“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes” (Luke 10:13).

My Israel tour group entered the grounds of what was once the town of Chorazin  — scattered stones around the ruins of a synagogue. That’s all that was left. That “Woe” that Yeshua pronounced upon the city is still in effect. No longer a living city, it is now a national park.

From there we walked toward Bethsaida, which means “House of the Fishermen.” It, like Chorazin, is a victim of its faithlessness to the presence of the Messiah, an expanse of leveled ruins. Before Bethsaida sank into spiritual coldness, however, Yeshua called three disciples from that city, one of them Phillip.

The paved road that led to this fallen city — a part of it is still there! The tour guide invited us to sit around this stone path. He said the stone pavers dated to the time of Yeshua  and that Yeshua would have walked this road on his trips to and from Bethsaida. Around that road we sang, “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.” I’m sure that road reminded us of the path that we, ourselves, take to walk with him.

It was time to go. I lingered behind, wanting to STAND, SIT, or even LIE PROSTRATE on that same road! It didn’t matter how many other feet had trodden its path. I wanted to sit for a while and think of Him. The mountains of Israel were still there. They had watched the Son of God come and go, traveling from Chorazin to Bethsaida. The voices of the mountains were silent, their emotions dulled, but their eyes were opened to me. I imagined him walking across those stones with the disciples,  teaching them about the Kingdom.

I could have stayed at that sight a little longer . . . The tour guide Gideon hit us with an actuality — Yeshua walked that road — and then it was time to go.  But somehow I had to capture the moment. When everyone had left, I gave my camera to Larry and he hurriedly memorialized that moment for me.

“No turning back!” Thank You, Yeshua, for walking that road.