Wow, what a difference a day, and a good night’s sleep make. When we arrived in Israel yesterday it was cloudy and rainy. Today began hazy, but cleared up to be absolutely beautiful. We began with an early breakfast and then a boat ride up the coast of the Sea of Galilee. For reference, the Sea of Galilee isn’t so much a sea as it is a large lake (Hebrew has no word for “lake). While it lies 35-ish miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea, it is also some 600 ft. below sea level. It is bordered by mountains which rise as much as 1,000 ft. above sea level, and Mt. Hermon a few miles to the north is 4,000 ft. above sea level and snow-capped year round. So, you can imagine that the geography of the region is dramatic. This morning the Sea was calm, nearly flat, but the mountains of the region catch the prevailing winds coming off of the Mediterranean and funnel them through a few valleys directly onto the Sea of Galilee. The result is the freak violent windstorms for which the Sea is known. Jesus’ miracles of walking on water and calming the sea both occurred during such storms. As we moved northward through the sea we passed Migdal, home of Mary Magdalene. And stopped for a moment to read some scripture and sing a few hymns. We eventually arrived at the north end of the sea where a local kibbutz houses the famous “Jesus Boat.”
The water level of the Sea of Galilee fluctuates quite a bit depending on the weather. In 1980s the region experienced a severe drought and two local men discovered some ancient nails while walking on the exposed sea bed. As the explored some more they uncovered what appeared to be a boat. After a tricky excavation, a 2,000 year-old fishing boat was uncovered, preserved, and is now on display. The boat dates to the 1st century AD, so would have been in use when Jesus and his disciples were using this type of boat to travel and fish on the sea.
From the Jesus Boat we travelled to Tabgha, traditionally believed to be the place where Jesus fed 5,000 men with two fish and five loaves of bread. Today the site is protected by a very pretty little church. Inside there is a rock reported to be the one on which Jesus rested the bread and fish to pray before serving the people. This site does hold some of the credentials we look for in determining the authenticity of a location. It is certainly in the right region, it has been viewed as legitimate since very ancient times, and those opposed to the faith have attempted to destroy it. So, if it isn’t the exact spot, it is close. Actually, there was a church built at Tabgha sometime in the 3rd century AD, but it was destroyed by invaders a few hundred years later. The church and the site itself were forgotten until the 1300s. Amazingly, the mosaic floor of the original church survived all that time, and forms the floor of the current church building today. The ancient mosaic floor designs themselves are well worth a visit. We were in the church with a group of fellow pilgrims from South Korea who were singing hymns in their own language.
We then drove a short distance to the Mt. of the Beatitudes which is a high hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee. A church here marks the spot where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. Like a good number of these holy places, that this is the exact spot where Jesus stood isn’t certain, but it is probably close. At the foot of the hill are the ruins of a much older church marking the same event at the same location. The hill itself has a natural shape that enhances acoustics, so it is reasonable to believe that Jesus picked this location to speak. By the time we arrived the sun had burned off the morning haze, and it was a beautiful day. The monks which care for the site have the place beautifully manicured, and there were groups there from all around the world. After our guide, a Palestinian Christian named Raed, finished his lecture, I roamed about the grounds and caught bits of lectures and sermons from an Italian priest, a South African pastor, and a German guide.
Just over a hill or two, there are a great number of hills here in Galilee, are the ruins of Korazin. This was one of the towns which refused to listen to Jesus’ preaching and was cursed by him. The town itself is very old. Remains of houses, a ritual bath, and a synagogue still exist along with an ancient road weaving around the hillside. One of the most remarkable things about these ancient sites is that they, so far, look nothing like anything you see in the movies. Galilee is incredibly hilly and covered with large rocks. There is a local joke which says that when God finished making the world he had some leftover rocks. He put an angel in charge of dispersing them throughout the earth. But the angel was a little bit lazy and dumped the whole load in Israel. The other thing is that the ancient houses are all made of dark black stone. It makes for a very interesting contrast with the lush green hillsides.
