galilee { 4 }

This day we traveled around the north side of the Sea of Galilee, this was one of my favorite days. (I realized that I keep saying "this was my favorite", to be honest I absolutely loved all of Galilee and they all were unique in their own way.) The places that we went to on this day were all in the main part of Jesus ministry and have been well preserved.

Our first stop of the day was at a possible location for the “cove of the sower” where Jesus spoke to the multitudes from a boat on the Sea of Galilee. We tested out the acoustics in this cove and now know first-hand how Jesus was able to speak to so many at one time. Our teacher stood out near the water (at the tip of the "tongue" in the picture) and we stood in the cove up on a hill. When there were not cars rushing by you could hear him quite well.

Next we made our way to Capernaum, this is the town that Jesus made his home after Nazareth, he performed many of His miracles here. This city is uninhabited today, which I really appreciated because we were able to see ruins from Jesus time. The rock found in this area is basalt, which is black in color which is different from all that we had been seeing in and around Jerusalem. I loved that you could see things from Jesus time, it has been very well preserved. We sat in a synagogue that sets on top of the one mentioned in John 6 that Jesus preached in. You can tell that there are remains under the current synagogue because of the difference in color of the stone used, under the white stone is the black basalt. Another identifiable site here is Peter’s house, this is a probable site because of its location in the town, the size and also its shape.

As we made our way around the northern side of the Sea of Galilee we came to Heptapagon, which is the place of seven springs. Many think this is the location of Matthew 4 where Jesus called the disciples while they were fishing. This is thought because the warmer water would be an attraction to the fish and it is very near Capernaum, which was the fishing community and where most of the disciples were from. This is also a possible site for the story of John 21 when Peter was restored to Christ after denying Him three times.

Following this site we went to the Mount of Beatitudes in Matthew 5. This is where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. Once we arrived here the guys surprised us all by reciting the entire Sermon on the Mount. This was such a blessing and awesome experience. (yep all the guys on our trip are in this picture, plus our teacher, 12 guys and 21 girls) 

After this we went to Korazim/Chorazim. This is one of the three cities that Jesus performed many miracles, the other two are Capernaum and Bethsaida. All three of these cities had firsthand knowledge of Christ’s miracles and teaching, yet they all rejected Him. This makes me think of all of the ways that God has revealed Himself and His glory to us through even the simple thing of breath, and yet so many still reject Him today.

Next we went to Tiberius and took a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee to Ginnosar.We read of two events that happened on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus calming the sea and Jesus walking on water.

              “’Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?’” Mark 4:38-41

When we reached Ginnosar we went to a museum that now houses a boat from the time period of Jesus. In 1986 they found a boat on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and have dated it back to Jesus time period. This is most likely not Jesus boat but gives a good idea of what His boat did look like. It would have had a pole going up in the middle with sails on it. This boat would have fit about 15 people in it.