Jesus spent most of his ministry and teaching in the Northern part of the Sea of Galilee, and that's where we spent today. We began our pilgrimage with a short hike to a spring where Jesus and his disciples met in one of their early gatherings. We drank from the spring (that really is Ginger, covered up due to the cold), taking in the landscape. It is located in a small valley with caves in the rock cliffs above. These caves were used by a small band of Jewish rebels during one of the uprisings against Rome.
Next was a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. The boat was constructed in similar design to the boats of Jesus' day, but is much larger. Many of the stories of Jesus and his disciples involved boats and fishing on the Sea of Galilee. It was cool and a bit windy, but the waters were calm. Just off Capurnaum, we let the boat drift while Pastor Rick provided a devotion. He posed the same question that Jesus posed to His disciples...."why are you afraid?" When the winds became so high that the waves almost swamped their boat, the disciples were afraid and pleaded with Jesus to save them. He protected them from danger. This is His promise to us as well. From this vantage point, we could see almost all the places that Jesus ministered before his ride into Jerusalem. It was striking to me how small and relatively contained the area is. Upon return to the dock, we viewed a display and remains of an ancient boat that was excavated from the banks of the Sea of Galilee in 1986. It is believed that this boat dates from 100 BC to 70 CE, and may be similar to boats that would have been used by fishermen in Jesus' day.
The Church of the Beatitudes is on the site of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus summarized the basic Gospel themes in the Beatitudes. The garden surrounding the church has each of the Beatitudes engraved in stones and markers along the path. After a reading of the Beatitudes on the plaza, we visited the chapel. Then, I strolled the grounds, reflecting on each passage. Some are hard for me to understand. I left this site more confused than enlightened.
The site of the Church of the Beatitudes provided an excellent view of the Sea of Galilee. Here is a panoramic photo looking south.
Lunch at a waterside restaurant gave us a warm respite and a chance to sample the local St Peter Fish. We were told that the fish is similar to Bass, (others say Tilapia) and is believed to be the fish that St Peter caught with the coin in its mouth, giving Peter and Jesus the money they needed to pay the temple tax. The restaurant prepares the fish broiled (filet) or deep fried (whole). Thinking that "fried" was similar to the Calabash seafood method, we opted for the filet. Mistake. BIG mistake. The fried turned out to be the better deal, and the oil did not penetrate the skin, leaving the meat moist and tasty.
Capernaum was a thriving port and trade city in Jesus' time. St Peter lived here and Matthew is also believed to be from this area. A church is erected above St. Peter's home. (photo of the inside of the church is on right).
Jesus taught in the synagogue and healed a man with "unclean spirit". The synagogue was destroyed, and another built on top of it. (Photo below). We saw ornate stones that made up the cornices of some of the buildings.
OK, so we needed to get the obligatory "tourist" photo of Ginger and me in front of the statue of St. Peter, on his rock ("upon this rock, I will build my church") with fishes at his feet ("I will teach you to be fishers of men").
On to the Church of the Multiplication, which is erected on the site where Jesus performed the miracle of feeding thousands with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. Again, Jesus reminds us that He will give us what we NEED (but never promised to give what we WANT). The Church of the Multiplications is just below the Mount of Beatitudes,on the banks of the Sea of Galilee.
Immediately next door is the Chapel of the Primacy (photo left), built on the sitewhere Peter professed his devotion to Jesus three times. On the banks of the Galilee, there are six stone hearts, depicting each time Jesus asked Peter "Do you love me?" and three times Peter replies "Yes, I love You". This is in contrast to the three times that Peter denied knowing Jesus on the night He was betrayed. We walked on the shore, touched the waters, and were given permission to take a stone from the waters to remember this place and that sometimes we, too, are like Peter; expressing our love for our Lord and then later denying Him.
The final journey of the day was a drive along the Jordanian/Israeli border to a point where we could see Syria, Israel, and Jordan. It was dark, so all we could see were lights and the barbed wire fence. Our guide told us that sometimes his tours could hear the thunder of rockets and bombs from the conflict in Syria. I was quite uneasy about this, and was comforted when the bus turned around and took us back to our hotel.
It was a whirlwind day, and I was VERY tired because I did not sleep at all the night before. The combination of jet lag and time change (coupled with a bit of espresso) kept my mind racing from the time we arrived at the hotel on Wednesday until we returned from touring on Thursday. A light dinner with two beers and I was ready for bed.
I am writing this at 3 AM on Friday, with about 5 hours of sleep (more than I would have expected). This pilgrimage is moving quickly from place to place. And, there is SO MUCH to take in. I am hopeful that we get some "downtime" to assimilate thoughts about our journey and put it into perspective.
Got to go. Ginger will be up soon as the bus leaves the hotel at 5:45 AM today. More later.
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