It was early morning and after a fabulous breakfast at our hotel, we were off to sail on the Sea of Galilee. Can you imagine?
The Sea of Galilee? We were going to be sailing where Peter fished, where Jesus walked on the water...
The Sea of Galilee.
The Sea of Galilee (the Kinneret or Lake Gennesaret) is a magnificent geographical marvel surrounded by pretty, rural, agricultural settlements.
Famous because of its prominence among New Testament writings (as is the whole of the Galilee as the place Jesus lived)…the Sea of Galilee is one of the earliest settled areas in the Land of Israel.
This region boasts archaeological ruins sitting alongside some of the first pioneering settlements in Israel, as well as religious sites, modern cities, and endless outdoor pursuits.
Jesus’ early ministry was centered around the area of the Sea of Galilee. (Luke 5:1) and the Sea of Tiberias (John 6:1).
Four of the disciples, Simon, Andrew, James and John are all called here (Matthew 4:18-22) and it is here that Peter and the disciples experienced the miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5:1-11).
Jesus walks on the water (John 6:15-21) and Peter walks on the water (Matthew 14:22-33).
Jesus calms the storm on the Sea of Galilee (Luke 8:22-25) and (Matthew 8:23-37).
As we boarded our boat to sail on the very same sea, we were unaware that we were about to connect with our Lord and Savior in a most remarkable worship session.
The Ancient Galilee Boat.
In 1986, two brothers from kibbutz Ginosar discovered the Galilee Boat when a severe drought caused the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee to recede. The vessel had been buried and was protected by the seabed’s sediment.
The Israel Antiquities Authority, assisted by many volunteers, rescued the boat in a remarkable eleven-day excavation. Excavators packaged the fragile waterlogged hull in a cocoon of fiberglass and polyurethane foam and the successfully floated it to the nearby Galilee’s Miracle Center where it underwent an extensive, carefully monitored, eleven-year long conservation process in a specially built pool to conserve it.
The Galilee boat has been firmly dated to the first century BCE-CE. This humble vessel is a remarkable porthole into the past providing a clearer view of Galilean Seafaring that forms a backdrop to both Jesus ministry and the Battle of Migdal.
The Chapel of Mensa Christi (table of Christ).
This is where Jesus appeared to the disciples at the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-24). Here He prepared breakfast for them after His resurrection and it is here where He restored Peter and called Peter to feed and tend His sheep.
The chapel of Mensa Christi was built here to honor that event. It is a tiny chapel with superb acoustics where we worshipped the Lord briefly before dipping our feet into the Sea of Galilee.
Oh, the wonder…to think that we are standing in the water at the place that Jesus made breakfast for the disciples…
I can almost hear Peter splashing through the water and the Lord laughing…
Capernaum or Capharnaum.
The town that Jesus loved.
Here Jesus chose Peter and the other apostles, worked many miracles, and pronounced His discourse on the Eucharist in the synagogue.
It was the place where Simon Peter lived (Mark 1:21, 29). Matthew lived here (Matthew 9:9). Jesus lived here and operated His ministry from here (Matthew 4:13-17). It was the place of many healings (Matthew 8:5-17; Mark 1:21-28) and it was the place where Jesus spent much time preaching. (Mark 9:33-50: John 6:24-71).
The remains of the synagogue and the Byzantine church as well as numerous houses of the ancient city have been excavated, with remains dating back to the Persian age (fifth century BC) and the Bronze age (3rd-2nd millennium BC).
Behind the synagogue are the remains of many of the houses of the inhabitants of Capernaum. Everything was built very close to the synagogue. Simon Peter’s house, where Jesus prayed for his mother-in-law was approximately 75m away from the synagogue.
Simon Peter’s house.
The ruins of Simon Peter’s house and the Byzantine church that was developed gradually around it as Simon Peter’s house became too small as a church, are still visible under the new Memorial that was built above it in 1991.
The ‘Memorial’ that has been built over his house has a glass floor in it so that you can view the excavation from above.
Magdala - Lunch time at ‘Ali’s Restaurant’ overlooking the Sea of Galilee.
Lunch was a dish called ‘St. Peter’s fish’. It looks …. BUT it tastes yummy! Teamed with salad and pita bread (Falafel), fresh dates and Turkish coffee…and some more Turkish coffee…really…we have to go?
The Church of the Mount of Beatitudes.
This church was built on the side of the mountain where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 5:1- Matthew 8:1.
Onwards team…forever onwards…back on the bus and on our way to Yardenit.
Cell phones charging, little fingers busy sending messages and pictures back home…we are on our way to the Jordan River to be baptized!
Yardenit.
Qasr al-yahud is the baptismal site of Jesus and was one of the largest pilgrimage sites in Israel. It is a little further south along the Jordan River. After the Six-Day War, Qasr al-yahud fell under Israeli occupation. Due to military activity and excavations, the Ministry of Tourism established Yardenit in 1981 as an alternative pilgrimage site.
To be baptized into Christ is to lay down your life and to be raised in Christ…
What does one say when one’s eyes behold the same river that Jesus stepped into to fulfill the law by being baptized by John the Baptist?
It is not a wide river and ducks and geese go swimming by in the light green water.
It is cool as I step into it, and as I wait there is a sense of a holy awe and an awareness of how my life has become inextricably joined to the life of my Savior.
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