Day 2- Thursday, March 19

Today we toured areas all significant in the life of Jesus nearby Tiberias, where we are staying. Our first visit was to "the Jesus boat" which is a fishing boat that archeologists uncovered in the Sea of Galilee dating back to the time when Jesus was here. The site is in a small town called Ginnosar, very close to Magdala. Our tour guide, Shraga, says "some who believe that the Garden of Eden is here in Israel call this area the gate of the garden." Those are better than any words that I can come up with to describe the appearance of all of the sites we visited today.

After visiting the museum, we went to the Mt. of the Beattitudes, where Jesus gave the sermon on the mount. We gathered together in this area and read Matthew 5. It was very moving.

Next, the site of Multiplication, where Jesus fed the 5000. There is now a church standing in the place that was constructed around 1700 years ago. The original mosaic floor is still intact, displaying the fish and bread.

Our third stop was at the church of Peter's Primacy. This is the third place Jesus appeared to his disciples after His resurrection, where He told them to cast their nets on the other side. Also, where He asked Peter 3 times, "do you love me? then feed my sheep."

On to Capernaum, the town where Jesus lived after He was rejected from His hometown of Nazereth. We visited the Synogogue which is in the same location of the Synogogue of Jesus' day, on the original foundation. We were also able to see the ruins of the Synogoue Jesus would have attended. We stopped for lunch next at a restaurant specializing in "St. Peter's Fish" (tilapia), with the head intact. I had pizza. 

After lunch, we went for a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. The boat stopped and we had a short devotion, reading Luke 8:22-25. The challenge of the message was 'if Jesus is able to speak peace to the winds and they obey, then shouldn't we ask and TRUST Him to speak peace in our lives, no matter the situation." The sea was like glass.

Our last stop was at the baptismal site on the Jordan river. So I know this sounds crazy, but I was so shocked that the Jordan river looks exactly like a RIVER! I guess I just have the image stuck in my brain from my childhood Sunday school literature that shows the big body of bright blue water. No no. Not at all. We had a short time at the banks where we were to remember our baptism and recall the significance of it. This area was a little disappointing to me, because of the commercialization and the crowd. However, when I moved away from the crowd and was able to look up the river away from the busy crowd, I was able to "feel" a bit more.

I really thought this trip would be something that I would want to do once— "once you've seen it, you've seen it." Boy, was I ever wrong! There is so much to take it. I can't imagine how many trips it would take to really take it all in. Even if we had time to see it all, it seems there's not enough time to really let it all soak in. And this was only day #1 of touring!

Much love to you all!