Day 04 - Galilee: Tabgha, Capernaum, Chorazin, Mount Arbel, Kinneret Kvutsa

After a quick devotional time at the shore near our hotel, we took the short trip to Tabgha, located on the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee.  

We started the morning to the peaceful sound of water lapping the rocks on the shore of Galilee. Somewhere on that shore line, Jesus appeared to the disciples after the resurrection.

We are walking where Jesus walked. Stop a moment and realize how remarkable that is. What a privilege!

Terry shared about the calling of the first disciples, in Luke 5, and how Jesus got in the boat of Simon Peter to teach to the crowd. Laura pointed out how being on the water amplified the sound, and it became apparent how Jesus used the shore to his advantage while he taught. After catching no fish, Jesus asks Peter to go to the depths and cast down his nets. Peter is a seasoned fisherman and knows that fishing where it is shallow is how best to fish, but he replies, “At your word I will lay down the nets” and does as Jesus says. The quantity of fish almost breaks the nets and Peter asks James and John to come and help. Both boats are filled with fish, nearly to the point of sinking. Peter falls before Jesus and exclaims “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” And it is this small nugget of faith that makes Peter the man for the job. Jesus tells him not to be afraid because he will now be a fisher of men.

We know the story, that Peter denied Christ 3 times. And after his crucifixion, Peter’s hopes were dashed. He was crushed that the man he had pledged his life to was now dead. He told his fellow disciples that he was going fishing, and the joined him. On this particular night, they caught nothing. As day was breaking they approached the shore and saw a man there that asked if they’d caught anything. After hearing that they hadn’t, the man told them to cast their nets to the right side and they would find some. As the nets filled to the point of breaking, Peter’s companions told him it was the Lord. Peter, in his joy, leapt from the boat and swam to the shore, in pursuit of his Lord, Jesus. After hauling in the fish and eating, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him. Jesus replies to "feed his lambs, tend his sheep, and feed his sheep": Follow me. What is he telling Peter? All is forgiven, but don’t forget the mission. Don’t go back to fishing. I’ve called you to something greater. Do not go back to your old life, and do not forget the course that I have put you on. Let us not forget to stay the course. The imperfect, impetuous, overzealous Peter of the Bible, is also the Peter that is a hero of the faith. Let us not forget that God doesn’t call perfect people to the work of making disciples. He calls faithful people.  

Next we headed to Capernaum, the home base for Jesus. He performed around 40 miracles there, and because Capernaum was well populated and a major place of commerce, the stories of Jesus and his miracles were easily passed throughout the land.

We were able to see the location of Simon Peter’s home, as well as a synagogue from the 4th century. Yehuda taught us that only synagogues can be built over previously demolished synagogues. We also know it was a Jewish building, because Jews were the only ones decorating with date palms, at that time. Upon finding the 4th Century synagogue, further excavation found one below it dating back to the 1st century – the time when Jesus walked the earth. Jesus attended church in that synagogue!

While sitting beside the synagogue under beautiful olive trees, Terry spoke of the story in Luke 7. A centurion (a Gentile) had a slave that was dying. The centurion begged Jesus to heal his slave, but claimed that he was not worthy enough to have Jesus enter his home. This was a man who did not follow the law or proper culture, but had the one thing needed – faith. And this faith caused him to fund the building of the synagogue in Jesus home base of Capernaum.

Next, we travelled to the village settlement of Chorazin. This settlement was from the 3rd and 4th centuries that was excavated in 1962 – 1964 and 1980 - 1987.  Yehuda and Terry explained how the people lived in that time. The synagogue, which was in remarkable condition, was located in the center of the village, denoting God’s importance and signifying Him as the center of their lives.

As we continued moving throughout the village we came to their dwelling place, known as insulas. These extended family dwellings had a large common open-air area in the middle for cooking, gathering, washing clothes, etc., and each family or couple had a room just off of the common area. When a bride and groom were to be married, the son and fathers would build a new room for them. Only the father would decide when the room was ready, and they would marry that day and inhabit the new space. This was reminiscent of John 14, in which Jesus states:

"Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going."

The villagers knew each other on a deep level, they helped each other, and shared stories of their family and faith. They had intimacy, but little to no privacy. In this town geography mirrored spirituality.  Living conditions were modest, whereas the synagogue was grand. Terry pointed out that this is a far cry from how most of us live today. Our homes are often grand and our churches are small and go without. In today’s world, we have a lot of privacy and very little intimacy. But is that how God wants us to live? Is that what Christ modeled?

Sin thrives in privacy, but gets stamped out in intimacy. We need intimacy to be healthy, and that is why we see an epidemic of loneliness in our world today.

We as people are brothers and sisters in Christ; an extended family. We need to recover our sense of intimacy and forgo privacy. Remember that revival always begins with confession. Just as the synagogue was central to their lives, so must Jesus be the center of ours. Allowing him to simply be first, lets us check him off the list and move to other things, but when we allow him to dwell at the center, he grows in us and pushes the sin out out of lives. Our faith will become infectious if we allow him to dwell in the center of our midst.

After a delicious lunch of falafel and ice cream, we drove to Mount Arbel. Hiking the last bit up the mountain, we were able to take in the breathtaking view. We were even blessed enough to enjoy in on an incredibly clear day. What a sight! Yehuda kindly recapped some geography, so we understood where exactly we were and what we were seeing below.

Sitting on rocks at the top of this mountain, Terry spoke of the importance of prayer. Jesus modeled for us how to pray (Matthew 6: 5 - 15) and it’s recorded that He would often withdraw from others to pray and commune with God. It is believed that Jesus would go to Mount Arbel to pray, and that this just might be the location referenced in Mark 1:35 – "very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

A key purpose of prayer is to let go of the burdens of life and share them with our Father. When we let go, God will fill us with His peace. God is sovereign and works things out for good, but how often do we pause and allow that reminder to sink in? How often do we let go of our anxieties and allow God to fill us with his peace? It is an easy exchange, yet we find it so hard to make time to do.

We all sat quietly on the mountain top praying, casting our anxieties on God and taking in the majesty of His creation before us. If you’re like me, I could have spent the day basking in that peace that only God can bestow upon us. What a gift.

Because we had such a clear day, we made the extra stop, farther south, at Kinneret Kvutsa to take some pictures and get another view of the Galilean shore. Then we loaded back up and made the drive to Kursi, the place where Jesus cast the demons out of the possessed man. While this story is an interesting one, Terry commented on the last line of the text from Mark 5 “And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.”

And everyone was amazed! Of course they were! Remember what Jesus has done for you. He may have not cast demons from you, but we have had the crushing weight of sin removed from us by Jesus himself. Let us go and tell all of how good and merciful he has been to us. They will be amazed.

Until tomorrow…

Ashley Fuhr