Thursday, April 16, 2009

Passover has finished- it is Thursday and we are at the Sea of Galilee. It is so beautiful and fertile around the lake. So different than what we have seen so far, except for in the Jordan Valley driving up from the Dead Sea. Yesterday coming into Nazareth was really beautiful and there are many fertile hills around, but where we are is not so much limestone any more but basalt. The kibbutzes that are around here are lush farms that were placed on reclaimed swamps that have made for fertile fields. There are mango trees, date palms, fruits of all kinds growing. There are many olive trees and a variety of vegetation. You can imagine what a wonderful place it was for Christ to live and preach in this area, after he began is ministry.

Our route was pretty good coming from Qumran, where on the Jordan River near there Christ was baptized by John and Baptist. He then came into Nazareth, where he was turned away as just son of Mary and Joseph and not as the Savior. He then came through Cana, where his mother was at a wedding and he performed his first recorded miracle, turning water into wine for the wedding feast. He came into Capernaum and would have preached and taught in the synagogues in the area and specifically in the one in Capernaum. There he chose Peter, James, John, Andrew and others. Peter lived in this town and today we visited where his home would have been right on the shores of the lake since he was a fisherman. The scriptures describe these men as being willing to follow without hesitation, to become fisher of men. Christ chose his apostles and then performed countless miracles.

This morning before we headed out I marked my scriptures and the girls and I read of the miracles performed in a day of the life of Christ in Capernaum, healing the man with palsy, healing the blind men, raising a daughter of a man in the village, his life was one of service and he asked that his apostles and disciples do like wise, to serve others, not to just preach, but the fields are ready to harvest, there is much work to be done, not of just preaching the word but doing the word, healing the sick, caring for those around them. This is a great example to us, not to just teach the word but to believe and live upon the word- action- care for our neighbors for those in need and through serving them, you find love for them.
Capernaum was basically an archaeological dig, with the foundations and walls of the home of Peter and of other homes that were there. There is a large church built over the home of Jesus while he lived in Capernaum- which was the home of Peter, which was built over the foundation of an old church in the Byzantine era. The most impressive thing there were the remains of an old synagogue that was built over an older Synagogue that would have been the one Christ woujld have taught in. There was a terrible earthquake that destroyed the town in about the 8th century AD and sicne they no one had really lived in the town until the Franciscans came over a 100 years ago and began excavating and restoring the town that so many miracles occurred in and where Christ kept his base during his three years of his ministry, after his baptism.
The girls and I enjoyed being on the water, you can imagine old fishing ships on the lake and there are some that are out now, that take people out onto the lake where Christ walked on water, where he had the apostles pull up large nets of fish and right in front of where we walked where the Centurion asked for sheckles as a tax and Christ told Peter to cast his hook into the water and fetch a fish, inside wouljd be the coin to pay the centurion- they did not want to make trouble and proof that God would provide. There are so many things that happened in and around this lake. There are so many beautiful rolling hills, where Christ couljd have gathered his disciples, and spoken to large groups, with a most beautiful backdrop of the lake and tall grasses.
We headed over to the latest archaeological finding in the area, which is the oldest documented wooden craft found, here on the shore of Galilee. It was discovered just a few decades ago in the mud off the shore. It has been dated to be around 2000 years ago. It is not known whose boat it was but it is near Capernaum. It was a fisherman’s boat. There was a great battle against the Romans on the lake in around 70 AD when the Romans were conquering the Jews and the fisherman fought until thousands died on their fishing boats and the Romans came on large rafts and killed them. It could have been boats that Christ’s apostles or other fisherman in the area had been in. It is really well preserved and is very cool to see.
We had lunch at a great little place with HUGE portions near here and then headed to the Mt of Beatitudes. Here Christ gave the Sermon on the Mount. You can easily see how this could have been the place, it looks down on Capernaum. It is a rolling hill, now covered with tall grasses and groves below. He could have easily been seen from the top of the hill and heard, and what a beautiful setting to learn of his new and great commandments, so very different than from what had been taught before. He taught of loving your enemy, doing good to those that harm you. Prior the Law of Moses was an eye for an eye and love thy friend and hate thine enemy. But now we are told here to turn the other check to forgive and love one another. He expounds on the commandments and teaches a new law, that is made possible through him- since he will be the one that makes the sacrifice for this to become possible.
We hiked up the tall hill on a dirt road that wove through the fields. So beautiful. We sat on a water block and looked over and read from Matthew 5-7 and talked about these verses. We enjoyed taking pictures. We all agreed that truly as we read these passages here, we can no imagine where they were spoken, it makes it more real, more even relevant to us. We continued up the hill, it began to rain. There was a beautiful red poppy on the side of the path, surrounded by other flowers and by the acacia tree, which is the tree that those that mocked Christ made a crown of thorns out of . It was a perfect symbol. We didn’t see another red flower on the hill. It stood alone amongst the beauty but by the patch of thorns. We climbed up and found Yosi, who came to find us in the rain and walked around the church at the top of the hill- a Catholic chapel where the Pope had visited in the 60s. Near here is wehre the last Pope came and gave a sermon and thousands gathered. There is a convent here too and now a little Inn.
We came back down and I took I nice walk on the beach around the Sea of Galilee in front of our Kibbutz En Gev. We had seen in town yesterday that the Nativities where going for 1/3 less than we bought them for in Bethlehem. I was very frustrated and felt very used and put in a strange position, with our Arab taxi driver who just dropped us off there and there were no other options. We paid way more than we should have for the Nativities- like a few hundred dollars. There is a whole game they play with tourists, since you are sort of held captive. I complained how I felt that I had been taken, since there were Nativities there in town that were similar and so much less expensive, like a couple hundred dollars. Today our guide Yossi reported that to our tour company, that I believe also gets a cut of what we spend. We were refunded a few hundred dollars by our tour company today, thanks to Yossi who pursued that. It will go towards his tip. He has been very gracious and has given us our space on this trip. It has been a little difficult since I like to do things in our way and we like to have our space so we can chat, have our own thoughts and be alone to laugh, talk and be in the place, it is different this time since we really have to have a driver. But, there is no way that we could do this trip without one- and for one thing Yossi is SO much better than Yoshi- I think we have said a hundred times, what if we still had Yoshi?!!! So Scary!!!

Well, off to dinner on the Kibbutz. I bought a book about Kibbutzes. They fascinate me, this communal living. How and when it has worked and how they are evolving. It is very socialist in most ways- all caring and donating to the community and having no money of their own. But, how it is more of an ideal and how it doesn’t totally work in this world- what if someone works harder, or needs more than another or wants more or something more expensive than another. They have moved to salaries rather than equal shares and so in some ways they have lost some of the ideal. But it is almost like towns of old, when they drew together as a matter of safety,, survival and way to raise families and join together to be more successful as a group than as individuals in a rugged terrain.