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2 And opening His mouth He [began] to teach them, saying,
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven...(See Matthew 5:1 to cont.)
We hiked down the hillside, where a stone monument had been placed and had a prayer of thanksgiving. This stone translates to "Go teach all nations" - something was believed to have happened here.
The pilgrim Egeria, who spent three years in the Holy Land, sometime between 383 and 395 AD, tells of a cave in this hillside. "On the hill which rises nearby is a grotto, upon which the Lord ascended when he taught the Beatitudes." My wife stands in the cave in this photo which also overlooks the hillside toward the sea of Galilee.
Jesus healed the servant of the centurion. This Roman official was credited with building the synagogue (Luke 7:3).
In this synagogue, Jesus gave sermon on the bread of life (John 6:35-59).
Under the present day church of Peter in Capernaum, there is a glass floor in the center overlooking a house that was the object of early Christian graffiti from the 2nd century and a 4th century house church built above it. In the 5th century a large octagonal Byzantine church was erected above this.
The archaeology of Capernaum proves the town to have been very busy with
olive and wine presses, home, buildings and gardens.
These snowy mountains are called Mt. Hermon. They are located at the southern tip of the Lebanon and Syria border at North Israel. In the Bible it is known as Ba’al Hermon, Sirion, and Sion. Psalm 133 speaks of the bounty of water, which gets sent to Caesarea Philippi at the bottom of these mountains. There are lots of mine fields here left from previous Palestinian wars.
It is quite possible that the Transfiguration took place somewhere on the slopes of Mt. Hermon.
There were also windmills at the winery in Golan heights to help with the electricity.
This is the area referred to in Matthew 16:15 "He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Translation in my opinion? These rocks contained false gods and religions
of Rome. Jesus Christ was telling Peter that the real truth rested in what
the Holy Spirit had told Peter. That Peter's answer,' Jesus is the Christ',
was the unmovable Rock that our faith could be built on.
The hike to the falls took about 10 minutes and their were several groups visiting that day to both Banias locations.
A large crowd gathered around Jesus at a deserted place on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was late and the people had no food. Jesus told His disciples to give them something to eat. They replied there is nothing here but five loaves and two fish that were carried by a boy. Jesus had the food brought to Him, and ordered the crowds to sit on the grass. Then He took the five loaves and two fish, and looked up into Heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before the people, and He divided the two fish among them all. The food was multiplied, and all 5000 men and their families ate and were filled. Twelve baskets were collected afterwards.
Tabgha is one of the traditional locations for the calling of the disciples. The warm springs that feed the lake here cause algae, which brings fish, which brought fishermen.
We ate fish with the heads were intact. Some of us had chicken. These are the kind of fish that are caught by fishermen in the sea of Galilee and taste like bass.
(Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25) Jesus got into a boat with His disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee. A great storm arose, causing high waves. The waves beat into the boat so that the boat was being swamped. Jesus was sleeping on a cushion in the stern, when His disciples, fearing they would die, woke Jesus. He rebuked the wind and said to the sea "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased and there was a dead calm. Jesus said to them "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" The disciples were filled with great awe and said to one another "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" - When we asked our guide about this, he said that he has been caught on the lake when a storm comes in from the west. It sweeps through like a wind tunnel and the water can rise to 3 feet rocking a little boat of 15 people or less (see 2000 year old boat preserved).
We sang songs of praise, enjoyed the breeze, and imagined the days of
Jesus and the disciples being out on these waters.
The Jordan is not like the Mississippi river in the US. It is a relatively small river that one could easily throw a stone across to the other side.
The waters were cold this evening (about 60°F), but we wanted to be baptized in the waters that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. I had already been baptized at least once and didn't expect to feel any different, but I did. Something felt wonderful in my heart - like a real inner cleansing.
Mark 1:9-10 "And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove."