Times in Gallilee

Mark –

Shortly after sunrise, we trekked out for a group teaching w/ Mark Driscoll nearby at a hilltop location believed to be where Jesus spoke the sermon on the mount. The drive took us nearby an active archeological dig (inaccessible to the public today) along the sea of Gallilee shoreline that is believed to be the home of Mary Magdalene. The beautiful bowl like scene on the hill and view of the calm sea in the morning made it easy to envision Jesus there with his disciples and other fishermen coming ashore, and people moving through the hillside from their remote towns all to hear Jesus layout the beatitudes found in Matt 5 – 7: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who love their enemies, etc.”. Mark Driscoll (http://www.marshillchurch.org/) spoke on the humanity and divinity of Jesus, highlighting how he would seek solitude when fatigued particularly after walking from town to town and after contending with the needs of his followers. From our experience in the area, the distances by foot were measured in number of days! We saw his fatigue as he fell asleep on the boat with his friends (Luke 8). At least on one occasion, Jesus would also hike up to Mt. Hermon (some 6000 feet!), perhaps sailing in a friends boat just to get away for recuperation. Meanwhile he possessed the power to command the wind and waves of the sea of Gallilee to stop when a storm brought the fear of death to his friends on the boat. In this act, he revealed his divinity and authenticated who he was before friends who lacked faith in him. An application to appreciate here is the appreciation that God became man to live among us as compared to the thinking that man becomes god.

We later sailed on the sea of Gallilee and enjoyed singing traditional Jewish songs. Following that we visited a museum featuring a first century fishing boat discovered in a dry season on the lake shore in 1986. For lunch, we enjoyed eating at Saint Peter’s Fish restaurant where would taste the local catch. Our day was not yet complete as we briefly visited Capernaum where Jesus would visit a number of times and the place of work for the fishermen that would become his disciples. We saw Peter’s mother in law’s home and an early synagogue that was used for worship in the first century and subsequently. Our day was capped off w/ watching some our new friends get baptized in the Jordan River.

What a great day! And when we think that it can’t get any better of an experience, we still have the next day to look forward where we will meet on the Gallilean shore where Jesus fed the 5,000 with two fish and five loaves for Sunday singing and some great teaching….stay tuned.

Hannah-

On Saturday, we went to the mount of beatitudes, where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, and preformed many miracles. Here, we heard Mark Driscoll preach, and then we visited the Catholic Church that was established there. Later, we went to Capernaum. This is where Jesus, Peter, and his mother-in-law lived for a certain amount of time. We took a little time here to tour the area, and then we got back on the bus to Tabgha. Tabgha is the town where the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish was performed. Here, we also listened to Mark Driscoll preach. Last but not least, we went on a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, and got to see a 2,000 year old boat! The whole day was full of amazing sites to be able to see and experience.

Ben -

In the morning we went to the mountain of Beattitudes. And 5 minutes after we sat down this huge bee stung me and it hurt so bad so I pulled the bee of, of me and it stung me when I pulled it off. Now its just a big rash it really itches. Then later when we got back to the hotel we went to the pool and the rest of the bus went to the pool so then we played volleyball and they thought I was the best at it and of course I was the youngest playing and they asked me to serve most of the time playing that I mad 2 friends - Brendan and Ruth.