Jesus, Initiator and Qualifier

Today was about as full a day as we’ve had since we arrived. We started our day with a tour of the Yigal Alon Museum in Kibbutz Ginosar, where we’ve been staying the last couple nights on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. The Yigal Alon Museum houses a first century fishing boat that was discovered by a couple of local fisherman in 1986 and excavated and preserved over the course of the following decade. It’s pretty incredible to see and to imagine all the stories of Jesus and the apostles in similar boats throughout the Gospels.

We followed that tour with a trip across the Sea of Galilee (which is really more of a lake) on a significantly more modern boat. The ride took about 45 minutes and proved to be a special time for our group for a few different reasons. We spent the first 10-15 minutes of the trip silently reflecting as we looked out over the waters where so much of Jesus’ story took place. We followed that very reverent moment by dancing around like crazy people to very loud, very Israeli music. Somewhere in between those two special moments, one of the crew members came to the bow of our little boat and cast a net on each side to try and catch some fish (to no avail). We also had the privilege of watching a storm begin to roll in over the lake as we headed back to shore.

After our boatride, we made our way up to Mount Arbel, a beautiful hillside that overlooks the Sea of Galilee. We hiked through thick mud and sharp, bitter wind to get to a beautiful, little natural amphitheater, where Wes talked about the intentionality Jesus showed in both community and solitude. He would often retreat to places like Mount Arbel to rest and spend time alone with God, but he wasn’t reclusive. He didn’t remain in solitude indefinitely. He was also intentional to come back DOWN the mountain and be involved in the lives of the people He served. This was a particular convicting reminder for me, personally; one for which I’m grateful. Afterwards, we spread out over the hillside and spent a few more solitary moments in prayer and reflection. It was a powerful and intimate time.

After Mount Arbel, we stopped at a little falafel restaurant and enjoyed one of the best meals we’ve had on this trip, before heading to the remains of the first-century town of Chorazin. We spent some time there discussing the secular roots of the Old Testament idea of redemption, and the implications it has on our understanding of Jesus’ final discourse in the book of John. We also spent some time familiarizing ourselves with the layout of a first-century Jewish synagogue.

Next, we drove to the Mount of the Beatitudes, Araemos Topos. This is one potential site for the preaching of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. While we don’t know that it’s the exact location where he preached, we’re confident that it is both near and similar to the actual site. We huddled up on the hillside and read through all of Matthew, chapter 5, and part of chapter 6 together, finishing with a reading of the Lord’s Prayer in unison. It was such a sweet moment.

We then continued down the hill to the shoreline of Galilee at Tabgha, where we spent some time reading about Jesus calling his first disciples. Their calling is significant in that they were already actively working in their father’s trade as fisherman at the time of their calling. We can infer from that that they had not been accepted as disciples of any other rabbi. Jesus is intentional in his pursuit of those who He would call as followers, and he doesn’t base that call on any sort of exceptional skills or qualifications. He is both initiator and qualifier. That is good news for us, and Tabgha, once again, served as a welcome reminder.

Our last stop of the day was at Capernaum, a city tremendously vital to the initial spread of the Gospel. Thankfully, because of the cool, wet weather, a site that often proves to be a bit of a tourist trap was relatively empty, giving us the space and freedom to really linger and explore.

We ended our day with a fish fry at a local restaurant. Great food and great fellowship have come to be the standard with this group. Wherever we go and whatever we’re doing, we’re doing with smiles and laughter. I couldn’t have asked for a better start to 2016.

Tomorrow, we begin our journey toward Jerusalem. Keep on praying, friends! It’s been an incredible trip so far! Thanks for reading! More tomorrow!