I'm in Israel, the Holy Land. This is where Jesus was born, lived, taught, and was crucified. But these aren't just stories from a book.
These are real places, and I'm taking you to the exact places where Jesus lived. We're going to start with where it all began, Bethlehem, where Jesus was literally born. This silver star shows the exact spot where Mary had Jesus.
A few feet away is where the manger would have been. 2,000 years ago, this actually would have been a dark cave. Now it was a church where people still worshiped.
I kneled there in complete awe that God, the creator of the universe, humbled himself to be born in such conditions. I walked outside and saw the hills and tried to imagine them in Mary and Joseph's time. Now they had buzzing, cars honking, and towns with electricity running down the hillside.
Yet beyond the traffic, the same rugged slopes that Mary and Joseph walked stretched over the horizon. I imagine them leaving Bethlehem to Nazareth of a newborn. But that's not what happened right away.
Before Jesus lived, taught, and was crucified, and resurrected. Right after he was born, magi from the east arrived, following a star to honor the one born of the Jews. They brought treasures for a king.
But their arrival drew dangerous attention. King Herod, terrified of losing power, ordered every boy under the age of two to be ended. Many of these children were buried in what is now known as the cave of the innocence.
And I actually went to this cave just feet away from where Jesus was born. There were tens of thousands of babies who were ended. I nearly broke down in tears just thinking of all the children who were ended.
They didn't have to die, but they did. But eventually, I stepped back out to the sunlight, hopped on a bus, and made my way to Nazareth, Jesus's hometown. Jesus spent around 20 to 25 years working as a carpenter, going to caves to pray, and attending the synagogue where he would memorize the Torah and Jewish scriptures.
Even though Jesus is God, he also lived lives like us. He probably stubbed his toe nearby. He ate like us.
He slept like us. In Jesus's time, it was nothing more than a tiny farming village of maybe a few hundred people tucked into the hills. And yet, it was home for the first 30 years of Jesus's life.
Today it's noisy and bustling. Shopkeepers calling out over the home of traffic, narrow streets choked with scooters, and yes, even a McDonald's sign in the middle of the city. I also made my way to Mary's well, where she would draw water daily and is one possible place where Mary was told by Gabriel that she would birth Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
I can only imagine her being like, why me? But despite that, she put her complete and total faith in God and said, not according to my will, but your will. What's also sad is that there's trash all around.
It's disgusting, honestly. But I don't blame it. Nazareth is currently a Muslim majority town, and we're in Israel, which is a Jewish majority place, and Christians are by far the minority.
If you're a Christian in a place like this, you might be one of very few. And it seemed like literally nobody nearby cared about it. This combined with the fact that I was in a foreign country and the situation going on just made me so honestly scared.
And yet scattered throughout the city, I noticed something remarkable. Crosses were like sanctuaries in the middle of it all. And so, yes, I was still definitely scared.
But what helped me was that I knew that I have God on my side. That isn't just me being young speaking. It's true.
We got the guy who made this on our side. The 12 apostles literally died as Mars for their faith. You think they weren't scared?
Well, they went out and they did it anyways. I walked through these streets picturing Jesus barefoot carrying water for his mom. I imagine this sharp smell of sawdust in Joseph's shop.
Where are we? Holy moly. Jesus grew up bougie.
I'm just kidding. I know this is a modern city. It's been 2,000 years since Jesus was last here.
Don't you forget that. I thought about the feast Jesus celebrated in local synagogue. The sun he watched set on these hills and he was probably happy living a peaceful life and he could have continued that.
But instead, he had a mission. He had to save the world. Also, here I started walking the quote unquote Jesus trail.
I'm literally going to walk the very steps that Jesus did. I was on my way to his first miracle where he started his ministry. While I could have just Ubered there, I decided that I wanted to walk like Jesus did 2,000 years ago, but that was kind of a mistake.
I look insane. I'm hot. I'm sweaty.
I smell weird. But I'm happy because I'm doing this is what Jesus did just without all the cars and all the paved ways. But this is literally the same path Jesus walked.
And that's just so that's so awesome. While Jesus is God, I think we as Christians tend to forget he was also a man. A man who also got hot, tired, sweaty, and hungry.
