Day 2: Around the Galilee
Hey everybody.
Be warned for a super text-and-photo heavy post. So much happened. This, like every day of this trip, was so, so amazing. I’m so excited to tell you about my day around the Galilee. This day was the pinnacle of my emotional experience.
We woke up just before the sunrise to go to Tiberius. Anybody who knows me, knows that I am not a morning person. I was groggy as all get out when I woke up and stumbled out to the bus. Tiberius in the morning is very quiet, and very pretty. We went to the docks and met a man named Daniel Carmel, the owner of Sea of Galilee Worship Boats, and climbed aboard the Faith boat. Looking into his story and website, I’ve just learned that the Faith boat was Daniel’s very first boat. What a cool opportunity.
The Faith Boat
Being on the boat, with a tendency for seasickness, meant that I was just a little queasy for this adventure. I was thankful when we stopped moving, in the middle of the Galilee. Lukas and Kezia led us in thought, in the word and in worship as they spoke about Jesus blessing the fishermen and the calling of Peter. And about how as disciples, this was our calling as well.
Peter is the most relatable Disciple to me. The more you read about him, the more he’s just a guy who struggles with his anger and tends to jump the gun in most situations. He’s skeptical and questions everything. And he was a guy who grew up in a small city, on the water. I did, too. And I blinked back tears as the docks of Capernaum were pointed out to us.
He was just a regular guy. Jesus said, “I want this one,” and asked Peter to follow Him. And I’m just a girl from a small city on the water. Who had never, up until that July, been on the other side of the world. And I am here, because God looked at me and said, “I want this one.”
How amazing is it that I was on a boat on the sea that Jesus walked on? Where he called Peter and Andrew, and James and John to Himself to be fishers of men. In the land where He has called me to be a disciple and a servant to Him always.
“Peter, do you love me?”
From this point, we landed in Capernaum and headed off to our next location. We went to a beach and saw a whole breakfast ready for us, with a group of people from Bridges for Peace ready to share a meal with us on the shore of the Galilee. I have no photos of this because it was just a wonderful time to be in the moment. There was pita, hummus, fruits, nuts, shakshuka, and a charcoal fire with fish laid out on it. That last part was so important to the meal, on that beach.
Peter, who chosen by The Lord. Peter, who followed. Peter, who denied Christ three times. And Peter, who, after The Lord’s death, was fishing on the Galilee near Tiberius, when a man on the shore began to speak to all of the men in the boat. Peter, who threw himself into the sea and went to Him, when he realized it was Jesus speaking.
The Lord, resurrected, waited on the shore with fish over a charcoal fire (John 21:9), for Simon-Peter, the sons of Zebedee, Thomas and Nathanael and other disciples who were with them. And here I was, in the 21st century, having crossed the Galilee, coming to the shore where there was fish cooking over a charcoal fire, for us to take part in it, and for us to also go over the John 21 passage.
Peter is portrayed as the most human. He has the most examples of failures in the Bible than other disciples. And he walked and talked and lived his life with Jesus. He was not perfect, even after he was saved. Even after he was called. The passage really speaks to the amount of shame Peter must have carried, as well as the beautiful forgiveness of Jesus.
Three times, Peter had denied the Lord. Jesus, in John 13:36-38, foretold that Peter was going to deny Him. These verses makes my heart hurt as I read them, because I already feel bad for Peter. John 13 was that last Passover meal with Jesus, when He told the disciples that He would only be with them for a little while, as He commissioned the disciples to love one another.
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
Jesus knew that Peter was going to deny Him, not die for Him. And so He told Peter that he couldn’t follow Him. He knew very well that in the next little while, Peter would actively chose not to follow. So it’s incredibly powerful in John 21 that three times, Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”. And that three times, after Peters’ answers, Jesus gave him tasks. And the final task in John 21:19, He finally calls Peter to Himself fully, saying “Follow me.”
I love that Yeshua’s love of Simon-Peter was greater than the knowledge of what he would deny. I love that Peter was given another chance. And I love that Peter also grasped it and truly committed to his calling.
Mrs. Verbetan, who taught on this, brought several of us to tears. It’s no small thing, being called. It’s no small thing to follow. It’s no small thing to commit your love and your life to God. And it’s no small thing that, in spite of our pasts and failures, God still wants us.
How many times have I denied? And how many times does He still ask me to follow? And to think, He still calls me to follow.
Capernaum: City of Jesus
Capernaum Synagogue where Jesus would have taught.
After breakfast we visited the ancient city of Kepar Nahum. We only visited a few places in this area, focusing mainly on the motifs carved into stone, the Synagogue, the house of the ruler of the synagogue and the house of Peter.
