To choose to follow Jesus

Our tour continued today beginning with a boat trip across the Sea of Galilee. It continues to be an incredible experience to walk and participate in the places Jesus did a majority of his miracles (70%). While on the boat, we worshipped together with songs led by Daniel, a local boat captain/worship leader here in Israel. It’s so humbling to be together on the waters where so many stories from the Bible happened.

After the boat trip, we landed on the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee to see a boat recovered from the muds on the bottom of the lake. This boat dates back to the time of Jesus and very well could have been a boat Jesus and his disciples actually rode on. As many of the sites are here in Israel, even if we don’t know if this was the exact site where Jesus was, it helps paint the picture of how things may have looked in the time Jesus walked this earth.

From the shores of the sea, the bus took us to the town of Corazin, another one of the towns Jesus both taught at, as well as cursed, due to their lack of faith. Being in the remains of the synagogue there (a synagogue Jesus would have surely visited) challenged us with understanding the incredible cultural pressures Jews would’ve had on them after hearing the teachings of Jesus in this area. To choose to follow Jesus would have been a rejection of family and culture to many at that time.

From Corazin, we found a great spot to stop for falafel on the side of the road. We then found our way to the mount of beatitudes, the site of Jesus’s longest recorded sermon, aka the sermon on the mount. We learned about the vertical and horizontal approach to reading this passage of scripture in the place it actually happened. Such a cool experience.

Lastly, we ended our day at an amazing site where we not only got to canoe down the Jordan River, but many of our group made the decision to publicly declare their faith by getting baptized in the Jordan River, the same river that Jesus was baptized in. It was a beautiful and emotional site for all. Thanks again for following along in the blog, more to come tomorrow. God bless.