Holy Land: Day Three

We moved quickly today, spending ten minutes here, twenty minutes there. We began the day taking a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.   The first thing which  came to mind was how quickly the winds would change.  One moment a cold wind would be churning the waves and the next moment it seems as if the waves remembered the Christ we follow because the water became glass, singing a hushed, “Peace, be still.” Secondly I realized how close we were to the borders of Syria and Lebanon, thinking about the dangerous I’ve heard on the news about these two countries.  But what am I afraid of?  My memory doesn’t match the wind’s, for Jesus crossed to the other side of the lake. What a risky move.  I feel like Peter saying,  “Lord, what were you thinking?”

     Now I’ve used Jesus crossing to the other side of the lake many times in sermons as a means of saying, “Jesus wasn’t afraid to share his faith,” but going to the other side of the lake is far more bold than saying a tentative “Merry Christmas,” at the grocery store.  Why have I not been so bold? What the hell am I afraid of? Rejection? Mockery? Shame? Maybe, but you see, Jesus didn’t go over to the other side of the lake with a fifty pound Bible.  He brought with him healing and grace, the goodness of God which even if rejected transforms lives (the people rejected him, but the story remains alive in my strangely warmed heart).

After docking at the ultra modern (and a bit out of place) boat museum, we rode to Capernaum (in full disclosure, I can’t quite remember what the exact order of our schedule was for the rest of the day, but just go with it. The rest of what you will hear is true even if not chronologic). Capernaum is where Jesus lived for a good part of his ministry. It’s so small it’s hard to believe. I understand why Jesus went into the mountains to pray.  In capernaum, there was no where to hide.

Hidden beneath a glass-bottom church are the ruins of what is thought to be Peter’s home.  Left behind pottery fragments suggest the site’s importance.  Early pottery fragments were household items not unlike other homes, but later fragments are those used in worship, which would br found in first century house churches. Because Jesus goes to capernaum to heal Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever, it is quite likely that this was the home.  Regardless if it is or isn’t the actual home of Peter, the ruins are saturated with history and a loud silence of holiness.

After leaving Capernaum we journeyed to the site of the sermon on the mount. The hillside near the eastern shore of Galilee make a natural amphitheater, at which Jesus could have easily spoken to thousands of people. You can almost see the story come to life. I would imagine that even a nonbeliever could feel that something very special happened here.  Most to the point is what the crowd would have seen while Jesus was preaching.  Across the river there were two large cliffs which were Zealot strongholds, makeshift fortresses for those who were actively resisting Rome with the sword. This become particularly heavy when you can hear, with a faithful ear, Jesus saying, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be children of God.” How did they hear this when they were daily dwarfed by these fortresses.  You might expect a messiah to say, “Blessed are those who win back our land, for they will be children of Abraham,” but these are not the words of our Lord.

Returning to the bus we moved on to Tabgha, the place of the feeding of the 5,000.  It was a small but beautiful church, whose altar rests over a large rock where tradition holds Jesus fed the multitudes, keeping in mind that this is a stone’s throw away from the mount of the beatitudes. I wish we had been able to spend more time here, but we were rushing to stay on schedule at this point, so I don’t have much to say other than I will spend more time here next time when I bring the whole family here in the future.

We quickly went to the Primacy of Peter, the location of where the risen Lord asked Peter, “Do you love me…feed my sheep.” This was a moving place, and it was the only place, looking at the geography, that this could have happened (at least as my untrained but spirit-filled eyes could see). I did not feel that someone walked along and simply said, “Yeah, we will say that this happened here.”

Our final stop of the day was the Jordan River, and this has been the most moving experience of the trip thus far.  The Jordan was peaceful with a quiet rain falling from above.  Overhead there were birds swirling and a rainbow against the dark clouds.  You just can’t make this up! Minus the commercialism on the ledge behind me, I felt, even though it was a corporate experience, it was so personal like Aldersgate. My heart was strangely warmed in the cold rain and frigid waters. Christ has taken away my sin, even mine. We sang, “Down in the River to Pray,” as people came forward to remember their baptism. The song shifted  to “Wade in the Water,” as we finished coming forward. Don told us that the water of John leads to the Dead Sea.  The Spirit of Jesus’ baptism is one which leads to life eternal.  It was one of those beautiful moments you know that it will be difficult to forget.

Tomorrow we turn our face toward Jericho, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem…