You can see the whole lake in a sweep of the eyes, with hills on the opposite side rising steeply. It is beautiful. Most of Jesus' ministry happened in the NW quadrant of the Sea of Galilee. You can see it all at the same time, standing on almost any part of the shore.
Fell asleep quickly, but woke at 5 AM. Morning Prayer by myself out next to the sea, and off on another day. Today the focus was on Galilee, and the ministry here of Jesus. We started out up at Korazim, a village build of basalt rock. Typical ruins from the 2nd century, with the outlines of a house, baths for purification, a synagogue, and surrounding buildings. Most of the teaching today was on the reactions to the Roman presence: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots. There are parallels between these movements and what we have seen in the Anglican realignment. Worth thought... We talked a lot about synagogue life in normal villages.
We went on to the Mt of Beatitudes where Jesus may have preached the Sermon on the Mount. We talked about his teaching on the Kingdom, and we walked from that hill down to the sea - about 40 minutes. Everywhere it is hot and dusty.
Our next stop was Capernaum, Jesus' base of operations in Galilee. There are remains there of what was very likely Peter's house, and ruins of a synagogue. It was very hot by this time, about 109 I was told! We talked about what it meant to him to move from Nazareth to Capernaum, and about how this city functioned as a major economic crossroads.
From there we went in succession to Tabgha (the place where Peter was reconciled to Jesus after the resurrection), Nol Ginosar (a museum where there was a 2000 year old fishing boat that had been discovered and preserved), and then boarded a boat for a 45 minute ride back to Tiberius. We quickly changed and went for a swim in the sea, then into the pool, then showered and went to dinner.
After dinner we had a discussion on what has stood out for us... Many things. Here are a few of my own to date:
- I am stunned by the cruelty of the ancient world. It is unavoidable. Especially the severity of the Romans in their rule, and their treatment of enemies in warfare... brutal.
- I am also shocked by the harshness of this land. Life is hard here. Many of the places we visited simply had no possible way to support life. The land is rocky and hills are everywhere. There is little water. It is dry and hot. God chose this place to give to a special people. God chooses people and places for his purposes. Perhaps the harshness of the land was the condition to draw out dependence and faith and trust in him. It seems he still does that in our lives these days. Bless him for the rocks!
- Kay (our tour guide - she is great) said, 'God chose Israel because he loved the Gentiles'. I have thought a lot about that. And we could add, God chose us because he loves our co-workers and neighbors and friends and enemies.
- Arab Nazareth is these days a large, suffering city on a hill. The difference between Arab cities and Jewish cities is palpable. There is something broken in Arab culture, and much suffering. The position of Palestinian Christians is the most unbearable - hated by Moslem Arabs and Israelites.
- Israel is a modern state with ancient realities, all mixed together. The modern state and culture is thoroughly secular. And there is still much observant Judaism.
- Israel is a land that has had to contend for its faith and its existence. Everywhere you see that about Israel. You can feel it in the air, walking through airports or Arab cities. They feel no one can be depended on for their survival. That is a historic fact that is millenia old - and it is a present day reality. Israel lives in opposition.
- God is bringing GAFCON to Jerusalem, to this place of opposition and faith and heritage. We are also a movement that has had to contend for our faith, that widely has had to pay a price. And God is bringing us here to this place, this land, this people for a very important moment in our formation. That fact has caught my attention.
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