Day 07 - Mt. Arbel, Capernaum, Magdala & Chorzain

Hey Friends,

It seems that each day here in Israel just keeps getting better. Now that we’re in northern Galilee, the focus has shifted from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

We started off today on top of a mountain that overlooks the Sea Of Galilee and the “orthodox triangle,” the three cities where Jesus spent 70% of his time, Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida. This mountain was likely one of the mountains where Jesus would retreat to pray.

From the mountain, we traveled a half hour to Capernaum, and sat in the ruins of a synagogue where Jesus healed the crippled man on the Sabbath. And just a stones throw from the synagogue are the ruins of Peter’s house.

From Capernaum, we went to Magdala, the hometown of Mary Magdalene, and the site of a recent excavation of a synagogue, just 30 centimeters beneath the surface.

Or last stop was Chorazin, an ancient Jewish city to which Jesus had some harsh words. In the ruins of the synagogue in Chorazin, Rod and Libby gave an incredible teaching on what discipleship looked like in Jesus life and ministry, and what discipleship might look like in ours. It is sure to be an ongoing conversation in the days to come, as it felt quite significant and central to why we are here together.

We hope you all are well. We prayed for our friends and family back home this morning. Missing you.

Shalom.