I don’t even fully know where to start today’s post! I woke up this morning and had that “where am I?” moment. Then I looked out my window, saw the Sea of Galilee and quickly became overwhelmed with so many different emotions. I think that’s the thing that has been the most difficult – the emotions. Awe, Thankfulness, Excitement? Sure, all of those and more! We stood in between two mountains at one point this morning and realized that this place had been a stronghold during the Jewish revolt of 70 AD – oh, if the ground could have spoken!
We went to Tagbha which is the traditional site where Jesus fed the 5000. The church built there is really simple, but beautiful! Then we traveled to the church of the Beatitudes and this building was more of a manicured sacred space. Our guide, Jimmy, then had us walk about 30 minutes to a place that scholars believe is the place where Jesus actually preached to the multitudes and performed many miracles. From there we had a devotion and then climbed down the hill to a little grotto and according to a 3rd century pilgrim, it’s believed Jesus used it as a hideaway from the crowds – a place of solitude.
From here we walked down to the Sea of Galilee and congregated in the chapel of Peter’s restoration. We walked in and our guide handed me a Bible and said “Please, to read John 21.” You can’t say no to that, so I began reading one of my favorite passages in all of the scriptures. Jesus appearing on the seashore following his resurrection and Peter being restored/recommissioned to “feed the sheep.” I stumbled a little through the reading, first because I was reading in the King James (yeah, haven’t done that in a LONG time) and two because it hit me what I was doing! I was reading this story a stones throw from where it actually happened! We stepped out of the church and put our feet in the water – visions of Peter jumping into the water while the others pulled in the net hit me hard. Realizing Jesus was cooking breakfast on that very shoreline was surreal.
From there, we drove on to the north to the Golan Heights. It was a bizarre place – strewn with signs and symbols of the Jewish and Syrian wars. Abandoned tanks, bunkers, and signs that warned hikers of uncleared mine fields were constantly before us. After a brilliant lunch, we saw Mount Hermon – some say this is the site where Jesus was transfigured – it’s the border of Syria, Lebanon and Israel and it just feels heavy!
We then drove to Caesarea-Phillipi and a specific location called Banias. Now, if this city sounds unfamiliar that’s to be expected. This site is an old pagan place of worship. It was dedicated time and time again to various gods – Pan, the half-man,half-goat god, Apollos, Augustine, and other Caesars. The worshippers of Baal used the place for child sacrifices and the blood from all sacrifices was thrown into this spring of water in the grotto – if the blood disappeared the gods accepted the sacrifice, if the blood washed out into the Jordan, it had been rejected. It’s a massive space with a huge wall of rock and, at the time, had to have looked like a bottom less hole gushign with water.
In this location, Jesus brought his disciples for a retreat. Here he asked them who they said HE was. Peter famously responded, “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus response to Peter was to point to the grotto and walls of rock that surrounded him and say “upon this Rock, I will build by Church, and the Gates of Hell will not be able to conquer it.” The place, Banias, was named “the Gates of Hell” because of the bottomless pit that descended to Hades and because of the overwhelming evil that occurred there.
Following this incredible experience, we drove to Kefer Nahum (the Jewish name for Capernaum). This was Jesus’ home base. We saw the house that it’s believed Jesus healed the man lowered through the roof and possibly where Peter’s mother-in-law was healed. We saw the foundations of the synagogue that Jesus preached in and the walls unearthed that stood as the very houses in Jesus day. Nearly 75% of what Jesus said and did was in the area I was in today. 7 of the 12 disciples were from this area. Jesus’ strongest words of condemnation were for the 3 cities of the Good News that make up this area (Capernaum, Bethsaida and Chorizan).
Like I said, it’s hard to fully know where to begin, let alone say what was my favorite. Reading at the Sea was pretty amazing, but standing at a place where so much evil had been done that it had to be named the Gates of Hell and know that Jesus was asking his disciples to pledge to everything that this space was not – that was breathtaking! As we stood there, I realized, we are still being asked that question by our Lord – “who do you say, I am?” It reminded me that as a disciple, I’m being asked to stand for EVERYTHING He stood for – to model my life after Him. Does my life reflect His nature, or does it do so in words only? A disciple who only went to church and spoke words wouldn’t have been able to keep up with Jesus – I guess that’s why they had to hoof all that way up to the Gates of Hell in the first place!
Shalom for now –
jim