After spending a short time at Korazin, we headed back past the Mt. of the Beatitudes to Migdal and ate a lunch of St. Peter’s Fish, which is basically a fish which is cooked and served on your plate, no cleaning or prepping. The restaurant in which we ate was a stone’s throw from both the sea and the excavations of the ancient town, home of Mary Magdalene, which are still underway.
Next we stopped at the church marking the Restoration of Peter. This is supposedly the site where Jesus appeared to Peter after the resurrection, asked him if he loved him three times, and then ate some fish with Peter and a few others. It is a nice little spot along the sea. We weren’t given much explanation regarding why this was the spot for this event. To me it just seemed like someone picked a pretty spot by the water to build a church. Then again, there are only so many ancient churches a person can enjoy in one day. Perhaps I was reaching my limit.
Our last stop of the day was at Capernaum. This was a large ancient city, and probably had a few thousand residents. It was the home of Peter the disciple, with whose family Jesus lived during his three years of ministry. The city receives a great number of mentions in the gospels. There are a number of really interesting items which have been found in the excavations. There is a pillar from the 1st century referencing Zebedee, whose two sons became disciples of Jesus. There is also a mile marker from the Via Maris, which was an ancient road travelling along the Mediterranean Sea from Gaza to Damascus. Its northern end cut inland to the Sea of Galilee and passed by Capernaum. The synagogue at Capernaum is very well preserved. The first few layers of foundation are the typical black rock and are from the time of Jesus. The upper structure is white rock, and was built a few centuries later, but on the exact footprint of the previous structure, so that one can get a feel at least for the size of the original. In the gospels, Jesus teaches and heals at this synagogue. Literally a stone’s throw from the front entrance to the synagogue is Peter’s house. It might seemed a bit too convenient that this house is so close to the synagogue. It isn’t, in this ancient town, virtually everything is a stone’s throw from the synagogue. This is one of the holy sites which is as authentic as we can hope for. Today the location is marked by a large, hideous, UFO shaped church which the Catholic church built in the 1990s both as a place of worship and to protect the ancient remains underneath. It is built on pillars and “hovers” over the older structures below. Looking under the modern church, you can see a series of three octagonal walls. These are the remains of a 5th century church, which actually sits on top of an even older church. Underneath all of that is Peter’s house. The structure is an ancient home very similar to the dozens of others that surround it. Yet at some point in the second half of the 1st century the walls were plastered and people began carving prayers into them. So the house became a place of worship at a very early date.
Capernaum was fitting site for our last stop of the day. So where did I see the Holy Spirit at work? Everywhere. It was a wonderful and moving day, even for a guy like me who doesn’t get very emotional. Seeing where all of these places are, understanding how Jesus and his disciples could have walked around and sailed on the sea was striking. From the early morning when we sat worshipping in a boat together to the end of the day at Peter’s house, nearly every moment underscored the reality of Jesus. We have a member of our group who might have been described as a nominal or skeptical believer before the trip began. I saw this person searching their Bible and asking some great questions about what they saw. For me, the greatest moment was the Mt. of the Beatitudes. The Sermon on the Mount has been very personal to me for a long time, and seeing the place where it was delivered, understanding why it was in this place at this time, was a great moment. I was also struck by the diversity of the groups we encountered. Like everywhere you go, Japanese and Southern Americans aren’t hard to find. But the Koreans, Africans, Indians, Europeans, Australians. It seemed as if the whole world was sending delegations to explore and worship Jesus Christ. Our guide is a Palestinian Christian and it was meaningful to hear him speak about how local Christians are neither welcome in the Jewish or Arab communities but they continue to stay in the land. There are places we travel where he isn’t comfortable speaking about his faith too loudly, but at the holy sites he finds his bravery, and isn’t afraid to preach on occasion! Overall it was a wonderful day where I not only saw the ancient sites, but watched the Spirit gather representatives from the entire world together at these preserved memories of the real life of Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment