Day 05 - Sea of Galilee, Mount of Beatitudes and Capernaum

I have said it before and I have to say it again… Wow, Wow, Wow!  Every time I think that there can’t possibly be more for us to see or more to learn, I am proven wrong, and today was no exception.

We spent our day focused on the Sea of Galilee, which isn’t really a sea, but a fresh water lake! The day started in Chorazin, an ancient village in the Roman and Byzantine periods on a hill above the Northern Shore of the Sea of Galilee. As we have seen time and again throughout this tour, in ancient times, family was the most important unit of the community and here we saw it again. We were able to see the houses built around the courtyard or "insula" of the entire family where they would have dinner together every night!

Here we also saw a synagogue or house of assembly. Synagogues were originally used for community business but later after the Temple was built in Jerusalem they changed to become a place where scripture was read and taught.

We moved on to the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus gave his most important sermon. We spent some time reading aloud Matthew 5-7, which includes the Beatitudes and Jesus instruction on how to pray.  I am pretty sure there was not a dry eye in group. I know it hit hard for me.

Mount Arbel was our next stop in the Lower Galilee with the most breathtaking views of Mount Hermon and The Golan Heights.

On to Tabgha we went! Situated on the northwestern part of the Sea of Galilee, this area is traditionally accepted as the place of the miracle of multiplication of the loaves and fishes and the fourth Resurrection appearance of Jesus after his crucifixion.

Our next stop on the tour was Capernaum. A fishing village established during the time of the Hasmoneans on the Northern shore, the population during ancient times was  between 1500-2000 people. Two ancient synagogues were revealed, one built over the other and a house believed to be the home of Saint Peter. We spent some time in the synagogue reading Matthew 11:20. It was another moment where tears ran down my cheeks knowing that we were standing in the exact spot that Jesus once stood.

Our last outing of the day was to Gennesaret to see a boat that was found that to be like the one that fishermen used in the ancient time. And the we took at trip across the Sea of Galilee (another moment of lots of tears) to have a dinner of fresh fish!

We finished our night singing Karaoke and having fellowship. 

Jana Tucker