Walking where Jesus walked

Day 3

Today, I woke up to this view of the Sea of Galilee:

Our focus for the day was on the region surrounding the Sea of Galilee where Jesus spent the majority of his earthly ministry. Our awesome tour guide, Uri, explained that the area surrounding Capernaum/the Sea of Galilee was not the normal choice of a location for a rabbi to begin his ministry for a number of reasons. 1) During the 1st century, this area consisted of a population mix of half Jew and half Gentile. 2) There were a large number of Romans since the second largest Roman post was nearby. 3) Numerous tax collectors were in the area because of tariffs leveled for nearby border crossings. 4) There are a number of hot springs in the area where sick people visited in the hopes of having their ailments healed by the waters. Sickness back then was viewed as a result of sin. All of these factors meant the area was crawling with "sinners." Why would Jesus go there to gain a following? It wasn't the normal thing for a young rabbi to do. But Jesus wasn't normal. Jesus' goal was to show that God's love and grace extended to all people, even the common sinners of the time. He hung out with the people who needed him the most.

We began the day with a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. Yes, that's correct: A BOAT RIDE ON THE SEA OF GALILEE! WHERE JESUS SAILED. And walked on water. And calmed the sea. And where the disciples fished. Unbelievable. It was a fun, gorgeous ride. As we chugged away, our guide pointed out various landmarks in the distance, such as the hill the demon-possessed swine ran down, Capernaum, the commonly accepted location of the Mount of Beatitudes, and the coast-line that a lot of Biblical stories took place on.

Sailing!

Our destination was a museum on the coast that held a 1st century boat someone uncovered about 30 years ago. It was cool seeing their design and the size (small), and it was easy to see how the disciples became afraid when the storm arose while Jesus was sleeping. It wouldn't take much to capsize that thing.

We drove from there to the Mount of Beatitudes--the spot believed, according to tradition, to be the place where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). I was super excited to go, envisioning us sitting on a pretty hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee. I was quite disappointed to find there was a Catholic Church built on the spot, with multiple buildings and manicured lawns. Not at all what I had dreamed of. Plus, there were approximately one million people there. While I'm glad for the experience, I kept gazing at a nearby hill and wishing that was where we were at.

View from the Mount of Beatitudes bus parking lot. It was a much better view than at the church. This one I appreciated!

The disappointment didn't end at the Mount, though. Other spots had churches built on them. An access point to the Sea of Galilee and the town of Capernaum both had churches and other buildings built on or around the locations and ruins, and both were incredibly touristy. I was annoyed, but I'm still thankful for the chance to be there.

Along the Sea of Galilee, we stopped at a section of the coast that Jesus spent a lot of his ministry years at and walked down to the rocky beach. It enjoyed envisioning the disciples fishing along there or Jesus cooking fish on the beach after the resurrection (the place where he restored Peter...John 21).

Capernaum was next. It was a town that Jesus frequented and taught in often, and also the town where Peter's family lived. While still a tourist nightmare, I was excited to see the excavations that had taken place. A synagogue from the 4th century A.D. that was built on top of earlier synagogues had been unearthed, along with the remains of the town and homes from the 1st century...which was when Jesus was there. And then there was the site of what is accepted to be the spot of Peter's home. What. A very early Christian church had been built on top of the spot where Peter's home had been, so there were the ruins of that remaining. But it was his home. Jesus ate dinner there. It was incredible. But...there was also a church built like a spaceship that was suspended over the site of the home. Thank you 1960's architecture. Bizarre. Oh well. Still amazing.

The site of Peter's home. Notice the spaceship suspended above it.

From there, we continued to the Golan Heights, which is the location of the story when Jesus sent the demons into the swine and they ran off the cliff into the sea (Mark 8:28-34). I can't tell you how wild it is to see where these things took place, to visualize the swine running down the hill into the water. I also just took in the landscape around the Sea of Galilee away from all the developed tourist areas. The rocks, shrubs, trees, grass, and hills were so pretty. I kept wanting to jump out of the bus and just walk through it, to experience the region the way Jesus did in its natural form. Seeing the landscape was much more impactful to me than going to a church building built on the Mt. of Beatitudes because that was much closer to what Jesus saw and walked through. 

Bottom portion of a section of the Golan Heights

Last stop of the day: the Jordan River. Again, there were a million people there, but the water was a gorgeous color, and I just had a blast wandering around with my CA co-workers.

Campus Ambassadors represents

The Jordan River

This trip has been great. Not only have we visited numerous Biblical sites already, but we have learned about many other aspects of Israel as well: more recent history, the steps Israel had taken as a nation, the types of agriculture in the area, and the current make-up of the people. It is all so interesting...and this is day 3!