[ Music ] >> His miraculous
power to heal amazed. His power to feed
thousands excited. And, His power to raise
the dead proved He was more than a prophet. These feats were signs that demonstrated Jesus
was the son of God. [ Music ] There have always been
people who claim to be able to perform miracles, but when
Jesus started performing His miracles, they were so numerous. And, the quality was
just so impressive. And, when I read
about those miracles, I get a certain picture
in my head. My mind fills in the blanks
with what's familiar to me. >> As we read through the Bible, a lot of us have preconceived
ideas about these locations, or how these events
actually took place. By traveling around-- I
think that going to a lot of these places, will clear up a
number of those misconceptions. >> It's important to remember that Jesus' official
ministry really kicked off with a very simple, but
potent miracle in Cana, where Jesus turns
the water into wine. And, from that point onward, the
miracles increase in intensity, and what He's doing
is so different from what anyone else
claims to be able to do. The crowds just continue
to grow. [ Music ] We're wanting to talk about
the miracles of Jesus, and there's a place over here
on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee that you're
taking us. What miracle did Jesus
perform over here? >> This is the miracle of
Jesus casting the demons into the swine, a
site called Kursi. You know, this event happened
directly on the Sea of Galilee, because we know that
the swine ran down a steep embankment
and into the sea. [ Music ] Jeremy, we've come to the
eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, and we've kind of
climbed the hill a little bit. And, I did that because I
wanted us to read a passage. "They came to the
other side of the sea, the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had
stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him
out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit." And, of course, we know
this story as the story in which Jesus has
compassion on this gentleman, and heals him of his demons. >> Now, this is a
really famous story. This is the man that
is possessed by Legion, and the other Gospel
accounts let us know that there were two men
that were healed that day. It was during that trip
over here from Capernaum, when Jesus calmed the storm. And, as soon as He
finished healing this man, they asked Him to leave. And so, He sailed right back. He came over here for two
Gentile men across a stormy sea, which I think speaks a lot
to the compassion of Jesus. >> We know that He cast
the demons out of the man into a herd of pigs,
and the herd, numbering about 2,000
rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and
drowned in the sea. And, of course, you
can, kind of, picture that whole story
happening right here. It's not just a cliff that
goes to the edge of the water. There was a considerable
distance, at least a few hundred
yards, between the bottom of the embankment
and the water's edge. >> And that just changes how
I've always imagined that. That herd of swine
would have rushed down this really steep hill,
gone across this flat area, and then run into the sea. Normally, an animal has a
sense of self-preservation. And so, even though it
may have survived running down a steep embankment, it
would've stopped in the plain. But, these thousands of pigs
didn't, which further attests to the fact that there was
something controlling them other than themselves. Jesus performed signs that demonstrated
that He was from God. That He had control over
everything and everyone, even spiritual forces
like demons. You know, the details at the
beginning of Mark's account of this event are
really helpful, because they let us know
the desperate condition that this man was in. He was separated
from his family. He was living in the graveyard. He was basically
living as a dead person. He was out of his
mind, out of control. He was hurting himself, showing
these signs of deep distress. And, Jesus takes care
of all of those things. So, when the people come back
out, he's sitting, he's clothed, he's in his right mind. It would have been a
startling and a shocking sight for the people to come out of
town and to see the aftermath of those animals
drowning, and to see someone who they had tried to help
for so long, finally healthy and in his right mind. And, something that's emphasized
down through the text, is the begging that takes place. When Jesus gets there, and
Legion recognizes Jesus, he begs Jesus to spare him. And then, later on you have
the townspeople begging Jesus to leave them because
they're afraid of Him. Then you have the man who's
been healed, begging to go with Jesus, the man
who's finally helped him. And, I think what Mark is trying
to help us do in that chapter is to challenge us, with how
are we going to respond? Are we going to be so afraid
