They concluded their homage to the US by offerings us trinkets and maps for sail. Jan Nordell said, “Maybe we are on vacation.” The water was glassy smooth with no breeze to stir the air. Tiberius glitters white on the shore. People laughed and chatted easily. We all felt so lucky.
Cindy had them stop the boat and we had a map geek moment. She showed us the Plain of Bethsaida and then divided the area around the Galilee for us into three segments. During the time of Jesus there would be the Jewish section of the lake near Bethsaida, then the Decapolis region which was more Roman, and then a blended region near Capernaum. She pointed out the Tel of Hippos which could be the proverbial “city on a hill” that Jesus spoke of. She also showed us the mouth of the Jordan and discussed Bethsaida. She talked about how it was nestled among many fishing villages. She also point out the city of Magdala, the home village of Mary of Magdala.
We continued the journey across the lake and docked at the museum for the Galilee Boat. We heard about this amazing discovery in 1986, when two brothers discovered the partially exposed boat. It is from the time of Christ and looked like the one that Jesus and his disciples would have traveled in.
One of the brothers who discovered the boat actually came and greeted our group and talked with us. He told about seeing a double rainbow when they first discovered the boat and knew that “there was a special spirit with this boat.” After a complicated process of preservation the boat now stands in a beautiful display at the museum.We loaded onto the bus and headed to the Mount of Beatitudes.
Ron Dobies read Mathew 5 and we sang several songs as we worshipped God for those powerful words. Jim Kielsmeier talked about how Jesus was really illuminating from Micah 4:1-5 and 6:8 describing how the people of God were intended to live. Cindy sent us away to spend 15 minutes reflecting on the passage. Some sat out in the beautiful gardens others went into the church. (The church is hot and sticky. There are electric fans that give little comfort. The whole church smells of body odor. I wanted this to be a divinely inspired moment. Here I am where Jesus told us about the kingdom of God. 
He gave us instructions about how this kingdom works. And then there is this guy outside one of the open windows jabbering on his cell phone. It’s so annoying. The sweat is dripping and the flies are gathering. Here it is: the kingdom of God making its place among we smelly, hot, rude, self-centered human beings. Here is how it will come. In the beauty of mosaic covered floors, the whir of electric fans, and me giving the cell phone guy a get-out-of–judgment-free card.-JonnaWe load up the bus and head to Korazim. It is a city made entirely out of black Basalt. We see a beautifully constructed synagogue.
The door faces east toward the temple in Jerusalem. This was a place of gathering for the community. Kids were taught. Public discussion always followed the reading of the scripture. It was a place to ask good questions and to study. There were ornate cornices and beautiful pillars with a seat of Moses at the entrance. 
This synagogue is from late third century and there are carvings of animals and humans on some of the decorations. Cindy talked about how powerful this discussion oriented kind of worship could be, and how open people were to listening to different interpretations of a text.
We ate lunch under some shade trees. The air was so hot and still it was beginning to be uncomfortable just to sit outside.
We got on the beautifully air conditioned bus and headed to Capharnaum (Capernaum). There is a church here marking Peter’s house.
This served at Jesus’ home base. Here Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Here Jesus healed a centurion’s dying servant. Cindy takes us through Matthew 4:25 and shows us where each of the regions that are mentioned there are and what it meant. Capharnaum was a multi-cultural, multi-political city. It was prosperous due to trade. There were money changers and tax collectors there in abundance. There were also a profusion of Roman soldiers, Jewish farmers, and fishermen. Cindy took us to Matthew 11 where Jesus declares woes over several of the cities at Galilee including Korazim, Bethsaida and Capernaum. She also pointed out that because of the Basalt rock, 
this city made grinding stones, and that is why Jesus make mention of them when he rebukes his disciples about stopping children from coming to him. The synagogue at Capernaum is made out of white limestone and is much later. What is exposed is a basalt foundation under the synagogue which marks the floor of the synagogue that would have stood here during Jesus’ day. The modern church that is built on the sight is over a Byzantine church with is over a Jewish insula
(house) which has traditionally been believed to be the house of Peter. The air was a stifling 104 degrees. We barely made it through the site before escaping to the bus soggy with sweat.The bus took us to the Jordan river where the group participated in an affirmation of baptism. We did full emersion with singing, reflection, vows, and then the ministers baptizing those that were interested. It was a touching time.
The Jordan was cool and we were refreshed. A delightful ice cream truck waited next to bus and made a killing as we celebrated this marking moment together. 
Back onto the bus for our last stop. We headed to Kursi also know as Genasera where Jesus performed the miracle of casting demons out of a tortured man and into a herd of pigs. There is a ruin of a Byzantine Church with well preserved Mosaics and a chapel on the hill. Cindy read mark 5 as we looked around imaging the power of what Jesus did, and then the power of the man’s story as he prepared the area of the Decapolis for the return of Jesus who would feed 4000 of them with a few loaves and fish. Cindy gave us fifteen minutes to explore and a handful hiked up the hill to see the little chapel.
It was the end of the day and the humor sank low as Jim Kielsmeier looked out on our glorious view of the Galilee and surrounding hills and said, “This would be a great place to build a restaurant. They could call it Famous David’s, and specialize in pork.”We hopped into the bus and returned to Ein Gev for swimming for dinner and for great conversation. Another glorious day of exploring the life of Christ. How wonderful to follow our Lord around Galilee as many others have before.
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