Middle East Travel Seminar: Following Jesus around the Sea of Galilee
BY DAVID ANDERSON
Our day started with a boat ride on a calm Sea of Galilee with a light breeze (top photo). It was a warm sunny morning, but a hazy sky covered the mountains. Being in the region of Jesus’ ministry, we had the boat stop for us to worship together with a meditation on the story of Jesus feeding 4,000 people (Mark 8:1-10; 14-21) followed by communion. We also learned that archaeologists discovered a fishing boat in the Sea of Galilee during a drought that is from the first century CE.
Upon reaching shore, we went by bus to the Mount of the Beatitudes on the Galilee mountains overlooking the Sea of Galilee. We listened to the reading of Matthew 5:3-10 at the traditional site believed to be the place where Jesus taught the Beatitudes to the people.
We continued our journey to Tabgha to see the first century mosaic of bread and fish to remember the story of Jesus feeding 4,000 people. It is located in the Church of Heptapegon (The Seven Springs), erected in the 4th century, and believed to be the site of this miracle that followed Jesus teaching the people and healing the sick.
In Tabgha, we also visited the Church of the Primacy of Peter erected on the site believed to be where the resurrected Christ appeared to Peter and six other disciples. We listened to the stories read from the 21st chapter of the Gospel of John which resurrected hope to the disciples. Afterward, many of us walked down to the shoreline to meditate as some desired to feel the water of the Sea of Galilee on their feet where Jesus may have done as well.
In front of the altar in the church, there is a large block of stone around which the church was built. It is believed to be the place where Jesus, in John 21, had started a fire and invited his disciples to bring some of their catch to be grilled.
After lunch, our final visit took us to Capernaum where Jesus also carried out his ministry. It was a bustling city of three-to-five thousand people, a hub of commerce for caravans of traders. It was a crossroads for Jews and Gentiles. Jesus taught in the synagogue that now lies in ruins destroyed by an earthquake in the 2nd century CE. We also saw the excavation of Peter’s mother-in-law’s house that Jesus visited following an exhausting day of healing many people (Matthew 8:14-17). Upon arrival, Jesus learned that Peter’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever. Jesus touched her and she was cured.
Despite temperatures that reached 104 degrees, the day proved to be spiritually meaningful for all of us who visited significant events in Jesus’ ministry.
David Anderson is an alumnus of Union.
