Day Four in Israel - Part 2

At Ginosar, we visited the Ancient Galilee Boat. This was a fishing boat discovered in the Sea of Galilee during a terrible drought. They carefully excavated it and discovered that it was from the first century. This is the type of boat that from which the fishermen disciples would have fished and on which Jesus and the disciples would have traveled across the Sea of Galilee. What an amazing piece of history.










Our next stop was the traditional Mount of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5-7). This was a beautiful and serene place. The landscape consisted of rolling hills overlooking the Sea of Galilee. I truly enjoyed this setting. Although there was a church built on the site, it was done in a way that wasn’t overbearing or ridiculous. Looking at the hills, it was easy to imagine a large crowd gathered with children running through the long grass, listening to the Master Teacher talk about life in such a practical way.





In stark contrast to the last site, Korazim was a place in total ruin (Matthew 11:20-24). Jesus walked these streets and performed miracles here. Yet they did not repent. May we learn from their mistakes! May we learn to recognize the work of His hand! We saw a Christ Crown of Thorns tree. This is the tree traditionally believed to have been used to make crowns of thorns for prisoners destined for execution. There are two types of thorns, long straight ones and short hooked ones, making this perfect for a tool of torture. Within the synagogue, there was a Seat of Moses. This is where the Rabbi sat to read the Torah and the Prophets. So, when Jesus came to the various synagogues to teach, He would have sat on one of these.

Next we went to Capernaum. This became Jesus’ home away from home (Matthew 4:13, Mark 2:1), and was Peter’s hometown. It was here that He performed many of His more well-known miracles, including the healing of the paralytic lowered through the roof by friends (Mark 2:1-12) and the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31,Luke 4:38-39). He taught in this synagogue many times (Mark 1:21). And yet this city was one of the cities that Jesus cursed for not repenting (Matthew 11:20-24). Once Jesus had ascended and the disciples began house churches, this is where Peter’s flock would have met.









We moved on to Bet She’an, the site of a very old city dating back to 5th Century BC and magnificent Roman ruins. The bodies of King Saul and his sons were displayed on the city walls here (1 Samuel 31), King David conquered this city and it became the administrative center of King Solomon’s reign. During the time of Christ, Bet She’an was one of the cities of the Decapolis and was the most important city of northern Israel. It was destroyed in 749 C.E. by an earthquake at night (no bodies were found in public places). When I climbed to the top of the Tel (hill) overlooking the city, all of the columns were toppled in the same direction. It was crazy to see the obvious effects of the earthquake. The theater here was beautiful. Some of the people in our group performed a little skit on the stage. Pretty cool. The Roman bath house was quite sophisticated. There was also a public lavatory that we got to see. Hmmmm. All of this was very impressive considering the time that it was built. When we were on the way down from the Tel, we came across a shepherd with his sheep. As the shepherd clicked once, the sheep immediately followed. I was reminded of John 10:27 where Jesus says this, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me…” What a neat visual image of a profound truth.









Yardenit Baptismal site is the traditional site of the baptism of Jesus (there is new evidence suggesting that the actual site may have been on the east bank of the Jordan, not this site). Yardenit means “little Jordan” and is actually a spring that feeds the Jordan River. The water here is beautiful and the setting is serene. As we waded into the water, we could see some large catfish swimming close to us; ironic considering that catfish are NOT kosher. There were probably 40 different languages quoting Mark 1:9-11. That was amazing. This is verse 11 in Hawaii Pidgin: “Had one voice from da sky wen say, “You my boy! I really love and aloha fo you, an I stay good inside cuz a you!” I love it!

We are exhausted today. But it has been an unforgettable Resurrection Day! He is Risen INDEED!