Photo Tour of Ein Karem, John the Baptist’s Birthplace

By the time we made it to Ein Karem, it was after a long day of exploring Old Jerusalem, so I hope you are good with short explanations. I was quickly losing brain battery power at this point.

This church marks the spot where experts believe John the Baptist was born. It is also near the Church of the Visitation, where Mary visited Elisabeth. I thought we visited both churches, but I could only find photos for the church of St. John.

Not sure who John the Baptist is?

He’s the “voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord.”

In the Bible, the Old Testament teaches that before Messiah comes to reconcile man to God, a prophet will go before him. John the Baptist was the prophet to go before Jesus, proclaiming forgiveness of sins, by faith in God’s salvation because the Messiah has paid the price for our transgressions.

After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.²⁵ “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”   Luke 1:24-25

Part of Zechariah’s Prophecy:

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
⁷⁷ to give his people the knowledge of salvation
    through the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God,
    by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
⁷⁹ to shine on those living in darkness
    and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”    Luke 1: 76-79

What I actually remember best from Ein Karem was the beautiful location. 

I wanted to just stand and breathe it in and take photos, so I did. The group had to wait for me for a few minutes, but no one complained.

Ein Karem means “spring of the vineyard.” The spring is a big deal because obviously Mary drank from it when she visited Elisabeth.

beautiful Ein Karem

Once we finished looking around Ein Karem, we packed up into our bus and drove back to the hotel in Tel Aviv.

I hope you are enjoying the Israel series. We have so much more to share!

Here are the links to a few of my other Israel posts:

Jerusalem Part 2: Where Jesus was Crucified

Jerusalem Part 3: The Via Dolorosa

The Western Wall