The Jesus Boat

We started our boat ride by raising the American flag and singing the American national anthem.  Apparently, this has been a daily ritual, since 9/11.  (We have seen several cut signs, saying, "Don't worry, America.  Israel is behind you.")

It will be 80°F in Israel today.  At home, Marcia told Ken that it snowed, and is around freezing.

We are heading for the south end of the lake.  Directly ahead, high on a hill is Safed, which is thought to be the city Jesus referred to when he said that a "city on a hill cannot be hid."  It is a little bit hazy, and I am not sure the picture will turn out.

It is very quiet and peaceful out here on the lake.  The water is extremely calm, and there are none of the other boats out now besides ours.  This may be because it is the Sabbath.

The boat we rode on is a replica of the Jesus boat, an ancient boat found here a few years ago, which is of the type fisherman would have used in Jesus' day.  We are about to go into the museum to see the boat and a video about how it was found.

Mount of Beatitudes

We are going into a Catholic church on the Mount of Beatitudes.  The grounds are landscaped in sections with a placard for each of the Beatitudes.  The walls inside the church have pictures of the traditional 14 stations of the cross.

We are going to walk a trail now, down along the edge of the natural amphitheater and come out approximately at the place where Jesus may have stood, if this is the correct place.  There are several similar natural areas within a mile or two of here.  If this is not the exact place, it is somewhere near.

It is quite something to look down toward the lake and imagine that Jesus is down there speaking.  Walking through this field is like walking through any field, with weeds as tall as we are in places.  Sound carries very well here.  Without competing noises like the traffic we hear now, a man could easily speak to several thousand people without any amplifier.

At the bottom of the hill the currents from 7 springs come together in the lake.  We see birds gathered to fish, and presumably the disciples fished here, too.  This is the traditional spot where John 21 took place.

It has taken us about half an hour to descend on the trail.  We have discovered that an iron fence has been erected, blocking our way, and the gate is locked.  There is a gap under the gate, and we all have to crawl or "limbo" under in order to get down to the road where the bus is waiting.

David spoke to a concessionaire across the road in front of a church and learned that the fence was put up recently to protect the banana field.  There is a path and a stairway now that comes out on the other side of the field.

The church is the Catholic Church of the Primacy of St. Peter.  It is supposed to mark the place where Christ told Peter "feed my sheep."  Our guide interprets Jesus asking "Lovest thou me" three times as being related to the three denials.  This is a Franciscan church that had been completely buried at one time.

Capernaum

We are going now to Capernaum (k'phar-Nahum--house of Nahum).  This city is a major nexus in the spread of the Gospel.  It was Jesus' home base.  It is also one of the three cities that Jesus cursed (Matthew 11:23), and nothing but ruins remain today.  It was completely destroyed in the 600's.  We will see the actual synagogue where Jesus preached, and walk on stones dating from his time, where he probably actually walked.  Only a small part of the city has been found.  Since the synagogue was usually in the center of the city, it can be estimated that only a very small part has been located.

Crossing over Jordan

We are now going to cross over the bridge at the river Jordan where it feeds into the Sea of Galilee on the north end.  We are walking out of "Beulah land."  The real Jordan river doesn't look a whole lot different from the Jordan River we have in Utah.  About the same size, with a lot of reeds and papyrus along the banks.

We have crossed the river and are now in territory that was controlled by Syria before the 6-day war in 1967.  Almost immediately after we crossed the river, we passed the tel Bethsaida.  This is where Peter was born.  It is also one of the cities that Jesus cursed (Matthew 11:21), and so there is nothing today but ruins.  Earlier we passed a turnoff for Choraizin.  That is the third city that Jesus cursed (Matthew 11:21), and it is nothing but ruins today, also.  Many of the other towns from Jesus' day are still in existence.

We are now at the place of the Gadarenes, where Jesus cast out demons.  "Gader" means a break, or a border.  There is no cliff here.  The swine ran down the hill into the sea.  This is the "other side" or Gentile side of the Sea of Galilee.

As we pass out of Gadera, the Golan is just above us.  There is a "V" in the mountains.  The mountains above the "V" are in Jordan.

There are several kibbutzim along this part of the lake.  Some were shelled constantly while the Syrians held the Golan.  Even now, the artillery is only about three miles away.

At the south end of the lake as we cross the Jordan is the first kibbutz.  This is where Moshe Dayan was born.  Across the Jordan again, is an area that is used for baptisms.  Entrance and exit are through a gift shop.  Much of what we have seen today has been very much commercialized.

Back at the hotel, all of our food is kosher.  Variety seems endless.  The emphasis is on vegetables and bread made without milk.  Meat of any kind is always mixed with vegetables, never alone.  There is no fat.  The sweets are incredible.  Fresh grapefruit is sliced like a tomato, rather than halved or sectioned.

For the second night, there is the loud sound of disco and laughter from the harbor, but it shuts down sometime after 10pm.  No one here acts particularly worried about war.  Life goes on.  Both hotels so far have given us suites and deluxe treatment.

There is one other tour group here who shared this morning's boat ride.  Otherwise, the hotel is nearly empty.

Shops are still closed.  The 110 outlet in our room doesn't work, and I am not able to plug my battery charger into the shaver converter I brought.  The camera batteries ran out tonight.  I will have to use regular batteries and try to find a connector or converter tomorrow.