Sea of Galilee

I have returned home to the United States, but there is one other place we visited in Israel that I would like to share about. The final five days of our 17 day pilgrimage to the Holy Lands were spent along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, a place in which Jesus called home and conducted much of his ministry during his 33 years.

The impact of the trip began to set in and become more real during our visit of the villages where Jesus taught, healed and lived among the people. A definite highlight of my trip was our tour of the ancient village of Capernaum. It was in Capernaum that Peter lived and it is believed that Jesus too, called Peter's home his own home as well. Everything about this village altered much of my perception and imagery I had previously held in my reading of the Scriptures. For starters, Peter's house stood approximately 100 feet from the entrance to the synagogue. In between stood the other homes of the village, side by side, often sharing outer walls. Kind of crazy how close everything was - Jesus was practically in a parsonage! This gave me an entirely new appreciation and realization that Jesus was far and away, the first rural preacher. We finished the day in the church with a glass floor which looks into Peter's "living room." We sat in silent reflection as I read aloud from the Gospel of Mark (Chapter 1:14 through 3:6) which included Jesus' ministry in Capernaum.

Other days included visits to the site where Jesus multiplied the fish and loaves and fed five thousand people (not including children and women) and Sunday worship upon the Mount where Jesus preached about the kingdom of heaven, aka the Beattitudes (Matthew 5.)

But perhaps the greatest part of our time in Tiberias by the Sea of Galilee was the time I spent in prayer and exploration. Climbing Mt. Zeruya by the Dead Sea gave me such a thrill and mountain top experience that I was eager to try for the sequel in Tiberias. Standing by the same waters that Jesus walked upon, one is surrounded by high places creating a bowl-like environment. The Sea of Galilee is not large, perhaps the size of a moderate lake by Minnesota standards. It is no wonder why it is often referred to as a lake in the Bible. I couldn't help but be curious about the hills - which one was Jesus' favorite? 

I hinted to the others that if given any free time I would be interested in climbing one of the hills near our hotel in order to get a higher vantage point of the Sea. Initial inspection was negative as barbed wire fence kept would-be climbers like me off its hilltops. Instead, I found myself upon the rocks at the shoreline. Much to my delight, I was able to check the Sea of Galilee off my imaginary list of famous water surfaces to skip rocks off of!  But what a treat to have shared solitude and prayer with God along the same lake that Jesus and his disciples ministered on and around so often over 2000 years ago. And even cooler was that in the distance to the north one could see Mt. Hermon, known as the "high mountain" in the account of Jesus' transfiguration, another favorite of mine. But as awesome as my time on sea level was, I could not shake off the desire to ascend the heights of the hills around me.

A few days would go by until we returned to the hotel with daylight still left for us to do with as we pleased. On that particular occasion, I found myself taking another leisurely stroll behind the hotel. And lo and behold, I stumbled upon an opening in the fence line. I remember thinking, "how's that for an invitation?" before grinning from ear to ear and beginning my climb up the steep hill. There were no switch-backs or anything that resembled a trail, but I was determined to find a place to sit and pray overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Daylight was fading quickly, but I managed to reach the halfway point of the hill that God so subtly provided for me. As I sat catching my breath, I was nearly overwhelmed by the clarity with which one could see the boats atop the surface of the Sea. Suddenly I found myself in Jesus' place as he prayed alone the night leading up to his miraculous walk upon the Sea. He must've easily been able to see the storm quickly descend upon the disciples - not to mention hear their cries of distress. And then it hit me square in the face - Jesus' love for us and his ability and desire to be with us and to rescue us from danger. Yes, God is never far off from us, no matter how fierce the wind and waves around us may seem. I pictured Jesus moving with quickness and descending the hill and taking the most direct path he could towards the disciples... and this all from an easy, albeit mild form of trespassing, excursion up the hills of Galilee.

But my time with God didn't end there. I stood and debated whether or not to go further up the hill. And then I spotted something on the summit. It was moving - eating the grasses upon the hilltop. I hiked a little higher to get a glimpse. It was a horse. It did not notice me, so I climbed up a little more - at which point it did notice me and stopped and stared in my direction. Clearly, we were each just as surprised to see one another. I was so perplexed - cattle perhaps, but a horse? I decided to not go any further, and then my imagination went into overdrive and alerted my legs that it was high time to make a break for it. My adrenaline increased as I slowly made my way back down the steep hill. And yet, I remained so happy and excited about that encounter - and totally baffled as to the reason/story behind the horse.

After reaching the flat land again and making my way back to the hotel, I realized I had made the right decision by not going up further - for light quickly faded and left most of my walk back a very dark one. Was the horse there to "encourage" my descent? Who knows, but I give God thanks for such a mysterious and intimate encounter with the Holy Spirit during what was clearly some very Holy Time.