Another day in the Galilee

MAY 31—This is a brief synopsis of a busy day visiting places frequented by Jesus around the Sea of Galilee. This is the area where he was raised, where he lived, worked and launched his public ministry. This is where he recruited his disciples, proclaimed his purpose and worked his first miracles. And it’s not a large area. The sites practically stack up on each other.

We began with a visit to the Yigal Allon Centre on the northern edge of the lake to see the ancient Galilee boat that was discovered in the area back in 1986 and carefully excavated and preserved. It dates back to the first century, and there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that this is exactly the type of boat that Jesus’ disciples were using in the Gospel stories.

Times have changed, and these days a small fleet of “Jesus Boats” provides tourists with a pleasant cruise on the waters where Jesus walked. As we moved away from the dock, a crewmember hoisted the Canadian flag to the strains of our national anthem. It was a touching moment, although we irreverently expected the puck to be dropped soon after.A better moment came when the captain shut down the engines and we drifted silently in the sea. Paul Spillsbury of Ambrose University did a great job reading and reflecting on some of the Galilee passages from Scripture. Then a crewmember demonstrated first century fishing techniques. He landed nothing, even though he did cast on both sides of the boat.

We landed in Capernaum, the place where Jesus lived as an adult. Extensive excavations reveal a bustling town with a fairly elaborate synagogue, a market area and lots of olive presses. Earthquakes have taken their toll, but a lovely Franciscan chapel now stands over the place thought to be where Simon’s mother-in-law lived and was healed by Jesus.

Not far from Capernaum is another chapel dedicated to the Primacy of Peter. It’s on the shoreline, reputed to be the place where Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him, and mandated him to “Feed my sheep” (John 21).

A short walk away is yet another charming chapel, this one commemorating the miraculous feeding of the multitude (Mark 6:30-44). The iconic mosaic of the loaves and the fishes is laid into the floor in front of the altar.Both of these chapels lie on the shoreline beneath the hill where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). The beautiful Church of the Beatitudes stands atop the mount. We took some time in silence in this sacred space. Then some of us braved the 40-degree temperatures to walk down the mountain and meet the bus at the bottom.

Our final stop of the day was at Yardenit, the baptismal site on the Jordan River most favoured by evangelical tour groups. It is a beautiful spot, lined with stately eucalyptus trees.

So, we’ve now seen two sites that claim to be the place where John baptized Jesus. Scholarly evidence seems to tilt toward Bethany Beyond the Jordan, down near the Dead Sea, as the actual site. But this place where the Jordan leaves the Sea of Galilee is more pleasant and certainly more congenial to the tourist industry.