Wayne Stiles - Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus: A Journey Through the Lands and Lessons of Christ

2008 Wayne Stiles. All rights reserved.

Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.revellbooks.com

Previously published by Regal Books

Ebook edition created 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-2587-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible , 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Other versions used are:

KJV King James Version. Authorized King James Version.

NIV Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

PRAISE FOR

W ALKING IN THE F OOTSTEPS OF J ESUS

I have been privileged to travel to Israel three timesbut Ive never gone with Wayne Stiles. After reading his book, I felt that Wayne had taken me on a fourth. Ill be candid with you: I didnt expect this book to be this good. Dont get me wrong, I thought it would be an interesting read, but I found it to be absolutely captivating. Wayne is a great storyteller, but he is also a very careful Bible scholar. That is a very lethal combinationlethal in the sense that it will destroy any inclination that you have to drift off into boredom. This is a volume to be enjoyed and savored, and at times it will cause you to say, Wow! This travelogue is a first-class seat in an air-conditioned Mercedes bus, just like the ones that youll find in Israel. I know youre going to enjoy the ride.

STEVE FARRAR

Bestselling author and founder of Mens Leadership Ministries

Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus is part travel guide, part memoir and part biblical commentary. Wayne takes readers on a heart-engaging pilgrimage that reveals how the places of biblical history communicate as much as the characters and stories that made their settings famous.

SANDRA GLAHN, T H M

Editor-in-chief , Kindred Spirit magazine

Author of the Coffee Cup Bible Study series

Wayne Stiles gives us an up-close and very personal look at Christ and the Bible in Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus . This is a wonderful book that will not only take you back but also thrust you forward in your journey with the Savior.

DR. JACK GRAHAM

Pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church

For twenty-first-century Westerners, grasping the time, the place, the feel of the Gospels is almost impossible. Our culture is too different, our lives too far removed from first-century Israel to imbibe fully the actions, the teachings, the person of Jesus as recorded in these four accounts. In his latest book, Wayne Stiles masterfully bridges that gap for us. He walks us through the places Jesus walked, helping us see what He and the disciples saw, feel what they felt, and react as they reacted.

DAVID GREGORY

Author of Dinner with a Perfect Stranger

If youve never had the opportunity to visit Israel, this book will take you there. If you expect to go soon, it will be an invaluable resource. If youve been already, Waynes firsthand accounts and anecdotes will spark memories that will make you want to go back. But above all, the greatest accomplishment of this book is that through the backdrop of Jesus home and humanity, you will see the mission and the glory of the suffering Savior who walked this earth in places we can still touch today.

GREG LAURIE

Pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship

Evangelist of the Harvest Crusades

In Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus , Wayne Stiles gives his readers great insights into the places where Jesus walked and the thoughts Jesus must have had as He moved about the Holy Land. Few realize how formative geography was on the events and in the lives of those whom Jesus met and touched. To think of Jesus and the disciples cresting the Mount of Olives and realize what a different vista each saw while looking at the same scene will give you insight into the ways we see the vistas of our lives. Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus is a unique way to see Jesus, the Gospels, and the modern Holy Land through the eyes of an astute observer of all three.

DR. BILL LAWRENCE

President, Leader Formation International

F OR W ALTER P. S TEPHENS AND D R . C HARLES W ISDOM

who first introduced me to Jesus.

F OR M ELVIN L. S UMRALL AND T OMMY N ELSON

who first taught me to walk with Him.

F OR C ATHY , ESPECIALLY

who takes the journey with me.

AND HE WAS SAYING TO THEM ALL, IF ANYONE WISHES TO COME AFTER ME, HE MUST DENY HIMSELF, AND TAKE UP HIS CROSS DAILY AND FOLLOW ME.

LUKE 9:23

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

When I finished my book, Going Places with God , Steve Lawson at Regal Books challenged me to get busy writing a book-length travelogue of my travels to the Holy Land. At first, I admit, the prospect seemed about as exciting as enduring someones slides of their vacation to Galveston.

But as I thought more about how the book could take shape around a special themea travelogue of my journeys through the life, lands and lessons of Jesusmy hesitation changed to passion. I appreciate Steves vision and challenge for me to write the book as well as Regals enthusiasm to publish more of my ramblings.

In putting together these pages, I have stood on the shoulders of many who have imparted the life of Christ to meboth by instruction and by example. This book is more a product of them than me.

Im eternally grateful to Walt Stephens and Dr. Charles Wisdom, who sat a little boy down one day and explained about sin and salvation through Christ. That day in the church office remains my earliest memory of faith in Jesus, so I reckon it as the day it happened. Ill never forget Walts recent words as his wife, Sherry, lay across the room, dying of cancer. With the final days ebbing from her fragile life, he told me, I never knew I could have such peace. Utter turmoil on the outside, but absolute peace on the insideI then caught a glimpse of how Jesus must have lived, especially as He faced that dark hour at Gethsemane.

I appreciate Mel Sumrall and Tom Nelson for teaching a young man that the Bible is more than a Sunday ornamentFor it is not an idle word for you, to quote Moses, indeed it is your life (Deut. 32:47).

Thanks to Dr. Howard Hendricks, who instructed me to ask when studying the Bible, Where did the action take place? I never knew that the answer to that question would prove so significant in my life.

Thanks to Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost, who first taught me the life of Christ in such a way that my Bible became one book and not just two Testaments; Ill never forget the moment that clicked. During this project, I kept as my constant companion a number of harmonies of the gospels, but none proved as valuable as Dr. Pentecosts arrangement in A Harmony of the Words and Works of Jesus Christ .

Most dates and orders of events in this volume are the result of the meticulous scholarship of Dr. Harold Hoehner and his invaluable study found in his Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ , for which I am very grateful.

Thanks to Sandra Glahn, who once gave me advice on writing that I use every time I writeunless I am being moved not to. I appreciate her keen eye for detail and the editorial skills she weilded on my manuscript.