of Him that we beg Him to leave like they did? Or, are we going to respond
like the healed man and beg to stay close to Him because
of what He does for us? [ Music ] >> Jeremy, we're standing on top of the archeological
site called Et-tel. And, many people think
this is ancient Bethsaida. Now, there's a number
of different places that could be Bethsaida. In fact, there's one
right down in the valley that they're digging
on right now. We came up here because I
wanted to read a passage to you. And it says, "On their return, the apostles told him
all that they had done. And, he took them
and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida." And, this is the
beginning of the account of Jesus feeding the 5,000. And, that probably took place
right here in this plain of Bethsaida, just down below
the hill from where we are now. >> Now, it's helpful to put
that feeding in context. The disciples had come back to
tell Him all that they had done. They had been sent out on
that limited commission. But, the other piece of the
news that they brought to Him, was that Herod Antipas had
just killed His cousin John the Baptist, down at
his black fortress. And, what the other Gospels
reveal is, that hurt. And, He was trying to get
away to a desolate place to let them recharge,
and also for Him to grieve the loss
of His cousin. And so, they came across the
sea, over here toward Bethsaida. And, the crowds saw that
He was heading this way. And so, they ran around
the north side of the Sea of Galilee, and beat Him here. We need to appreciate
the humanity of Jesus. He sees all these people
who aren't just there for the teaching, but He
sees people that need help. They need healing. And, it says that He
had compassion on them. And so, despite how He
was feeling in the moment, He spent that day taking care
of thousands of other people. And so, Jesus in this moment where He should have
been grieving and having some privacy
was surrounded by thousands of people. And, still took the time to
care for them, to heal them, and by the end of the day, to
miraculously feed 5,000 of them. >> And, Jesus looks at Philip,
and asks Philip, where do we go and buy food for these people? And, I think the reason
He pointed Philip out, was because Philip
was from Bethsaida. Philip would know where to
get food for these people. Philip's response was,
we don't have the money to buy enough food
for all these people. And, of course, we know
that he grouped them into specific groups,
and then asked for food. And one boy produced
five loaves and two fish. So, imagine if you will,
5,000 people spread out across this plain
right here. And, Jesus performed the miracle where He was able
to feed them all. >> Now, John's emphasis is
that Jesus is actually able to miraculously produce food for
people, very similar to the way that God produced manna for the
Israelites in the Old Testament. And so, not just
performing a miraculous sign, but that that sign pointed to
the fact that He was connected to the Yahweh of
the Old Testament. It would have reminded them
of Moses and the wandering of the Israelites, and the fact that God miraculously provided
food and manna for them. This man from Nazareth
is doing what happened in the days of Moses. And, Moses prophesied that a
prophet would come like him. And, they would have
made that connection. [ Music ] >> After Jesus was rejected at
Nazareth, He moved to Capernaum, and really set up this city
as, kind of, His home base for His ministry in this area. >> There's a lot of the
miracles that are recorded in the Gospel either took place
here, or just outside of here. When He walked across the Sea of
Galilee at night, He was coming from the opposite side of the
sea, coming toward Capernaum. And, if He hadn't intercepted
the boat, He would have passed by them and come
here to this harbor. We mentioned the casting out
of the demons into the swine. Well, that started
here and stopped here. He took off from Capernaum,
and then, when He came back, He came back to Capernaum. >> Capernaum was a small
village on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Probably had a few
hundred people in it. And, given the miracles that are
recorded for us in the Gospels of all the things
that Jesus did there, obviously He would have been
well-known in the community. Any time He came to Capernaum, people would have
known about it. >> Now, there are
a lot of miracles that we could talk about,
but there's one that, I think, is extra special. It's over in Luke, Chapter 8. And as Jesus is coming
into town, Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue,
has a daughter across town who is very, very ill. And so, he sends word for
Jesus to try to get to him and help his daughter. And, as He comes through town,
crowds start to surround Him. And, in the midst of all
of that is when a woman, who has had a flow of
blood for 12 years, and has been spending
