Holy Land Pilgrimage - Day Seven

Sunday, March 8th:

Once again we got up around 6-6:15 a.m. Breakfast was at 7:00 a.m. in the dining room - buffet style.

Sunrise on the Sea of Galilee:

Our group walked down to the pier at 8:00 a.m. to take a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. Before we launched, they raised the American flag and we sang the national anthem- very cool! We stopped out on the lake and had a church service. Brother David read from the Scriptures that spoke of Jesus walking on the water. John led us in 2 hymns: Blessed Assurance and Holy Holy Holy. Gary gave a short devotional with the main message of: keep your eyes on Christ, don't look away; He will hold you up. We then sang 2 more hymns: Turn your eyes upon Jesus, It is well with my soul. It was a very moving experience (I am getting goose bumps just writing about it), being on a similar type of boat Jesus would have used, being on the Sea of Galilee near Tiberias where Jesus did so much. What an amazing experience it was!!!

We unloaded from the boat on the north end of the sea, boarded the bus again, and headed north. We stopped at an area where they say Jesus gave the "Sermon on the Mount". It is similar to an amphitheatre so it has been proven that people could have hear him preach. There is a Catholic chapel built in 1939 by the Franciscan Sisters with the support of the Italian ruler Mussolini.

Our next stop was the Temple of Pan at Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi was an ancient Roman city located at the southwestern base of Mount Hermon. The city is mentioned in the gospels of Matthew and Mark. The city was located within the region known as the "Panion" (the region of the Greek god Pan). Named after the deity associated with the grotto and shrines close to the spring called "Paneas". Against the cliff and in the large cave on the left, in the third century BC, was a cult center to the fertility god Pan. In the Gospels, Jesus is said to have approached the area near the city, but without entering the city itself. Jesus, while in this area, asked his closest disciples what they thought of him. Accounts of their answers, including the Confession of Peter, are found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke; where Saint Peter made his confession of Jesus as the Messiah and the "Son of the living God", and Christ in turn gave a charge to Peter. Jeus told Peter "on this rock, I will build my church." A woman from Paneas, who had been bleeding for 12 years, is said to have been miraculously cured by Jesus. After she was cured she had a statue of Christ erected.

We drove through a Druze community. The Druze are an esoteric monotheistic religious community found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism and incorporated several elements of Gnosticism, Neoplatonism and other philosophies. They stay completely to themselves; they only marry within their community; have their own schools. They can become "wise" by going to a room and reading the "secret book"; they then wear veils; they can tell no one what they read.

At the northern tip of Israel, we stopped so we could take pictures of Syria - we were within a few hundred yards.

Love the stop sign!

We ate lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. Most had "St. Peter's Fish" (Tilapia) and a few found a coin in its mouth. Matthew 17:24-27 "And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received the half-shekel came to Peter, and said, Doth not your teacher pay the half-shekel? He saith, Yea. And when he came into the house, Jesus spake first to him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? the kings of the earth, from whom do they receive toll or tribute? from their sons, or from strangers? And when he said, From strangers, Jesus said unto him, Therefore the sons are free. But, lest we cause them to stumble, go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a shekel: that take, and give unto them for me and thee."

Brenda and I shared a meal of grilled chicken and fries. They had family style "salads" on the table. Dates were the dessert along with expresso coffee (great coffee!).

Our first stop after lunch was the church of the Peter Primacy. In John 21, Jesus appears to his disciples for the third time after his resurrection on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The night before, Peter and several other disciples had sailed out on the lake to fish, but caught nothing. In the morning, a man appeared on the shore and called out to them to throw their net on the right side of the boat. Doing so, they caught so many fish they couldn't drag the net back into the boat. At this point Peter recognizes Jesus, and promptly jumps out of the boat to wade to shore to meet him. The other disciples follow in the boat, dragging the net behind them. When they land, Jesus has prepared a charcoal fire for the fish and provided bread, and they have breakfast together (John 21:9). This is believed to have taken place on the mensa Christi, a large rock incorporated in the chapel. After breakfast, Jesus asked Peter (after his three-time denial of Jesus at the crucifixion) 3 times if he loved Him. Then Jesus told him to "feed my sheep" (John 21:15-19).

Putting my hands in the Sea of Galilee:Strange sight: catfish feeding

We then drove to Capernaum, the home of Jesus for several years. He went out from here to do His teaching. Capernaum was a fishing village inhabited from mid 2nd century BC to 11th century AD. It is located on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee and had a population of about 1,500. Recent excavations revealed that there were two synagogues in the village: the more recent was made of limestone and was built on top of the older, which was made of local black basalt. Only the foundation walls, some , and the cobblestone floor remain of the earlier structure. A church near Capernaum is said to be the home of Saint Peter. When Jesus left Nazareth, he settled in Capernaum where he chose his first four disciples, James, John, Peter and Andrew. According to Luke 4:31-44, Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath. Jesus then healed a man who had the spirit of an unclean devil and healed a fever in Simon Peter's mother-in-law. According to Luke 7:1-10, it is also the place where a Roman Centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant. Mark 2:1- it is the location of the famous healing of the paralytic lowered through the roof to reach Jesus.

Olive press:

In Capernaum, we stood in the ruins of the Byzintine Synagogue that was built on the ruins of the synogogue that Jesus preached at. The ruins of this building are among the oldest synagogues in the world.

Greek Orthodox Church near Capernaum:

We drove around the Sea of Galilee (Jews lived on the west side and Gentiles on the east side).

We stopped at Yardenit where they do baptisms in the Jordan River. While it is not where Jesus was baptized, it is the same river.

We got back to the hotel early so Brenda and I went walking through Tiberias. Shops are quite different than ours- they are very small and mainly sell one type of item in each shop. We did find one large department store. Dinner was at 7:00 p.m. It was much better tonight. After dinner, we walked to get some ice cream. I was really tired so we were in bed by 9 p.m.

A few interesting thing about the hotels over there: they do not use top sheets on the beds and they do not provide washcloths...

Riddle: What does the Bible stand for?

Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth