Today in Capernaum

Today we turned our whole focus from a time in the Negev desert to areas surrounding the Sea of Galilee.
This is a huge deal! First let me tell you, I am so thankful for all we learned in the desert, but I am grateful to be learning deeply while next to a beautiful lake. But even more so, I am grateful to have walked today in the very footsteps of Jesus, both physically and spiritually.

Today was a day marked by the word disciple or discipleship. In the church world we know this word but it’s meaning has become very broad over time I think. This word disciple comes from the Hebrew word, talmid. Let me explain what a talmid was in Jesus day.

Every child would learn Torah. They would memorize it. They would discuss it and lock it away in their hearts. As they began to master the memorization of Torah they would progress in their education to midrash. This is when they take the text and study what others have said about it (teachers, rabbis, etc.) and see how good they were at thinking through what that might mean. At this point, a major shift would happen. Some students would be identified as exceptional and encouraged to go the next step of becoming a student of a rabbi or talmid. All the other students who didn’t meet this standard were encouraged to return to their fathers trade or their family.

Once these select students began to choose a rabbi to follow they patiently waited for the rabbi to show a traditional sign of acceptance that the rabbi saw something in them that meant that the student could become like and even surpass the teacher. The goal was not the passing of information but to become just like your rabbi! Once the rabbi recognized a talmid as one who was ready and worthy to follow he would approach the talmid and say lech akarai! Come follow me!

We learned this today in Capernaum, which was a fishing village that Jesus made his home base for ministry. We stood in a synagogue Jesus taught and healed in! We saw the home of Simon Peter with whom Jesus lived. We were reminded how Jesus called disciples/talmid in the Bible. He chose fisherman, tax collectors, doctors....all men who had returned to their fathers trade. They had not heard those precious words from a rabbi, lech akarai! And we know Jesus stood on the shore in one story from the scriptures and calls out to these “Rabi school flunkies” as loud as he could, lech akarai!!!!! Come follow me!!!! Of course they JUMPED out off that boat at the chance to become talmid! Becoming talmid means everything!

Does becoming a talmid/disciple of Jesus mean everything to you? Because Jesus himself is calling out to us through the centuries across oceans and blogs on the internet to ask you, reading this, lech akarai! You are worthy! He has chosen you! Come follow me!

Today we visited Capernaum, Korazin, Magdala, and Bethsaida. After we learned about Jesus great invitation to us to come follow him, we learned one key way he wants us to do that.

A key feature of these communities along the Sea of Galilee was that they all lived together in insula. Insula were houses sort of speak that held multiple generations of families. So there might be one big great room used for common purpose like preparing meals and eating together and for sitting and just having conversations. At night each part of the family would go sleep in their one room. So imagine in your house or in your fathers house are many rooms. Granny and PawPaw have a room, you and your spouse and ALL your kids have a room, your brothers family has a room, and on and on. These communities were very tight knit and close. They knew each other’s needs and hopes and dreams and would have worked together to achieve them. They would have also driven each other crazy, and fought and argued like all families can! Jesus refers to these communities in scripture several times as he teaches all around them. I believe he wants us to be talmid who live out our call to follow him in community! And today I saw the truth of it with my own eyes, and felt the truth of it deep in my spirit. Lech Akarai!

Written by Reese Henry