returned home. The story provides a narrative template for Holy Land pilgrims, who likewise leave home on a long-distance journey to see the places of Christ. Focusing on the key elements of the story, the narrative lends itself to a series of reflective questions.

The Star: What are the signs and indications that you should go to the Holy Land? What is calling you, and how will you be guided along the way?

Herod: What are possible obstacles, dangers, and fears? What could compromise your purpose, deceive you along the way, or threaten the well-being of others?

The Dreams of the Magi: Similar to the role of the star, how will God communicate with you throughout the journey to direct your thoughts and actions? What will warn and guide you? What will be the source of revelation and insight?

The Christ Child: What does it mean to search for the Christ Child in the Holy Land? How and where will you locate him, and what may surprise you when you do? How will you worship Christ on the journey?

Gifts: What does it mean to bear gifts to the Holy Land? What gifts are you taking, and how will you use them? Are there good and not-so-good gifts to offer? What are the gifts and contributions of other foreign pilgrims?

Home by Another Way: How will you return home differently? How will your Holy Land encounter change your life back home?

The magi’s journey to Bethlehem offers a surprisingly robust narrative for ordering the Holy Land experience.

Remembering Abraham

Abrahamic applications have largely escaped the attention of Holy Land pilgrims. God called Abraham to go to the land that God would show him (Gen 12:1). Abraham obeyed, leaving his country, his kindred, and his father’s house, and followed God to the land of Canaan, which was subsequently promised to Abraham’s offspring (Gen 17:8). Throughout his years in Canaan, Abraham’s faith was frequently tested, most poignantly in the divine command to sacrifice his son, Isaac, the heir of God’s promise. Abraham is often regarded as the first biblical pilgrim, and the trials of the earthly life, a popular image of pilgrimage, is exemplified in the patriarch’s story.

What makes Abraham the quintessential pilgrim, however, is his foreign identity. The Bible describes Abraham and his descendents as aliens (Gen 15:13; 17:8; 21:23). Upon the death of Sarah, Abraham told the Hittites at Hebron: “I am a stranger and an alien residing among you” (Gen 23:4), and Abraham’s descendents would remain “resident aliens in a country belonging to others” (Acts 7:6). Abraham’s foreign status is emphasized in Hebrews: “by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents” (Heb 11:8–9). To be a pilgrim in the mold of Abraham is to experience God in a foreign place.

To reiterate the point, personal trials, obeying God, and life as a journey of faith are important aspects of Abraham’s legacy. So, too, is the virtue of hospitality. We lose key applications of the story, however, if we overlook the literal nature of Abraham’s foreign status. Abrahamic pilgrimage is about being away from home, living in a place that is not our own, and following God as strangers in a foreign land.

Holy Land pilgrims identify with the Abraham story. Called beyond the familiarity of home, the Holy Land traveler experiences foreign cultures, currencies, and languages. They feel the disorientation, confusion, and anxiety of being aliens in a distant land and are dependent upon the hospitality of strangers. Holy Land pilgrims are called to follow God in a strange land, to overcome trials and challenges, and to live faithfully out of place. To be a Holy Land pilgrim is to walk in Abraham’s footsteps.15

Entering the Promised Land

Commingling confusion and rebellion with God’s guidance and protection, the Israelite wilderness experience was a journey from bondage and slavery to the brink of the promised land, which culminated in the crossing of the Jordan River. The river was a physical and symbolic boundary, a limen, or threshold, from the old to the new, from journey to arrival, from promise to attainment. Crossing the Jordan River was an act of transformation: to cross was to change. Life was different on the other side.

The narrative reminds us that we arrive in the Holy Land with a personal, social, and religious past, sometimes after years of wandering. God has been faithfully present, but we have wandered in circles. We arrive at the banks of the Jordan—or stand before the gates of Jerusalem—with mixed histories and personal baggage. To enter the Holy Land is to consider how we leave the wilderness behind in permanent, life-changing ways. What is the meaning of the promised land? How does Holy Land arrival represent a new beginning? How is the Jordan River a threshold of transformation? Where, on the journey, are the points of personal change? Engaging the metaphorical qualities of the Holy Land, Christian pilgrims are in step with the Israelite experience.

