We were supposed to start our day with a boat trip across the Sea of Galilee, but we left the hotel a bit late and missed our boat, so our schedule for the day was reversed. Our first stop was the Arbel Cliffs - not to learn anything about the region (besides having an overview of the various locations along the northern part of the lake), but to have some fun! We climbed down the cliffs, hiked along the base, then came up the cliff in a different spot. There were a few cables and metal hand-holds drilled into the rock, but that was it for a safety system - in North America we'd be wearing harnesses and helmets, in Israel, the basically tell you "don't be stupid". It was really fun to climb down and up, the only bad part being the climbing up in full sun in high heat.
After relaxing and cooling down at the top, we headed to the church celebrating the
Beatitudes. In
Matthew, it talks about Jesus' sermon on the mount, but in
Luke, Jesus gives the sermon down on the plain. We aren't sure of the actual location, but the church is built in a flat area part way down a hill, so it's possible that both descriptions are correct. It could also be that the sermon was not done all at once, but could instead be a collection of sermons from several occasions. In the sermon, Jesus says that he has come to
fulfill the law. Torah means "to shoot" or "to point", as in, it points us in the right way to live. Jesus is responding to accusations of throwing away the law, saying instead that He has come to fulfill, or rather, to show the proper way to obey the law.
We were given some time to explore the church and ground, and meditate on the sermon, then it was off to the ruins of Korazin and lunch. Korazin isn't mentioned much in the Bible, but is made "famous" by Jesus' statement,
"Woe to you, Korazim ..." (yes, I do realize that the spelling is different, but it's the same place.) Here, the woe in Hebrew is "oy" (as in "oy vey"), meaning "Pay attention! Beware!" So this is not necessarily a curse, but a warning. There is a synagoge at the site, built between the third and fifth centuries AD, made of ornately carved basalt. There is also a replica of a Moses seat that was found here - in the synagogue, large portions of the Torah, prophets, etc. would be read while standing on a platform, then the reader would give a short explanation the passages while sitting on the Moses seat. The reader did not have to be a rabbi or a priest, though if a rabbi was passing through the area, they often got him to do the reading. That is why, when Jesus went to the
synagogue in Nazareth he was asked to read. The odd part about him reading, was that normally, large sections would be read (the reading would be much longer than the interpretation), but Jesus stopped after reading only a small section, and stopped in the middle of a sentence!
We were also shown the portion of roof on the synagogue that still exists - stone slabs covering the gap between supports. These stones would be covered with clay and straw, which needed to be repaired or replaced before each winter. Knowing that, it makes more sense that the people didn't react when the men
dug a hole in the roof to lower the
paralytic man. If someone cut a hole in my roof I'd be pretty mad at them, but they needed to redo the roof anyway, so it wasn't that big a deal that someone destroyed it!
As an aside: The synagogue was seen as a place of teaching, the temple in Jerusalem, a place of prayer. To pray, 10 Jews needed to be present (until the middle ages, the 10 could be made up of males or females, it then became 10 men when the Muslims began to spread their influence in the region) - 10 was a quorum and came to represent all Israel. So, when the spies came back from the land and 10 gave a negative report, "all Israel grumbled".
The next stop was along the Jordan River, then onto Capernaum. Capernaum was at the border of Herod's territory and along an international highway, and therefore had more traffic than Nazareth and was a good spot to be able to reach a lot of people. This is also where Jesus called
Matthew, a tax collector - he probably worked a toll booth along the highway (and would have had fixed rates based on goods being transported) and therefore was not seen to be as bad as the roaming tax collectors, who could easily charge more and claim the excess for themselves.
Jesus was in Capernaum when the
centurion sent men to ask Jesus to heal his servant. Aware of the distinction between Jew and Gentile, he sent Jewish leaders to Jesus who told him about the centurion, who was probably a God-fearer given that he paid for the synagogue to be constructed. The centurion knew that Jesus coming into his house would be an exception to how Jesus lived as a Jew, so tells Jesus not to come to his house. The centurion's statement about himself being a man under authority with servants under him, is not him ordering Jesus, but means that the centurion expects Jesus to obey the commands written in the law and contained in oral tradition. Because of the centurion's faith that Jesus can heal, even if he doesn't see or touch the person, Jesus describes him as someone with "great faith" - a compliment Jesus only gives to Gentiles!
Peter's mother-in-law lived in Capernaum, and the house became one of the early church buildings - the ruins are located under the church. (I just wish that they had built the church a meter higher so that we could get a better look at it!)
Our next church of the day was the one celebrating the miracle of the
loaves and fish, aptly named the "Loaves and Fish's Church". There is a rock under the alter where the miracle is traditionally thought to have taken place, and a mosaic in front of two fish and a plate with 4 loaves between them (this picture is copied onto ceramics found all over Israel). While the Bible tells us that Jesus broke five loaves, the mosaic only shows four - Jesus is the fifth loaf, and symbolized by the bread on the alter that is broken during communion.
Just a short walk away was the
Primacy of Peter Church. Fishing on the Sea of Galilee, Peter was probably naked or only wearing undergarments, since fishermen would often dive into the water to bring in their nets, so when Jesus called to him, he had to
get dressed and make himself decent. Jesus then asks Peter three times if he loves him. In English, we only have one word for love, but in the Greek, there are
four types of love, from greatest love to lesser: agape, eros, philos, and storge. The first two times, Jesus used agape and Peter responded with philos. The third time, Jesus used philos and Peter also responds using philos. Peter was being humble, saying that he didn't quite measure up. In switching to the lesser form of love, Jesus showed him mercy, saying it didn't matter where Peter was in his love for Jesus, that Peter could still do Jesus' work. The distinctions in love may not be that big, as the conversation probably did not occur in Greek and therefore only one word for love may have been used, but the way John wrote it up gives us this lesson.
Our final stop for the day was at the "
Jesus Boat Museum" were we viewed a 2000 year old boat dug out of the mud of Galilee and the same style as those that Peter and the other disciples would have used while fishing. Then it was onto our own, larger boat, for the trip across the lake from Tiberias to Ein Gev. The crew raised the US and Canadian flags for us, and after everyone (except me - I don't know the words) sang along with the US anthem the crew played, I had to do a solo version of the Canadian anthem! We had fun hanging over the sides of the boat, listening to the other praise and worship music they played for us, and just admiring the view of the hills around the lake. Like the previous nights, we spent a good amount of time swimming in the lake again in the evening!
After relaxing and cooling down at the top, we headed to the church celebrating the Beatitudes. In Matthew, it talks about Jesus' sermon on the mount, but in Luke, Jesus gives the sermon down on the plain. We aren't sure of the actual location, but the church is built in a flat area part way down a hill, so it's possible that both descriptions are correct. It could also be that the sermon was not done all at once, but could instead be a collection of sermons from several occasions. In the sermon, Jesus says that he has come to fulfill the law. Torah means "to shoot" or "to point", as in, it points us in the right way to live. Jesus is responding to accusations of throwing away the law, saying instead that He has come to fulfill, or rather, to show the proper way to obey the law.
We were given some time to explore the church and ground, and meditate on the sermon, then it was off to the ruins of Korazin and lunch. Korazin isn't mentioned much in the Bible, but is made "famous" by Jesus' statement, "Woe to you, Korazim ..." (yes, I do realize that the spelling is different, but it's the same place.) Here, the woe in Hebrew is "oy" (as in "oy vey"), meaning "Pay attention! Beware!" So this is not necessarily a curse, but a warning. There is a synagoge at the site, built between the third and fifth centuries AD, made of ornately carved basalt. There is also a replica of a Moses seat that was found here - in the synagogue, large portions of the Torah, prophets, etc. would be read while standing on a platform, then the reader would give a short explanation the passages while sitting on the Moses seat. The reader did not have to be a rabbi or a priest, though if a rabbi was passing through the area, they often got him to do the reading. That is why, when Jesus went to the synagogue in Nazareth he was asked to read. The odd part about him reading, was that normally, large sections would be read (the reading would be much longer than the interpretation), but Jesus stopped after reading only a small section, and stopped in the middle of a sentence!
