“Jesus Country:” Exploring Capernaum and Magdala

For the past few days we have been exploring the Shephelah and the areas around the Dead Sea, the arenas for many of the most well-known events of the Old Testament. But today we got the chance to explore what one of our professors affectionately dubbed “Jesus Country!” We got to travel across Sea of Galilee and the land surrounding it, the place where Jesus spent the majority of his life and ministry. Though things have certainly changed a little in the last 2,000 years, it’s still mind boggling that today I was looking up at the same mountains Jesus would have, I crossed the sea He crossed many times and I walked in areas that our Savior would have likely trod.

One of the places we got to see today was Capernaum. This seemingly insignificant fishing village is very important to us as Christians because it was the place where Jesus often dwelt (Matt 4:13; John 2:12) and spent the majority of His ministry. It is in Capernaum where Jesus does many marvelous miracles such as healing the centurion’s servant (Matt 8; Luke 7), restoring the man’s hand that was withered (Mark 3), causing a paralytic to walk (Mark 2), healing a ruler’s son (Luke 4), casting out a demons (Luke 4) and even getting money to pay taxes from the mouth of a fish (Matt 17:24). In Capernaum we also hear important teaching from Jesus, such as when He proclaims that He is the Bread of Life and that those who desire to be first in His kingdom must make themselves last and servants of all.

At Capernaum we saw two important sights. The first was the house of the apostle Peter. Scripture tells us that Peter lived in Capernaum and we saw the sight that tradition has held for hundreds of years to be his home. This tradition was confirmed when excavations found the remains of a 1st century house and an inscription probably written in the 2nd century, identifying the dwelling as belonging to one who is “a servant of Jesus Christ.” When the longstanding tradition as well as the archeological evidence are weighed together, it seems highly likely that this was indeed the house of the apostle Peter. And in Mark 1 we are told that Jesus was at Peter’s house at least once when He healed Peter’s mother in law. Our professor told us that this is one of the few places in Israel where we can say with great certainty that Jesus was right here!

The second important sight in Capernaum was the synagogue, a place of Jewish prayer and worship. Scripture tells us that Jesus preached and taught at this synagogue many times. It was also likely at this synagogue that Jesus healed the man with the withered hand. The synagogue standing today was built in the 4th century, right on top of the 1st century synagogue that Jesus preached and taught at. Parts of this older synagogue have also been unearthed so we can see the very place where Jesus often spoke! Again, it is an incredible feeling to be in a place where we know for sure Jesus, God of the universe made flesh, was! It was interesting to see where many had stuck pieces of paper in cracks in the walls of the synagogue with prayers to Jesus written on them.

Another place we got to see today was Magdala. This may or may not have been where Mary Magdalene was from (apparently the semantics on this are quite complicated) and, while not explicitly mentioned in Scripture, was likely a town Jesus visited and taught at. This town was discovered very recently and demonstrates the unique nature of being in a land with such rich history. Apparently, a church was trying to build a retreat center and in the midst of the building process stumbled upon this ancient town, which, to their great benefit, is now becoming quite the attraction. One of the amazing things they found at Magdala is an incredibly well preserved 1st century synagogue. This gives us the clearest example of what the synagogues Jesus often taught in would have looked like. Getting a picture of this helps to give greater context and understanding to many of the stories we hear in Scripture.

At Magdala we were given some time to reflect on our trip thus far. As I took in the cool night air I was thanking God for what a privilege and joy it is to have this amazing opportunity to be in this land. In an act of unfathomable grace God became man and dwelt among us, and today I was where he dwelt and walked where he walked!

Today was a crazy day for our group. Between the boat ride across the Sea of Galilee, through Tel Dan, Caesarea Philippi, Hazor, Capernaum, seeing an ancient boat and ending up at Magdala, it was a full day for us. Within this day, however, we have learned so much about our Lord, the places that he went, and a little more about Ancient Israel. I will leave the boat ride for brother Terrence, and Capernaum, the ancient boat, and Magdala to Matt Hilbert. I will be focusing on the Tel Dan dig site, Caesarea Philippi, and Hazor.