all of her livelihood, gone to these doctors to
try to take care of that, comes up to Jesus, and
she just touches the edge of Jesus' garment. And, as soon as she does
that, she feels within herself that she's been healed. And, Jesus stops and
makes a comment about it, and gives her opportunity to
acknowledge what she's done. And, in that interlude, the
ruler's daughter actually dies. And, by the time He gets there,
the mourners are already there. But of course, He goes
in, and He raises her. There's just so much about
the facts in that miracle, that testify to Jesus and who He
is, and how compassionate He is. You have this woman who
for 12 years has been ceremonially unclean. It's hindered her
ability to be social. And, she has exhausted every
possible way to heal herself. She is hopeless. There's nothing left. She's so desperate that
she's willing to try to sneak a miracle from Jesus,
because her condition is such that it's a
very delicate matter. And, what Jesus does, at first
glance, seems kind of cruel. He draws attention to her. It says the crowd was
kind of, jostling Him, and He asks, who touched me? And, His disciples are
a little indignant. There are all these people. What do you mean,
who touched you? When He mentions it
again, she comes forward. She tells Him everything
that happened, and He says, go in peace. Your faith has made you well. And, what He did-- you
think about her situation. If she had left that crowd
without Jesus having done that, she would have felt like she
had stolen something from God. And, she wouldn't
have been as apt to have shared the
news about it. And, she would have
felt guilt over that. Instead, Jesus provided her
an opportunity to be open, and become clean about it,
and to be more public with it. And, to walk away feeling like
she had been granted a gift. Not that she had taken anything. The way that He interacted
with her was so compassionate. There's just so many details. I always think about
that miracle when I think about Capernaum. Unfortunately after Him living
there, and doing so much, Capernaum is one of the towns
that He pronounces a woe on when he's done
with His ministry, because it says they
didn't believe. Which is just so
shocking, to think. Look at all that He said, and
all that He did in that spot, and the town didn't believe. And, I think that's
a warning to us. That we need to pay attention. And, we need to make sure
that we pay attention to what Jesus says, and what
He does, so that we don't end up with the same
woe cast upon us. [ Music ] >> We're actually
driving through Cana. This is one of the two possible
locations for the first miracle that Jesus did, where
He turned the water into wine at the wedding feast. >> The Gospels record
that Cana is really where Jesus' ministry
got started, with that very first miracle. So, what we say at
the Israel Museum, was some large stone jars that
were used for holding water for ritual purifications, right? It was most likely
that Jesus converted that water into wine in Cana. >> I don't think we have
time to stop here today, but it's interesting still
to drive through this area. It gives you a perspective of
where it's located in relation to other cities and
villages nearby. [ Music ] Visiting ancient Jericho-- I
really enjoyed going there. Because you get a different
perspective of the city. You hear about Jericho a
number of times in the Bible. Outside of Jerusalem, and
maybe one or two other cities, it's mentioned more times than
any other city in the Bible. >> On a clear day, when
there's no haze, you can stand on the Tell, and you
can actually look across the Jordan Rift
Valley, and see Mount Nebo. Jericho is one of,
if not the oldest, longest occupied cities
in all of the world. And so, there's just layer
after layer after layer of historical events
that took place there. It is blistering hot up here. >> Well, the thermometer
says 103 degrees Fahrenheit. So, that's because we're
so far below sea level. At Jerusalem, we're about
2700 feet above sea level. Here at Jericho, we're nearly
800 feet below sea level. We're down the Jordan
Rift Valley. And, we're probably only 5 miles
or so from the northern end of the Dead Sea, and this time of year it gets really
warm down here. We're here because we
want to talk about one of Jesus' miracles
that is so powerful. In Mark, the 10th Chapter,
we actually read a scripture that says, "And they
came to Jericho. And as He was leaving
Jericho with His disciples and a great crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was
sitting by the roadside." But, if you look over at Luke's
account, it says in Chapter 18, "As He drew near to Jericho,
a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging." So, this appears at first
glance to be a contradiction. Mark tells the story, and he
says He was leaving Jericho. But, Luke says He was
coming to Jericho. So, which is it? Well, actually it's both. During the first century,
