Adventures in Galilee Part 2

This is the second post from Galilee, so if you havent read the first one, read that first! We started Tuesday at the Mount of Beatitudes which commemorates the site Jesus preached the sermon on the Mount. There is a pretty little church at the top which has all of the beatitudes written in stained glass. It is very peaceful and pretty. Next we went to Tabgha, which commemorates the miracle of the fish and loaves. In the church there is a stone under the altar on which Jesus supposedly stood when he blessed the food, and in front of the stone is a lovely mosaic of a bread basket flanked by two fish. Then we went next door to the church of the Primacy of Peter, which marks the site where Jesus appeared to his apostles on the sea after the resurrection and made them breakfast. Here Jesus also reinstated the primacy of Peter by commanding him 3 times to care for his flock. Inside the church there is a huge rock that marks this site. These 3 churches are mostly pilgrimage sites, but they are very beautiful and prayerful.

The view of the sea from the Mt of Beatitudes

A little blurry, but the rock on which Jesus stood is under the altar, and in front is the mosaic of the fish and loaves

The rock on which Jesus made breakfast :)

Then we went to Capernum, a fishing village where several of the Apostles were from. There is a 4^th century synagogue built on top of an older synagogue that would have been the one Jesus taught in. There is also the house of Peter, now with a huge church built over it. Scholars are pretty certain this is Peter’s house because the archaeological evidence shows that the site took on a transformation in the mid 1^st century, where it was no longer used as a residence, but as a public facility, most likely a house-church. Then in later centuries, an octagonal church was built around the site. 

Peter's house under the church. You can see the octagonal shape.



After Capernum we went to a little museum that houses a first century fishing boat. This was really neat because it would have been the type of boat used by Jesus and the Apostles. There was a video showing how it was found by two fishermen in the 1980’s when there was a drought and the sea was low. They called in archaeologists who were so careful in excavating it because the wood had been waterlogged for so long, it would break easily or crumble if it dried. They used some scientific process to replace the water in the wood with wax, so now the boat is preserved forever.

The Jesus Boat

It is so much easier to imagine Jesus on the sea when you know what kind of boat he was in! But it doesn’t make it easier to figure out how they braved the waves! Every night when the sun goes down, the air cools and the movement of this air creates wind and waves. So every night, the sea gets rough, some nights more than others. That is why Jesus’ calming of the sea was so important, because he halted this natural, continuous occurrence.

We took a boat from Tiberius, across the sea of Ein Gev, where we were having dinner and staying overnight. The boat ride took a little over an hour and was peaceful and the sea and surrounding lands were just beautiful. But when we got to the other side, the sun had dipped below the mountains, and the sea was so rough that we couldn’t dock! The boat was tipping back and forth so much, I could see how the apostles in a much smaller boat would have been in danger of capsizing! We had to go all the way back across the sea to dock because the waves were calmer there. Then we had to order a bus to pick us up and drive us around the sea to Ein Gev. It was such a perfect example of how unexpectedly the sea can change, and I sure wasn’t going to complain about having extra time on the boat! When we got to Ein Gev, were had traditional St. Peter’s fish: head, tail, fins and bones included! 

On the front of the boat, the first trip across



The waves getting rougher, still beautiful though!

The next day we went to Bethsaida, where some of the Apostles were from. They had the remains of a fisherman’s house there because they found in it many fishing tools and nets and things like that, so it gives a good idea of how they would have lived. The site also has a section of original Roman road, which is always exciting to walk on because there is a pretty good chance Jesus would have walked there as well. 

Standing on one of many Roman roads we have seen



Then we went to Gamla, where we really didn’t know what we were getting into. We stopped at a cliff that goes into a deep valley, and our professor pointed to a sharp peak in the middle of the valley and said that was where we were going. We looked down to find a steep rocky path leading down the cliff, after which we would have to walk back up the slope to the peak that the city was on. We started down fresh with full bottles of water, and immediately saw a group on their way back, drenched in sweat, panting like dogs and barely dragging themselves up the hill. Needless to say we were a little intimidated. While climbing down, all I just couldn’t imagine why anyone in their right mind would built a city on such a steep slope! And on top of that, why the Romans felt the need to try to conquer it 3 times! If I’m a Roman, I’m going to look at the city and say, “Nope. You Jews can keep this one!”

We got to the bottom, rested for a bit, and started up the slope towards the city. It has a great synagogue, several houses, the hole in the wall where the Romans broke through, and a fabulous view all the way to the sea of Galilee. After exploring for a bit, we rested some more, refilled our water, and started the trek back up. It really wasn’t as bad as it looked, and Lori and I made it up in about 15 min, only stopping a couple short times, panting, hearts pounding, and drenched it sweat. But it felt like a great adventure and accomplishment! To top it all off, there are vulture feeding grounds there, so the vultures were circling overhead the whole time, just waiting for one of us to collapse!

Our goal...

Trying to get there...

On our last day we started by going to the Jordan river and renewing our baptismal vows. It was a really pretty and serene site for pilgrims to do just that. Most of the other groups had the white gowns on and were doing full-submersion baptism, but we just put our feet in and Sally poured water over our heads as we renewed our vows. It was really moving to be doing that in the Jordan river.

Sitting by the lovely Jordan River after renewing my baptismal vows

Then we went to Beit She’an, which was a Gentile city back in Jesus’ day, and was a really well preserved site. They had a great theater, huge bath complex, and a long shopping district lined with columns. Its claim to fame though is that the tree on the mound that covers the earlier cities was the tree in Jesus Christ Superstar where Judas hangs himself.

The whole site. You can just barely see the tree on top of the hill.

On the way to Jerusalem we stopped in Jericho, which was really just disappointing. It was sweltering hot, and there was not much there to look at other than part of a Canaanite tower and some mud bricks in a hillside. I was expecting more.
When we got back to Jerusalem, it was like coming home! I love that I can call the Mount of Olives home. The sisters were so excited to see us again, and we really missed them and the food!