Erecting Memorials

The Old Testament records the practice of erecting monuments to remember important events. Abraham built an altar in Shechem after God pledged the land of Canaan to his offspring (Gen 12:6–7). Jacob set up a pillar at Bethel after dreaming about God’s promise of descendents, land, and blessings (Gen 28:10–22), and the Israelites created a twelve-stone memorial in Gilgal after crossing the Jordan River so their children would remember the benevolence of God (Josh 4:19–22). Holy places are expressions of religious memory, markers of our spiritual past, which continue the centuries-old practice of the Gilgal stones. The Christian Holy Land works on the same principal: an original event, like an episode in the life of Christ, the erection of a church or a commemorative marker at or near the site, and subsequent visitation to remember the event. The Christian shrines continue the biblically sanctioned practice of marking places of spiritual importance.

The Jewish Pilgrim Festivals

Appearing before God at a place of God’s choosing, the people of Israel were required to attend three annual festivals: the festival of Unleavened Bread (Passover), the festival of Weeks (Shavuot, or Pentecost), and the festival of Booths (Sukkot, or Tabernacles).16 Offering a biblical parallel to Christian pilgrimage, the Jewish festivals include elements of divine calling, sacred time, place, and people, and the reenactment of sacred stories.

Called by God

Although pilgrimage has never been a Christian mandate, God is constantly calling Christians to the Holy Land. Receiving a calling to go on pilgrimage comes with a number of obligations, including prayer and journaling, sharing the experience with others, and a renewed commitment to Christian service. What is often overlooked, however, is that a calling lowers the weight of undue expectations. Having received a calling to take a one-year, around-the-world journey, I was released from the pressures of a perfect trip. It was God’s business and that made all the difference. Bolstered by a sense of calling, I was able to make purposeful decisions, was satisfied skipping certain attractions, and remained content when I was sick or tired. Times of sadness, loneliness, and disappointment were felt with meaning, and weather simply framed the experience. Whatever happened, God was in the facts; what actually occurred was infused with divine presence.

The same holds true for the Holy Land: being called to Jerusalem reduces the pressure of a perfect journey. That is comforting because aspects of the Holy Land can be unnerving. As with any trip, there are irritants and unpleasantries. Not everything goes as planned. When the Holy Land is approached as a once-in-a-lifetime event, there is an insidious pressure to relish the experience. But pilgrimage can be a rainy-day parade. By approaching one’s appearance in the Holy Land as a divine summons, as an act of faith left in the hands of God, success is not measured by the enjoyment of the trip. When God calls you, it becomes God’s business, and that makes all the difference. A calling equips us to confront the challenges of the journey and to perceive God’s presence amidst frustrations and unexpected detours. Plans may go awry; parts of the trip may be difficult and disappointing. But that’s okay. God is imbued in the actualities of life, rain or shine. Pilgrims hope for pleasant conditions and enjoyable experiences, but their primary calling is to journey faithfully, to live holy in the Holy Land, and to carefully attend to what God reveals along the way.

A Sacred People

Just as Jerusalem pilgrimage shaped Israelite identity as a sacred people formed by God, the Holy Land experience fosters a particular expression of corporate holiness: the short-term Christian community. To be a sacred people on pilgrimage is to engage the holy as a corporate experience. Pilgrims participate in a common life, sharing together in worship, meals, travel, site visits, and presentations. While the group experience is a meaningful part of the journey, short-term community has its own set of struggles. Common life requires a commitment to patience, respect, and mutual cooperation. The difficulty of living well together is accentuated by the challenges of the journey from exhaustion to the encounter of foreign cultures. The tardiness of others, the idiosyncratic behavior of fellow pilgrims, and the pursuit of personal interests are additional challenges of group travel. Short-term Christian communities live faithfully together through a covenantal arrangement that honors God, respects the individual, and fosters the group experience while recognizing personal needs and cultural differences. Seeking a balance between intentional community and facilitating community formation in natural, unforced ways, pilgrims live out their calling as a sacred people.

Holy Land pilgrimage raises the larger question of what it means to be a Christian in today’s world. Jerusalem is unrivaled as a place of ecumenical and interreligious gathering, offering pilgrims a unique opportunity to explore issues of Christian identity: what are the defining beliefs and behaviors of the Christian faith, and how is Christian identity shaped by one’s cultural context? Along with the global influx of Christian pilgrims, there are thirteen historical denominations in Jerusalem, primarily of eastern origins. The Holy Land is an encounter with Judaism, past and present, while, to many people’s surprise, the region is a model of Muslim–Christian coexistence. Examining the question of Christian identity, Jerusalem pilgrimage explores our relationship with the religious Other.

Sacred Places

The Jewish festivals occurred at the place of God’s choosing, a concept that likewise appears in the call of Abraham (Gen 12:1) and the binding of Isaac (Gen 22:2). A place is holy by virtue of the fact that we have been called by God to go there, summoned to see something that God will reveal, an act that is both intimate and mysterious. For Jerusalem pilgrims, the Holy Land is sacred for the same reason: it is a divinely determined destination, a place of contemporary revelation.

The Jerusalem temple was ultimately chosen as the festival venue and was considered holy for a number of reasons. The temple was recognized as the dwelling place of God, epitomized by Jesus’ boyhood reference to “my father’s house” (Luke 2:41–49). The image of the house of God evokes the question of divine presence, which is at the heart of pilgrim spirituality: where is God? Is God more present in some places than others? Is God somehow confined or, at least, located by human constructions of holy sites? What is the meaning of a consecrated place? Emphasizing Christ’s presence in the gathered community, the New Testament church largely transcended the idea of sacred places. The Holy Spirit is ubiquitous; God inhabits the world. A temple religion became a table religion, and Christ was recognized in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:30–35). Yet, the idea of a holy site as a dwelling place of God still appeals to Christian experience, and “God is everywhere”/“there are holy places” is a theological tension that fuels the pilgrim quest. Pilgrims seek God’s presence in special places, and personal experience is sometimes at odds with our own theology.17

The temple’s holiness was enhanced by the idea that a significant event had previously occurred there, namely, the binding of Isaac (Gen 22:2). Following God’s instructions, Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, Isaac, before the angel of God intervened, providing him with a sacrificial ram. Identified as Mount Moriah (2 Chr 3:1), the temple site had Abrahamic associations of sacrificial worship. Recalling the previous discussion on monuments, the idea of a sacred place as the setting of a past event is fundamental to the Christian Holy Land: places are holy because special events in the life of Jesus happened there. Moreover, given the divine nature of the incarnation, the holy sites have theophanic connotations: they are meeting points between heaven and earth. Like the temple, certain Christian sites are enhanced by primal narratives. Christians place the tomb of Adam and the binding of Isaac at Calvary. Jesus’ baptism site draws upon the Israelite crossing of the Jordan River and the ministry of Elijah.

Beyond consideration of past events, Judaism views the temple site as a place that is inherently sacred—it was created holy. The temple was the navel of the world, the cosmic center that gave life to all creation, and Judaism envisions the created world as a set of concentric circles of decreasing holiness emanating outwards from the temple: the holy of holies, the temple precincts, the city of Jerusalem, the land of Israel, and the rest of the world. Christians have likewise viewed the places of Christ’s passion in cosmological terms—as places created for a divine purpose—and have associated the Holy Sepulchre with the center of the world. Yet, the tradition is relatively minor: the Christian sites appeal to sacred history rather than divine cosmology.18

The concept of the center of the world introduces a spirituality of power and proximity. The existence of centers implies edges, the elsewhere, and everything in-between. The idea speaks to physical, social, and spiritual location and our accessibility to the holy; it likewise applies to the imbalance of power that characterizes our world. How do we define centers in spiritual, political, and economic terms? Are your religious, cultural, and racial identities defined by their proximity to recognized spheres of power or by distance and separation? Do you live near centers of influence, or are you on the outside looking in? The contemporary Holy Land is a complicated demographical landscape full of centers, borders, and boundaries, while the majority of global Christians lack the means to make a visit. The holy places give pause for reflection upon proximity, distance, access, and isolation. What does Holy Land pilgrimage tell us about power, resources, and authority?

In sum, the temple introduces several concepts of sacred place:

•A place is holy because one has been called by God to go there.

•A holy site is a dwelling place of God.

•A holy place is a venue of ritual worship.

•A sacred place is where something significant took place; it is a place of special memory.

•Some places are inherently sacred; they were created holy.

Pilgrims perceive the world as containing spiritual thresholds, tissue-thin landscapes, and meeting points between heaven and earth, and personal experience can turn any location into a holy place. While Holy Land pilgrimage is not reliant upon a particular idea of sacred space, religious travelers explore how spatial location influences their experience of God, self, and the Other.

Sacred Time

Just as scripture mandated the time and length of the Jewish festivals, Holy Land pilgrimage is a divinely appointed event. Pilgrims travel in God’s time. While the Jewish festivals were seasonal, Christians travel to the Holy Land twelve months a year. The specific dates of group travel are determined by a number of factors that are generally out of the control of the individual pilgrim, but that is precisely the nature of sacred time: it chooses us. Regardless of when we go, to embark on a Holy Land journey is to enter sacred time, leaving ordinary time behind. Pilgrimage is time set aside for a particular purpose; it is a time-based endeavor.

