March 6, Fourth Sunday in Lent (RCL)

locals in Jericho today

Joshua 5:9-12 "the plains of Jericho"  Please see "First Sunday in Lent" below. Gilgal is a play on the Hebrew verb meaning "to roll." We aren't sure where it was, but we assume near Jericho.

Luke 15:1-2, 11b-32 "The Parable of the Prodigal Son" of course has no definitive location. What you may find interesting, however, is that the pig food was carob. Yes, what we today consider an upscale chocolate substitute was, in biblical times, the standard food for pigs! The carob tree, also called the locust tree, is plentiful in the Holy Land. John the Baptist most likely ate carob (from the locust tree), not the insect!