What Pilgrimage Really Means in the Bible (And Why We're Going to Rome)

Why would anyone travel across the world to meet with God when He's already right there with them? It's a fair question, and one I've heard for years.

In this episode I start a six-week series on our Bible Study Live trips to Rome by looking at something the modern church has mostly set down: the spiritual practice of pilgrimage. In Scripture, pilgrimage is a journey taken on purpose to meet God. The Hebrew idea is tied to the word for foot, because it was something you did with your body.

We walk through Abraham's call to go in Genesis 12, the three pilgrimage feasts in Deuteronomy 16, and the Songs of Ascent that families sang on the road up to Jerusalem. Jesus walked that road every year as a boy (Luke 2:41-42). And Psalm 84 says God blesses the people whose hearts are set on pilgrimage, even before they arrive.

"How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion!" (Psalm 84:5)

What does pilgrimage mean in the Bible?

A journey taken on purpose with the goal of meeting God. It isn't tourism, and it isn't about earning His presence. Like kneeling or fasting, what we do with our bodies shapes what happens in our hearts.

What are the Songs of Ascent?

Psalms 120 through 134, sung by pilgrims on their way up to Jerusalem. Read in order, they move from distress to worship.

This is the first stop in our Rome series, where I take you behind the scenes of the trip. Every November our group walks the roads Paul and Peter walked, and pilgrimage is the heart of why we go.

Bible Study Live is a small-group Bible study trip with Rachael Groll. Study Scripture where it happened in Rome, or slow down for a contemplative Bible study retreat in Maui. Dates and details at BibleStudyLive.org

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