We were also shown the portion of roof on the synagogue that still exists - stone slabs covering the gap between supports. These stones would be covered with clay and straw, which needed to be repaired or replaced before each winter. Knowing that, it makes more sense that the people didn't react when the men dug a hole in the roof to lower the paralytic man. If someone cut a hole in my roof I'd be pretty mad at them, but they needed to redo the roof anyway, so it wasn't that big a deal that someone destroyed it!
As an aside: The synagogue was seen as a place of teaching, the temple in Jerusalem, a place of prayer. To pray, 10 Jews needed to be present (until the middle ages, the 10 could be made up of males or females, it then became 10 men when the Muslims began to spread their influence in the region) - 10 was a quorum and came to represent all Israel. So, when the spies came back from the land and 10 gave a negative report, "all Israel grumbled".
The next stop was along the Jordan River, then onto Capernaum. Capernaum was at the border of Herod's territory and along an international highway, and therefore had more traffic than Nazareth and was a good spot to be able to reach a lot of people. This is also where Jesus called Matthew, a tax collector - he probably worked a toll booth along the highway (and would have had fixed rates based on goods being transported) and therefore was not seen to be as bad as the roaming tax collectors, who could easily charge more and claim the excess for themselves.
Jesus was in Capernaum when the centurion sent men to ask Jesus to heal his servant. Aware of the distinction between Jew and Gentile, he sent Jewish leaders to Jesus who told him about the centurion, who was probably a God-fearer given that he paid for the synagogue to be constructed. The centurion knew that Jesus coming into his house would be an exception to how Jesus lived as a Jew, so tells Jesus not to come to his house. The centurion's statement about himself being a man under authority with servants under him, is not him ordering Jesus, but means that the centurion expects Jesus to obey the commands written in the law and contained in oral tradition. Because of the centurion's faith that Jesus can heal, even if he doesn't see or touch the person, Jesus describes him as someone with "great faith" - a compliment Jesus only gives to Gentiles!
Peter's mother-in-law lived in Capernaum, and the house became one of the early church buildings - the ruins are located under the church. (I just wish that they had built the church a meter higher so that we could get a better look at it!)
Our next church of the day was the one celebrating the miracle of the loaves and fish, aptly named the "Loaves and Fish's Church". There is a rock under the alter where the miracle is traditionally thought to have taken place, and a mosaic in front of two fish and a plate with 4 loaves between them (this picture is copied onto ceramics found all over Israel). While the Bible tells us that Jesus broke five loaves, the mosaic only shows four - Jesus is the fifth loaf, and symbolized by the bread on the alter that is broken during communion.
Just a short walk away was the Primacy of Peter Church. Fishing on the Sea of Galilee, Peter was probably naked or only wearing undergarments, since fishermen would often dive into the water to bring in their nets, so when Jesus called to him, he had to get dressed and make himself decent. Jesus then asks Peter three times if he loves him. In English, we only have one word for love, but in the Greek, there are four types of love, from greatest love to lesser: agape, eros, philos, and storge. The first two times, Jesus used agape and Peter responded with philos. The third time, Jesus used philos and Peter also responds using philos. Peter was being humble, saying that he didn't quite measure up. In switching to the lesser form of love, Jesus showed him mercy, saying it didn't matter where Peter was in his love for Jesus, that Peter could still do Jesus' work. The distinctions in love may not be that big, as the conversation probably did not occur in Greek and therefore only one word for love may have been used, but the way John wrote it up gives us this lesson.
Our final stop for the day was at the "Jesus Boat Museum" were we viewed a 2000 year old boat dug out of the mud of Galilee and the same style as those that Peter and the other disciples would have used while fishing. Then it was onto our own, larger boat, for the trip across the lake from Tiberias to Ein Gev. The crew raised the US and Canadian flags for us, and after everyone (except me - I don't know the words) sang along with the US anthem the crew played, I had to do a solo version of the Canadian anthem! We had fun hanging over the sides of the boat, listening to the other praise and worship music they played for us, and just admiring the view of the hills around the lake. Like the previous nights, we spent a good amount of time swimming in the lake again in the evening!
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