Linked to the agricultural cycles, the Jewish festivals were times of thanksgiving for God’s material blessings and providential care. Jerusalem pilgrimage continues to be a celebration of God’s creation. Modern pilgrims are struck by the flowers, fruits, and fragrances of the land, from almond blossoms to pomegranates. What agricultural seasons, both home and in the Holy Land, correspond with your travels, and how will you mark thanksgiving in the land of the Holy One? What Christian seasons and holy days will occur while you are there? Will visiting certain holy sites have additional meaning due to the liturgical season? Will you or others in your group celebrate a special occasion or mourn a difficult anniversary? What events will occur back home while you are away?

Reenacting Sacred Stories

Commemorating the Hebrews’ flight from Egypt, the Jewish Passover expresses a basic practice of Holy Land pilgrimage: the reenactment of sacred stories (Deut 16:3, 6; see Exod 12:1–28). The Christian holy sites are stations of biblical storytelling, and pilgrimage is the practice of remembering stories of faith. Pilgrims enter the sacred narratives by reading scriptures, observing the sites’ natural features and religious imagery, and engaging in informal practices. As a journey of religious imagination, pilgrims assume the role of various biblical figures. One follows Mary to the house of Elizabeth to hear the Virgin pronounce the Magnificat. Pilgrims imaginatively don the guise of the shepherds and adorn the mantle of the magi in Bethlehem. Pilgrims are immersed in the Jordan River with Jesus, drink from Jacob’s well, sail on the Sea of Galilee, and enter Jerusalem with palm fronds in hand. Pilgrims witness prayer, betrayal, and arrest in Gethsemane, overhear accusations and denials at the house of Caiaphas, follow Christ to Calvary, and enter an empty tomb. Holy Land pilgrims reenact the stories of Christian salvation.

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 protections as well as restrictions, is imperative for peaceful co-existence. Religious identity functions very differently in the Middle East than it does in the West, where individuals are free to choose and change their religion and may claim multiple religious identities or none at all. Religious identity in the Middle East is determined by the family into which one is born and is fundamental to one’s personal, social, and legal standing. While it is legal to voluntarily convert to another religion, people seldom do so, which would likely threaten the status and security of their family. To proselytize in the Holy Land puts you, your group, and your host institution at risk.

Instead, Holy Land churches are engaged in public ministry in the form of educational, vocational, and healthcare institutions. Given the population disparity between Muslims and Christians, church institutions predominantly serve Muslim communities, offering both jobs and services. Pilgrim groups are encouraged to make institutional visits, and volunteer opportunities can be arranged, especially for individuals. Called to imitate Christ in their service to others, Christian pilgrims learn from the missional witness of the Palestinian church.

The Ascetic Pilgrim

When Jesus commissioned the Twelve, he told them to “take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff” (Matt 10:9–10). Jesus told his disciples to travel light. What should pilgrims take on their journey? What supplies are needful, and which ones should be left at home? The questions raise the issues of material possessions, dependency on God, and the degree to which life in Christ is one of asceticism and self-denial. While the harsher words of Christ champion a life of self-renunciation, Jesus was ambivalent about the ascetic life, especially in contrast to John the Baptist. Jesus was criticized for not fasting like other religious leaders, and viewing his presence on earth in terms of a bridegroom at a wedding feast, Jesus said: “the wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them” but will fast “when the bridegroom is taken away from them” (Matt 9:14–15).

The question is not whether Christians should engage in ascetic practices, such as fasting and self-denial, but when, where, and how often. Should Holy Land pilgrims view the entirety of their Jerusalem sojourn as time celebrated in the presence of Christ—as an Easter experience? Or, it is more meaningful to recognize both common and sacred time, both restraint and celebration, depending upon the liturgical season, the scriptural themes of the daily sites, and one’s situational context?

Life as Pilgrimage

The life-as-journey metaphor probes our life from the cradle to the grave with attention given to the temptations and struggles of our earthly existence. The Bible often views the world as a foreign landscape: Christians are in pursuit of a spiritual homeland, couched in terms of a heavenly Jerusalem. Christians are “strangers and foreigners on the earth . . . seeking a homeland . . . a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Heb 11:13–19). We are resident aliens who are in the world but not of the world (John 17:14–15). Holy Land pilgrimage is a metaphorical reenactment of the biblical prototype: the salvific journey to New Jerusalem. At the same time, it is a significant event in a pilgrim’s earthly life.

