Pursuing Jesus in Israel

Strong winds blew all night over the mountain and on to the Sea of Galilee. Very dramatic! We are off to the areas where Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum are located. Bethsaida was the hometown of the disciples, Philip, Peter and Andrew. Capernaum has been referred to as "His own town," as He took up residence there after leaving Nazareth. This area is referred to by Jesus in Luke 10:13-16 -"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will go down to Hades. Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” Jesus speaks these words because even though He will heal more people in this region than any other, many will still reject Him in unbelief.

As we drive, we go past the area that is seen as the place where Jesus fed the 5000.

We go through a national park area where there are ruins and stop at Chorazin, and view a place where ritual purification took place. We talk about what that meant in the Jewish culture. Out of this ritual Jesus speaks about being whitewashed tombs, (Matthew 23:27-28) referring to those who do external practices for others to see while not truly repenting (Godly sorrow) for the forgiveness of sin. We also visit ruins from a first century house with a courtyard and a synagogue (place of gathering) to better understand their function in the lives of the people who lived here. In the synagogue there was the Seat of Moses where the Rabbi would sit conveying authority to present the Word of God and make judgements impacting daily life. We also spend some time talking about this being an area that was passed through by people from three different continents, causing the news about Jesus to be readily shared throughout the world.

We then arrived at the "traditional" site commemorating where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 (Church of the Beatitudes). The context for Jesus' message is He is speaking as a Rabbi with judicial authority, making clear what the intent of the law is. A key point Jesus makes that impacts believers is He tells those who are His followers they are the light of the world, and this would be offensive to the religious leaders, because they saw themselves as the light, and it's a challenge to believers to authentically represent Him in their lives and take the good news to all the world.

And off we go to Magdala on the Sea of Galilee, the birthplace of Mary Magdalene. We gathered in a chapel area where Michael led us in a time of worship thru song. I wish I could attach the 20 minute video. This site was discovered just a little over 10 years ago when the group who was building a retreat center discovered the ancient ruins of the City of Magdala. Our biblical teacher, Jim Martin, gave us background on the time between when Jesus was crucified until the time that Rome came in to put down a revolt and destroyed the temple and Jerusalem between 66 and 70 A.D. Jim specifically focused on how Rome attacked the people of Magdala, destroying the city, resulting in the death of close to 7000 Jews. So with this great destruction of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas the life of Judaism was forever changed, fulfilling Jesus' prophecy found in Luke 21:20-24 -"When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that its desolation has come near. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. Those inside the city must leave it, and those who are in the country must not enter it, because these are days of vengeance to fulfill all the things that are written. Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days, for there will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will be killed by the sword and be led captive into all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."

Next stop, Capernaum and Peter's house. Jim talked about why there is great certainty that this site is truly Peter's house. There is also ruins of the synagogue and other structures from ancient Capernaum. Two of the ways people made their living here was by fishing and the production of millstones. We know this because there were far too many millstones found in the excavation, which connects to Jesus' comment in Matthew 18:3-6 "Truly, I tell you,” he said, “unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child-this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one child like this in my name welcomes me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away — it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea." Keeping this in mind, all believers need to correctly interpret the Word and live a life that glorifies God.

Our last stop for the day was at Gergesa (Gerasene) where the man possessed by demons was delivered by Jesus, and the demons asked to be sent into pigs. See my earlier blog on 1/18 for a fuller examination of this event. See everyone tomorrow 🙂