He probably had times where he smelled weird. Just kidding. Just kidding.
Please don't get mad at me, Jesus. But finally, I made it to Kaa, which is where Jesus recorded his first miracle and began his ministry. While I explain the story, I'm going to show you the exact archaeological ruins under this church where it happened.
Simply put, the place had just run out of wine and Mary gently urged Jesus saying, "Hey, look, they're out of wine. " And uh Jesus was like, "My time has not come. " But she gently urged him again.
And then Jesus did his miracle and he transformed the water into wine. But honestly, the biggest miracle of this place is probably that there's a New York style pizza place right nearby it. What I I I mean that's a joke obviously.
The miracle is that actually this is where we are. Honestly, just that I'm happy and I'm healthy. It's after this that Jesus traveled dozens of days and across Israel to Capernaam and the home of Peter.
This is the central hub of Jesus's ministry and miracles. You might be wondering why didn't he started in Nazareth. Well, it's because when he stood in their synagogue and was reading Isaiah's prophecy foretelling the Messiah that he told them, "It has been fulfilled in your midst, implying that he was the Messiah was God.
" This was the reason why he was ultimately crucified and the people drove him out of the town. They couldn't believe that the guy that they had grown up with was claiming something so radical as that. They drove him to the edge of a cliff ready to throw him off.
So instead, he left these hills and made his way to Comperna. By the time I arrived, the sun was high and I was sweating. It's so hot outside.
Holy moly. But I was just happy to be at the place where Jesus was. For example, here he healed a paralytic, healed Peter's mother-in-law, and cast out many demons.
It's also likely that Jesus literally stayed at the home less than 100 ft away from us. Jesus literally slept at that house. And along these shores is where he called the first disciples.
Peter, Andrew, James, and John were literally just fishing when Jesus said, "Come follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. " Can you imagine what they were thinking? Would you be willing to drop everything to follow some stranger?
I think it's easy to say, "Yeah, I would. " But honestly, I don't know if I would. Also nearby were many other events.
The birthplace of Mary Magdalene, who was the first to witness and proclaim Jesus Christ's resurrection. The Galilee boat, a boat similar to what the apostles used. The Rock of the Bleeding Woman, where the woman with blood problems was healed.
The miracle of the bread and loaves, where he fed thousands with just a few loaves and fish. And the sermon on the mount, where Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the peacemakers.
That you are the light of the world. " And then, of course, I went to the Sea of Galilee. It's surreal.
Walking the exact same steps as Jesus. It's real. It's real.
I mean, I never doubted it was real, but to see it up close, to literally breathe the same air that he breathed 2,000 years ago, it's baffling. And 2,000 years later, it's still here. And as I waited for the sun to set, I could almost see it all.
Jesus calling out to the apostles, stepping into a boat to preach as his voice carried over the waters. I imagined him walking across these same waves, Peter reaching out in doubt, and Christ lifting him up with the words of faith. And as I sat there 8,000 mi from my home in Texas, in a place where almost nobody was my religion, I felt completely still because I knew God was here.
But as peaceful as it was, it wouldn't last for long. Because while Jesus and the disciples were healing the sick, raising Lazarus from the dead, proclaiming the kingdom of God, the storm clouds of opposition were gathering. The same crowds who marveled at his miracles would soon be swayed by leaders plotting his death.
And the road from Galilee would take me next to Jerusalem. We are at the Mount of Olives and below us we can see the entire city. I'm here with Gilbert and Gilbert here is going to be my tour guide helping me explore the area.
Gladly. Gladly. And uh I'll try to make it as simple as possible even though it's complex.
And then where do I get one of those cool blue hats? Well, on the market. Guess what?
They're made in China. They're they're made in China. That's not going to be in the video.
Also, here was the same road that Jesus rode when he went to Jerusalem on a donkey. When he mounted the animal and strolled down these slopes, crowds lined the road. It was also here on this very hillside that Jesus stopped, looked over Jerusalem, and wept.
He knew what was coming. Not just his own suffering, but the destruction of the city itself and the rejection of the very one sent to save it. From here, the path would take us to Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus had the passion and where he literally was so stressed out about what was going to come that he started sweating blood.