Jericho was divided into two different parts. Residential Jericho sat right
around where we are right now. Administrative Jericho sat
about a mile and a half to the southwest of us. This is where King
Herod had his palace. So, Mark is telling the story
from a Jewish perspective, as Jesus was leaving Jericho. Luke on the other
hand, is telling this from a Gentile perspective,
as He was approaching Jericho. He's talking about
administrative Jericho. And, if you think about
it, that makes sense. Because if you were a blind
man, where would you want to be? Well, you would want to be on
the road between the two parts of the cities, where
the most traffic is. >> He's placed himself
on a crossroads. Besides just the logistics
of the miracle itself, Jesus is on His way up to
Jerusalem from Jericho, making His way toward
that last Passover feast, His final week before
He's crucified. And so-- anyone else, they'd be
thinking a lot about themselves. He takes the time to
heal one more person with a physical malady. Jesus already knew-- I
mean, He's the Son of God-- He already knew what
the man's problem was. But, He still gave him
opportunity to identify it. Jesus asked him, What do
you want me to do for you? And, God wants to hear from us. He already knows what
our problems are. He already knows what
our struggles are. But, He wants that level of
communication with us, too. He wants us to vocalize
it and interact with Him. And, Jesus gave him
that opportunity. This man, when he recognizes
that Jesus, the son of David, the King, is coming, he cries
out all the more loudly, and identified him as
a descendant of David, attaching the title
of King to him. And, Jesus responded, by healing
him on His way up to Jerusalem. >> The blind man, Bartimaeus, is one of my personal
heroes in the Bible. This is a gentleman who
knew he had a problem. He knew that there
was only one person that could fix it,
and that was Jesus. And, he wasn't going to let
anybody stand in his way. That's the approach that we
should take with our lives. >> That's right. [ Music ] >> There's a wonderful story
of Jesus having compassion on a blind man in
John, the 9th Chapter, in which he tells the man
to go down to the Pool of Siloam and wash his eyes. It's just a beautiful place,
and I just love the story. >> Now, there's a picture
that I have in my mind that I've seen, since
I was a kid. And, it shows this pool
of water off to the right, some stairs going
up to the left. That's the image I've
got stuck in my head. Is that accurate? >> For many, many years,
there was a misunderstanding about exactly where the
Pool of Siloam was located. This is actually the
picture that you've seen. This is a picture of a pool that sat underneath
a Byzantine church, built around the
4th or 5th century. It's at the exit of
Hezekiah's Tunnel, which comes out the western side of the eastern hill,
here in Jerusalem. And, it wasn't until recently that they found the
real Pool of Siloam. They found it while
doing some excavation. They were digging for
a sewage line in town, and what they found was a 1st
century Roman Herodian-style pool, and it was
in the right area. So, they knew they'd finally
found the Pool of Siloam. [ Music ] >> During one of Jesus'
trips to Jerusalem, His disciples saw a blind man, and had the question,
who sinned? This blind man, or his
parents, that he is blind? And, Jesus, in answering their
question actually bent down, spit in some clay, rubbed it on the man's eyes,
and sent him to wash. Now, where that miracle
took place was somewhere in between here and there. Where are we walking? >> We are on a 1st
century road that leads from the Temple Mount
[inaudible] behind us, all the way down to
the Pool of Siloam. We're about 15 or
20 feet underground, but they have excavated
this just within the last couple years. >> And, after he would
have washed and realized that he was miraculously healed, he likely would have
gone back to the temple. And, it's possible he
would have come back up this exact same road. >> This would have been the
main road between the Pool of Siloam, and the Temple Mount. >> As you get closer
to the Pool of Siloam, they've uncovered more
of the width of the road, so it's actually much wider
in the 1st century than it is when we are walking on it. So, if you can picture it
at least 6, 7, 8 times wider than what we actually see. This was a major
thoroughfare going through town. >> This is a beautiful artist's
representation of what the Pool of Siloam would have looked
like in the 1st century. The pool is so much larger
than I imagined it to be. I mean, it's almost the
size of a swimming pool. >> Yes. During the 1st century, especially among the Jewish
people, there was a practice of ritual bathing before you did
anything of a religious nature. And so, there were a
number of these pools, or mikvehs, around the area. And, sometimes, they were much