I’ll do another slide of photos, but I just wanted to say a few things about this place first. This was a place where Jesus performed miracles. Did he perform them on the Galilee? Yes. But this was solid ground, that I could walk on, touch, and picture full of busy people. It’s a small village, almost insignificant. But that’s how He worked during His time on earth. He picked generally unimpressive people to follow Him, and out of all places, chose the area of the Galilee to do a heavy part of His teaching. It makes you realize just how tiny Israel is, and it seems even smaller when you see how small the villages are where He worked.
So Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth and future savior, worked His miracles in Capernaum.
As you can see in the photos, the incredible carvings in the stone are seemingly timeless. The photo of the ark for a Torah scroll was a historical breakthrough in terms of how the synagogue functioned. You can’t see much of it, but, there are photos of the ruins of what’s speculated to be the house of Peter. There’s a fancy building hovering over top of it, and that’s a church. But to just to look in and think about how this was the place where Peter and his family lived, it just blows your mind because you can visualize the space and also see how they would have been living. Next there’s the supposed house of Jairus, who was the ruler of the synagogue And then of course, there’s the synagogue, where you can read about Jesus teaching.
According to Mark 9:1, it sounds like Capernaum is a place that Jesus considered a home. Which makes sense! Peter had a family there, and Andrew, and it’s also where He chose Matthew. He also performed many miracles there:
Healed the Centurion’s servant. Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10
Healed Peter’s Mother-in-law. Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 1:30-31; Luke 4:38-39
Heal the man that was let down through the roof. Mark 2:3-12
Cleansed the man with the unclean spirit. Luke 4:33-35
Healed the woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years. Mark 5:25-34
Raised the twelve year old daughter of Jairus. Mark 5:41
The shekel in the fish’s mouth. Matthew 17:24-27
There’s obviously more that happens in Capernaum, but that’s enough for now. We were given a few minutes to walk around before we left for our next location. It was such a sweet silence for me, just thinking and trying to process all of the information we had learned at that point and then trying to comprehend where we were. I took as much of it in as I could, and I look back now and I feel like I’m able to appreciate it more now that the information has fully sunk in.
I’m going to skip one spot we stopped at this day, just because we were only there for about 20 minutes and I got no photos from it. We went to the Church of the Beatitudes, learned about the landscape a little, walked through the church and the garden, and of course we read through the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). I hope for an opportunity to go back and see it again and have time to enjoy it’s beauty.
“I baptize you with water for repentance,” -Matthew 3:11
Just because this was a huge moment for me, I want to share it with you. I had an amazing day, exploring the area around the Galilee, but there was a pit of anxiety in my stomach. I knew that we were going to the Jordan to be baptized at the end of our scheduled day. The whole morning was leading up to this. Everything we had talked about to this point, and even the day before as we all marveled over the concept of being a bondservant, it was all leading up to this rededication. To take the opportunity, in the midst of the history-ridden land, to rededicate my life, our lives, to our Father.
This was the second time I’ve been baptized. I almost didn’t do it, because I remember being baptized at around 11/12 years old by my dad in the lake I grew up going to, and that had so much impact on me. Why would I want to cover that memory? And that thought process was silly, because it doesn’t take that memory away at all. It was time for a new chapter, that’s all. There were a lot of things that I wanted to be new from. So now I have these two very serious moments in my life of that rededication, and both will serve their purpose.
We got to the Jordan, and I was surprised at how shallow and brown it was. Then thought more about it. Naaman, who was the commander of the army of Syria, that asked Elisha for healing in 2 Kings 5, he was outraged that he couldn’t swim in better waters. And yet this is the river that’s mentioned in the Bible around 185 times. This shallow, muddy river, is used in Jesus’ own baptism. This pretty unimpressive river has been instrumental in every large event for the Children of Israel. This is God’s pattern. He brings things that don’t seem impressive into positions of miracles. David was a shepherd boy, not trained to be a king. Peter was a fisherman, not an educated man. Jesus was a homely carpenter, not a mighty lion. This is just a muddy little river. Maybe “unimpressive” is the wrong word. “Humble” is better. God uses humble things for His ministry.
Lukas and Kezia got into the water and took their time to pray over each of us. Out of privacy for the others, I’m not going to share any of their pictures. It was a beautiful moment, and everyone cried at each person’s turn. I treasure the moments. I treasure the words I was given. I treasure the hearts of my team, and of my Zealous leaders. I even treasure the moment that, in the middle of her prayer, Kezia’s flip-flop popped up to the surface of the water. See, God knows I love to laugh. And I love that He gave me that silly little moment, even through the gravity of the experience.
And with this, I finish the second day. We went back to Beit Bracha and spent time in their rec room, worshiping together casually, playing pool, board games and movies.
The thought that was strongest on my mind that night was simply, “I am blessed.”
The flip-flop moment.
Thank you so much for sticking around and reading! I really hope you enjoyed hearing about my life and experiences here in Israel. Please leave a comment and say hi, I’d really appreciate it!
- Mads