It's Jesus, the son, resting himself into the hands of the father. A lesson of obedience. Beside the garden stands the church of all nations, built over the very rock where he knelt and suffered.
Outside the garden was quiet, leaves rustling in the wind. Somewhere beyond these gates, soldiers had come with torches and Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. We stopped at the place where Jesus was actually whipped and where Pontius Pilate let Jesus be crucified.
Pontius Pilate thinks Jesus is innocent. But he's in a dilemma. Saving his neck or putting Jesus to death.
But Pilate explains is the tradition that on Passover we release a prisoner. So he gives them a choice. Give freedom to Jesus or give freedom to a violent murderer.
The choice seems obvious, but the priests who think Jesus is blasphemous and a rebel stir up the people and the voices grow louder. They demand Jesus be crucified. Finally, he says, "I see no evil in the deeds of this man.
You want to crucify him? I'm not part of it. Do it yourselves.
" You could almost hear the echo of Roman footsteps as he takes on his cross. This is the Via Dellorsa, the way of suffering, the literal exact path Jesus carried his cross down. Gilbert was holding up well.
You're tired? No, I'm pooped. But we carried on anyways.
This is where Jesus falls for the first time. This is where Jesus meets his mother. This is where Simon ofSirene helped Jesus carry the cross.
And even though we were in the Christian quarter of Jerusalem, many of the shops were closed. And I asked Gilbert why this was. And as we continued walking the path, he explained Christian they have difficulty making a living because of the war tourism decline and co Christians in Israel who rely heavily on pilgrims to make a living are struggling.
Families they don't see the end of the tunnel. People are desperate. For example, in 1925 Christians made up about 30% of the population.
But now that number has dropped to around 1. 1%. And there could come a day in our lifetimes when there are no Christians in the Holy Land.
But I kept this in mind as we continued forward and arrived at where Jesus was crucified and where he was resurrected. It's where Christianity is born. Let's not go ahead of events.
No spoiler alerts. Jesus is brought here carrying his cross for a purpose. He is here to save humanity.
It just shows the love that Jesus had for us. He endured the ultimate sacrifice for you and for me, for all of us. This is the church of the holy supplr, the climax of the greatest story ever told.
And to the right you have Golgtha where Jesus was literally crucified. I always imagined it being on top of some grassy hill, but instead it was a stone quarry because at the time they crucified criminals and thieves at just like a random place, the equivalent of modern times of like a dumpster area. This was the exact stone where Jesus was crucified on.
It's here where Jesus suffered. The nails were pressed into his hands. He cried out to God.
It was his time. It was when he was going to die. Everything went up to this moment until finally it was finished.
The temple split in two. Beside it being 3 p. m.
, the sky went dark and there was an earthquake. The son of God was dead. Joseph of Aramea took the body and went a couple hundred feet over to deposit into a tomb.
I always imagined it being farther, but it was actually much closer than it seemed. You could literally see the cross from where the tomb was. It's smaller than you might expect.
The air is cool, almost eerie. Inside there's nothing but a bare stone slab. It was crazy to think that centuries and hundreds maybe even billions of people had went to this stone and remembered the savior who died for their sins.
But as you and I both know, this isn't where the story ends. Because at this moment, the apostles thought it was over. They thought Jesus was dead and they returned to being fishermen.
And he was here when they were on the lake catching fish. They were annoyed because they had been fishing for a while. They didn't have much fish.
But then a stranger from the shore calls out to them and says, "Actually, cast a net on the other side. " They did and suddenly it overflowed. That's when John said, "It's the Lord.
" As soon as they found out, Peter didn't wait for the boat to return to shore. He jumped out, tried swimming in the waters to his savior. And there on the beach was Jesus alive, the one who had conquered death, was making food for his friends.
I'm crying. This is so cringe. I'm I'm sorry to be one of those YouTubers crying in a video.
You know, I grew up going to church, reading my Bible, and you hear these stories about Jesus, and obviously I knew they were true, but to actually see it in person was something else. Check out this video if you'd like to see me go to every Christian denomination church.