larger, like the Pool of Siloam. And so, this pool
would have been a pool that people would have gone
to to go through the practice of ritual bathing before
they went up to the temple. >> Barry, we've come
out of the tunnel, and we look to be on some steps. So, I'm assuming we've
reached the Pool of Siloam. >> We have. This is an active dig site. They're still digging here. They're still doing a
little construction here. And, they've only actually
exposed one side of it. And, what you have is the
typical Herodian-style, with step, step,
step, flat area, another few steps,
another flat area. The rest of the Pool
of Siloam, probable 90% of it actually sits behind us,
but it's on private property. And, that's good and bad. It's bad in the fact
that we can't see it. But, it's good in the fact that we know it's there,
and it's protected. >> This pool, which is
mentioned over in John 9, with the healing of a blind man. It is a significant
part of that event. You have this man who's been
born blind, and they want to know, who's fault was that? Was it his parents, or
did he do something? Really similar to the question that Job's friends asked
him in the Old Testament. Is there such a thing
as innocent suffering? Is all suffering a direct result
of someone's personal guilt? And, Jesus' answer was, no, it
wasn't a result of him sinning. It wasn't a result of
his parents sinning. We live in a world
that's been broken by sin. And, as a result of
that, people get sick. There's disease. We see death. We see natural disasters. So, it answers that question. I don't always suffer
because of a direct result of my own personal sin. But, I live in a world
where-- it has been cursed. And, even in the midst of that,
God is able to be glorified, in how we respond to
that innocent suffering. It's a rich, rich text. It's powerful to think about, what did he see for
the first time? As they came down to this pool,
and washed that clay away. All of a sudden, he was able to
see, when for his entire life that was not possible. The rest of the chapter
is just how everyone in this man's circle responds
to the fact that he can see now. His neighbors have
questions about it. The religious authorities
have questions about it. They bring his parents in to
ask them questions about it. And, by the time you get
to the end of the text, the point that John is making
from the sign of the miracle-- because all of the
miracles were signs-- this man who had physically
been born blind was the one who spiritually saw
Jesus for who He was. A righteous man who was
able to work miracles. And, the religious leaders who had physical sight
were spiritually blind. They weren't able to
recognize Jesus for who He was. So, at the end of the chapter,
they rejected Jesus as the Son of God, and as the blind man
who's wanting to follow Him. >> I love visiting
the Pool of Siloam. Jesus has such compassion
on people. To me, it's a vivid
reminder of the love that Jesus has for everyone. Not only this blind man in the
1st century, but for me as well. [ Music ] >> We just left Jerusalem, the Pool of Siloam,
where we heading? >> We're heading to the
tomb of Lazarus in Bethany. >> And, this is a pretty
significant miracle. He personally knows
the people involved. >> The story even tells
about how He wept. This was someone
very close to Him. But, He used the
opportunity to show the power of God in doing what He did. >> Have you been there before? >> I actually haven't
been there before, so I'm looking forward
to being there. I've seen a number of pictures,
and a number of videos about it. We're probably going to have to
get down on our hands and knees and crawl a little bit. It's going to be dimly
lit, low clearance. It should be a real adventure. I'm looking forward
to being there. This is a difficult
place to get to now. A number of years ago, they
put up a separation wall between Jerusalem and
Israel and the West Bank. And, a lot of tourists don't
come to this area any more. >> We don't know exactly
which tomb Lazarus was in, but we know that those
tombs are 1st century tombs. So, they're a good
representation of what Lazarus would have
been laid in when Jesus came to raise him from the dead. "When Jesus heard it He said, 'This illness does
not lead to death. It is for the glory of
God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through
it.'" In this moment leading up to His triumphal entry,
and to His rejection, and to His crucifixion, as He
gets closer to Lazarus' tomb, everybody that He encounters
is saying if you had been here, you could have stopped
this from happening. If you had been here,
he wouldn't have died. He's already raised
people from the dead. And so, part of what
Jesus is wrestling with as He approaches
the tomb is these people that I'm closest to,
still don't understand. And so, when it says that He was
greatly troubled, it's possibly that what He was greatly