Christological Images

As previously discussed, the Bible contains standalone images that directly appeal to the pilgrim life. Replete with pilgrim language, Psalms provided the contemplative texts for my walk on the Camino de Santiago: “you have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling, so that I may walk before God in the light of life” (Ps 56:13); “make me to know your ways, O Lord, teach me your path” (Ps 25:4); “for your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you” (Ps 26:3). God leads us along the pathway, securing our steps as we go. Even though we walk through the darkest valley, God is with us; though we stumble, we will not fall (Pss 23:3–4; 37:23–24). The heavenly shepherd leads his sheep to green pastures and still waters. He provides, comforts, guides, and protects: “you are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance” (Ps 32:7). God is our shelter and sanctuary.

Christological images likewise contain pilgrim themes. Jesus is our spiritual guide. He is the way, the light of the world in a land full of darkness (John 8:12). Providing spiritual nourishment, he is the bread from heaven and the water of life. As protector, he is the shepherd as well as the sheep gate (John 10:9, 2–4). As the sum of our lives, Christ is the alpha and the omega, the A and the Z, the beginning and the end—or, the beginning through to the end. Christ is our departure, our destination, and every step in-between. We encounter Christ in the middle and in the meantime. He is our past, present, and never-ending future: “on the road the pilgrim learns that searching for God is already to have found him and that direction is much more important than destination, because God is not just an end, nor a beginning, but for us he is always a beginning without end.”19 Likewise, in the words of Boethius:

To see Thee is the end and the beginning.

Thou carriest us, and Thou dost go before,

Thou art the journey and the journey’s end.20

Christological images fuel the pilgrim experience.

Conclusion

Scripture speaks in plentiful ways to our experience of God, self, and the Other through time, place, journey, and people, and we can easily cite more examples. Pilgrimage confronts life’s most important questions: Job and Ecclesiastes provide the manuals. The book of Ruth is about a foreigner who becomes the matriarchal Other in Jesus’ bloodline. Prophetic voices challenge the quest for power, the love of money, and the oppression of the poor, reminding us that pilgrimage should be an exercise in virtue, compassion, and mercy rather than an empty form of religious ritual. God favors justice and righteousness over solemn assemblies (Amos 5:18–24).

This raises two related points: scripture critiques certain aspects of pilgrimage, and the Bible records the evolution of ideas and attitudes, like those toward holy places. In light of Christ’s resurrection and the temple’s destruction, the New Testament church sought God in the gathered community rather than in designated places and replaced temple theology by emphasizing the presence of Christ in the breaking of the bread. Yet, we must still contend with Old Testament scriptures that sanction practices counter to Christian sensibilities, while pilgrim-related concepts, such as a theology of the land, diatribes against foreigners, and a covenantal understanding of a chosen people, raise questions regarding their present-day applications. Having surveyed scriptural images for Holy Land pilgrims, the chapter encourages further conversation on how the Bible informs contemporary expressions of the pilgrim life.

13. Scholars likewise point out that neither the kingdom of God nor the church are defined in the Bible. Biblical expressions require interpretation.

14. The word “pilgrimage” occurs three times in the King James Version (Gen 47:9; Exod 6:4; Ps 119:54), twice in the New International Version (Gen 47:9; Ps 84:5), and five times in the New Jerusalem Bible (Ps 84:5; Isa 30:29; Amos 8:14; Acts 8:27; 24:11). It is not found in the New Revised Standard Version. The Old Testament references utilize various Hebrew words. Magurim, the plural form of magor, which appears in Gen 47:9, Exod 6:4, and Ps 119:54, means sojourn. Mesillah, better translated as highway (see Isa 40:3), occurs in Ps 84:5. Derek, used in Amos 8:14, is the common word for road. Hag, which denotes a festival, is used in Isa 30:29. The examples underscore the diversity of pilgrim concepts: Acts 8:27 refers to Jerusalem worship, while Gen 47:9 concerns the earthly sojourn. Thanks to Andrew Davis for help with the Old Testament terms.

15. While our focus here is upon his foreign status, as a regional figure common to Christians, Jews, and Muslims, Abraham is an important starting point for interreligious dialogue. See Levenson, Inheriting Abraham, which details how the patriarch is distinctively viewed by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

16. See Deut 16:16–17; Exod 23:14–17; 34:18–23.

17. In light of the doctrine of God’s omnipresence, can we claim the existence of differentiated spaces? While pilgrim theology holds the tension in place, pilgrimage becomes significantly less interesting if physical space is completely undifferentiated. See Wynn, Faith and Place, which explores the question.

18. Whereas Jewish tradition conceives the world as a series of concentric circles of decreasing holiness, Islam recognizes the elevated sanctity of three locations: the Great Mosque in Mecca, the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. By comparison, Christianity has never promulgated a similar view of inherently distinct sacred space.

19. Hughes, In Search of a Way, 50.

20. Quoted in Appleton, The Oxford Book of Prayer, 7.