Today was a slightly slower paced day which was a nice break. Our minds had taken in so much in only the prior two days!
We started out by visiting a museum where they have "the Jesus boat." This boat was found about a decade ago sunk down in to the Sea of Galilee. It has a fascinating removal story, and is now in this museum. Lots of scientific testing has been conducted on it, and it dates to the time of Christ. While we of course have no idea if Jesus was in this actual boat, it gives a good idea of what fishing boats in that time would have looked like. No wonder the disciples would have been scared when they were in this and a sudden storm came up on the sea.
I walked out to the back of the museum instead of going through the gift shop, and I was rewarded with this beautiful view. Gorgeous.
Near this is the Church of the Multiplication. It was built in honor of the miracle of the fish and loaves multiplication. We only spent a few minutes here, but it was a lovely place to visit.
Just having fun in the back of the bus with the Foxes. 😄
We drove a short ways down the road to then visit the Church of the Primacy. While we did look in the church, most of our time was spent down on the bank of the Sea of Galilee. Bryant taught on John 21 which is believed to have happened right here. Jesus appeared to Peter (and a few others) after His resurrection. Can you imagine Peter at this point? He has just denied Jesus three times before His crucifixion. He was understandably upset and confused; he returned to what he knew...fishing. Then, three days later, a man on the shore tells them to cast their nets to the other side, and their nets overflow with fish. Peter has been in this position before, and he recognizes this is Christ. Can you imagine the hope that fills Peter? This passage shows us that Jesus forgives Peter and restores their relationship. He charges Peter to take charge of His sheep. In this we can see that we too can be restored and used for good by God. What an amazing hope we have in Jesus!
After hearing Bryant's message, we had the chance to enjoy the sea for a little bit. Ryan waded out a little ways. We picked up stones to bring home with us to remember this area.
We had about an hour drive from the Sea to Caesaria Philippi. Here we stopped at "the gates of Hell." It's where ancients believed the god Pan lived, and that these were the gates to Hades.
Here, Bryant taught on Matthew 16:13-20, and he focused on verse 18. We can see throughout history that the mindset of man has not really changed; we are still very much self-focused today just like in history. In these verses though, Jesus asks Peter who he believes He is. It reminds us that every individual must decide for themselves who Jesus is. Peter correctly responds that He is the Christ, and we see in verse 18 Christ tell Peter "I tell you, you are peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." There are a few thoughts from this that Bryant discussed that I had not considered before.
The name Peter actually means "pebble," so maybe it is as most Catholics believe that Christ meant the church would be built by Peter which is why they call him their first pope. However the original word for "rock" is better translated as 'boulder," so maybe it means that the church will be built on Peter's statement that Jesus is the Christ, God's son. At this point in time, the disciples didn't know what "church" was; that didn't occur until the first Pentacost.
This is typically read to sound as if it's in a defensive position meaning "don't let the gates of hell stop this from happening." What if instead it's an offensive position? One that means "we should storm the gates of Hades to win back the souls of those dead in sin. The gates of Hell should not stop an offensive attack."
We continued on to the Upper Golan Heights area which overlooks the Israeli-Syrian border. Moshe taught us more about the geo-political issues of the Middle East...wow, they are complicated. This memorial is erected here at the "Valley of Tears" to commemorate a large battle in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
The view into Syria which starts just past the valley in this picture. We took time to pray for both countries. Even though the Jews are God's chosen people, both countries are filled with people whom God created and loves. His son died for both of these people groups. We pray for them to know this and accept this.
We were supposed to continue on from here to the city of Dan, but bad weather moved in quickly which made the roads there too dangerous. We spent a little time in a chocolate shop and then started the long journey back to Tiberius. When we got back, we had the chance to go for a long walk with Brian and Katherine around the city, and I think it did all of hearts good. We are so thankful for this friendship.
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