I’ll start by talking about the last of this three, Hazor. Not because it is important or unimportant, but rather, it’s just easier to get it out of the way first. Hazor, pronounced like hotsore with a hard, phlemy “h”, is an ancient city from the early or middle bronze age. This
dates it to before the time of Abraham. Later, it was used by Israel as a very important line of defense for a couple of major trade routes that went through this area. The stones that still stand today are quite impressive.

There is an excellent example of a for room house here as well,
which was a typical dwelling of Israel when they lived in the land. And there
was a great temple there as well, or a palace, depending on who you ask. My
money is on a temple, but I’m not an expert here. It was so amazing to see this
excavation work done. The city itself is one of the largest ancient cities that
has been found, and it has a great example of upper city dwellers and lower
city dwellers, both of whom ate different foods and were probably rich and poor
respectively. And again, while this was a super cool site, it didn’t catch my
interest like the other two sites did.

Tel Dan is amazing. First off, there is an archway here that
belonged to a Canaanite city that existed before Dan did. So, for those who say
the Romans invented the archway gate entrance? Both Dan and Ashkelon had
archways all the way back to the early or middle bronze age, well before the
Romans existed. We also found a Stella that says, “Bet David” which means
“House of David” This is proof that David, King David from the Bible, existed.
He was a real-life person. This was found right before three gate systems that
people would walk through.

The next amazing thing we say here at Tel Dan was the temple, the
alter, the place of sacrifice. In 1 Kings 12, we read that after the North
separated from Judah, that Jeroboam created two new worship places. One was at
Bethel, just over the border from the south, and the other was at Tel Dan. For
the longest time, we have thought the Northern Kingdom were idolaters,
people who never worshiped God correctly. However, what we found in the ground
at the temple in Tel Dan did not line up. There were no pig bones, for
instance, which is a huge tell-tale sign that they were not worshiping
correctly. The second reality we see is the dimensions of the whole place match
almost exactly to what they should in Leviticus, and they are almost Identical
to the temple in Jerusalem. What this means is that the North’s problem wasn’t
Idolatry, as much as it was lacking justice, mercy, humility. Amos 5 comes to
mind here. Read it.

For those who may object and say, “What about the golden calf mentioned in 1 Kings 12?” Well, the calf may not be the sin we think it is. It is a sin, it is a problem for the north. However, in the religions of their day, a calf was a subordinate symbol. Asher, the head god of that region, rode on a bull. A calf denoted Asher’s son, Ba’al. The calf in Tel Dan, for my money, is that. It represents a subordinate God. God is not under anyone. He is the one true King, high above all others.

The last sight we went to was Caesarea Philippi. This place, once a site used to worship Pan, the half man, half goat god, became a place to worship the current Caesar of Jesus’ time, Caesar Augustus. While at this site, we went over the story of Jesus talking to his disciples at this place. We learn some very interesting things about Caesar, specifically, his names. Among all his names, he was known as “The Son of god” Julius Caesar, Augustus’ adoptive father, was think about the story that took place at Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:13-20), Peter declaring that Jesus is the Son of God is an act of high treason in his world. However, Peter goes one step further. He says Jesus is the son of the “living” God. Not just any God, and not a dead one. He is the son of the living God. The other noteworthy things about this place, Caesarea Philippi is beautiful. Lush green trees everywhere, grass around, and a spring that provides endless flowing water. It was a gorgeous place.

There is so much more I could say about each site. Books could be written about the significance of each location, and I’m sure some books have been written. But that is for another time. This experience was incredible. To see the places Jesus walked, to see stories and aspects of the Bible come to life before my eyes is something I will never forget.  After all this, we had lunch. It was a well-deserved break to enjoy Falafels!

Written by Mykel Hall