Galilee (Day 1)

To be able to sit on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the water that Jesus walked on, and write a blog about a day filled with the Bible hard beneath our feet is such a blessing and a privilege. This trip is only on its fourth day and it feels like we’ve been here for weeks. We’re literally in a land where you can’t even build a shopping mall without unearthing an ancient synagogue. Around each corner is another place where God acted, or led His people, or even walked.

We started our day off today by visiting Chorazin. Rich told us about the value and importance of family and community in the time of Jesus. We looked into stories like the prodigal son and customs regarding marriage, not only to get a better picture of how we should love one another, but ultimately to get a better picture of how God loves us. In the ancient culture, doing what the prodigal son did to his father and his family and community should have ended with his death, but his father, just like our Father, welcomed him back with love and joy. Just how it’s the responsibility of the groom to build a house for him and his bride-to-be to live in amongst his community, so also Christ is preparing a place for us to live with Him in heaven. We live in such a self-focused, privacy-glorifying time. There’s beauty in being in community, in letting people into your life, in having accountability and in growing integrity. Something Jen said to us today was, “I choose to be in right relationship more than I choose to be right.” What a challenge to be humble and loving.

We also got to show off our knowledge of Jewish synagogues today by exploring the ruins of one there. It’s amazing to be in such a historical place and recognize what went on there thousands of years ago.

From Chorazin we moved on to the Mount of Beatitudes, a possible place where Jesus gave what is arguably His most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. We got a great perspective of the disciples and their lack of qualifications, as well as a great perspective of the Sea of Galilee far below, stretching out in front of us. Kelsey blessed us with a recitation of the entire Sermon on the Mount, three whole chapters from Matthew! We sat on a mountain overlooking Galilee and heard the words of Jesus that He spoke to people in that day! Kelsey’s teaching was kept to the bare bones of scripture, a sweet reminder that a teacher’s interpretation is not necessarily needed for the richness of the gospel to penetrate our hearts. Each of us was able to take something different away from all the wisdom that those ancient words hold.

After the Mount of Beatitudes we moved down to Tabgha, right on the edge of the Galilee. Chris taught us about Peter and Christ’s calling on his life. Jesus finds us where we’re at. Each time He comes to us, He comes gently and in love, to right where we find ourselves. We got to see Peter throughout the course of his time with Jesus desiring to first follow his rabbi, then desiring to be like his rabbi, and finally just desiring his rabbi. Is Jesus our deepest desire? Are we seeking Him and His kingdom first? Each of us has a calling on our life. For Peter, as for us, it was to be a fisher of men. What does that calling look like in our life, and how can we live in it while putting Christ first in all things?

When we had finished at Tabgha, we moved on to Capernaum. Jeff spoke here on many things, but one of the biggest takeaways we received from his talk was this: if you ever see even a hint of God, MOVE TOWARDS IT! It’s clear that Jeff’s desire for us is to obey our Father and not resist His drawing us. Jeff’s teaching was a great addition to what we had just received from Chris in relation to how we view ourselves and our futures in light of the cross. When he finished teaching, we were given some time to walk around and look at the new church (…which looked not unlike the Millenium Falcon), as well as the old temple that it was built above. There were also ruins of a synagogue made entirely of sandstone. The remains of this white structure stood out beautifully against the rest of the dark basalt stone that surrounded us.

Then, finally, we drove to lunch (being overwhelmed with biblical experience and emotional stimulation creates quite an appetite). We were all very excited to be eating some authentic Israeli food: falafel! We sat in plastic lawn chairs under a tent on a deck and ate some really, really good sandwiches.

We ended our day’s journey with Mount Arbel, which turned out to be a monster of a hike. However, the Lord blessed us again by keeping the weather beautiful, so the walk wasn’t too gruesome. After marching past some cows, we arrived at one of the most incredible sites ever. The view at the top of Arbel absolutely took our breath away, and made the hour-long walk up more than worth it. We then gathered to listen to Allie teach. She didn’t have much to say, because she wanted us to take the time we had to meditate in such a stunning place. She shared about how quiet time has impacted her life, and also how we are called to move forward after meditation into action. Allie then gave us twenty minutes to be alone, to soak in as best we could our surroundings and worship the Lord in spending time with Him. These few moments were lovely and heart-wrenching. For many of us, it was easy to hear God’s voice and feel His presence in such a magnificent place. When we were finished, we gathered again. Rich anounced that he had decided to move the baptism to the last day we will be in the Galilee. Although this thought was hard for some who are eager for baptism, we believe that there is a very good reason that the Lord put this on Rich’s heart, so no complaints from us.

Riding back to our kibbutz concluded today. We are tired again, but continuing to drink deep the time we are given here with the staff and with this community we hold so dear.

Peace be with you,
Zach Kenyon and Olivia Pierce