troubled with was, the people closest to Him
still didn't fully understand who He was, and that hurt
Him deeply, and He wept. [ Music ] When you get into the vestibule,
there's a rectangular opening in the floor that gives
you access to just two or three stairs, then you have
to get on your hands and knees and crawl into the
actual tomb area itself. Wow, Barry. >> This is really
tight down here. >> It is. It's very stale air. It's not moving at all. >> No, we're probably 10,
15 feet underground here. >> It looks like over here
there's a niche behind this block wall. You see people have left prayers
written on pieces of note paper. The entrance we took in
is a 16 century entrance. They're saying the original
entrance would have been in a different spot. >> That's right. >> But, in one of
these niches is where Lazarus' body
would have been laying. >> He would have been laid,
according to tradition, over here on this
side of the room here. Jesus would have been
outside in the vestibule area when He called Lazarus
to come forth. And, of course, Lazarus
rose from the dead, and came out to meet Jesus. >> Now, Lazarus had been
dead for multiple days. Jesus intentionally waited,
after He heard that he was sick, to give him time to pass away. He knew what He was going to do, even though the disciples
didn't. And, by the time He got here,
one of his sisters was concerned about the odor that
would have been there, because he had been
dead for four days. Now, according to
Jewish tradition, one of the significant
things about the four days, is that Jews believe that
after so many days of death, your spirit finally
departed your body. And so, for Jesus,
He waited that long so that they would have
had that understanding. That his spirit was
already gone. He was for certain dead before
He called him out of the tomb. But, Lazarus comes out, and
he doesn't look like someone who has been buried
for four days. And so, it astonished everybody. Now, all of this is
really significant, especially in John's Gospel. Because the raising of Lazarus
happens in John, Chapter 11. In John, Chapter 13, you're
into Jesus' final week. And so, you have the raising of
Lazarus leading up to the death, burial, and the resurrection
of Jesus himself. So, it wasn't just a miracle
pointing toward His divinity, but it was a foreshadowing
miracle about what would
happen to Jesus himself. >> The raising of
Lazarus was the event that really sent the
Jews over the top. Because once Lazarus was alive,
and he was being seen by people in this city, they want
him to quiet Jesus. >> The text even emphasizes that
they were seeking opportunities to have Lazarus killed. So, this man that had just
been miraculously raised from the dead-- they were
ready to kill him again, to get rid of him as
evidence to Jesus. "And Jesus lifted up His
eyes and said, 'Father, I thank you that
you have heard me. I knew that you always hear
me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe
that you sent me.' And when He had said
these things, He cried out with a loud
voice, "Lazarus, come out." The man who had died came
out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his
face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Unbind
him, and let him go.'" You know, this is possibly one
of the tightest spots that we've crawled through,
to get to see something. But, it was so worthwhile
to come down here. [ Music ] Following the chronology
of Jesus' time on earth, He's foreshadowing His impending
death, burial, and resurrection. If Jesus from Nazareth has
the power over life and death, then death is not the end. And, we have hope. After John the Baptist was
arrested by Herod Antipas, he sent some of his
disciples to Jesus with an interesting question. In Luke, Chapter 7,
and verse 20, it says, "And when the men had
come to him, they said, 'John the Baptist has sent us
to you, saying, 'Are you the one who is to come, or shall
we look for another?'' In that hour he healed many
people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he
bestowed sight. And He answered them, "Go and
tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive
their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed,
and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor
have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one
who is not offended by me.'" What Jesus did to
encourage John the Baptist in that moment was to point
to the fact that He was able to perform miracles to a
degree and in a measure that no one else ever could. And, the Gospels
call those miracles, in multiple places, signs. The signs pointed to something. From the very first sign that He
performed in Cana, turning water to wine, to the raising
of Lazarus, and eventually to the sign of His own
resurrection, the miracles of Jesus point to the fact
that He was the Son of God, who came to die for us all. [ Music ]
