Our first day took us up the now familiar Jordan Valley straight to Tiberius, Herod Antipater built it for his capitol, after Sepphoris had lost its glow. I'm never quite sure why we veer from the chronological order of Jesus life, but our first stop was at a site called Mensa Christi. It is the John's location for a post-resurretion appearance of Jesus to his disciples, who had returned to their old life style as fisherman. It was there that Jesus called them back into service and evangelism for the sake of the Gospel, and the Roman Catholics say, he entrusted Peter with the continuing care of the infant church. I grew up thinking that the proof text for Peter's Primacy came from Matthew, at the time of Peter's confession that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. The story at Mensa Christi goes that Jesus was standing on the shore cooking them breakfast, hence Mensa (table) of Christ). There are rocks there that are believed to be the ones on which Jesus served the food.
On to Capernaum! Now we were back into the chronology of Jesus' life. After the people of Nazareth rejected him in their synagogue Scripture tells us that Jesus moved onto Capernaum. There he called his disciples from their fishing to be fishers of people, calls Matthew the tax-collector, heals the Centurian's servant, heals a paralytic and teaches in the synagogue. There are a couple of things about Caperaum that call for attention. First, it is on the edge of the Golan Heights and its building material is basalt rock (volcanic and almost black in color. Second, the synagogue is hugh for what was a town of not more that 300 people. Archeaologists are still trying to figure it all out, but it is nice for us to see something from the fifth century with is still recognizable and hasn't been distroyed by earthquakes, which seems to have been the dimise of many biblical towns and villages.
Date season, as best I can discern, is pretty much a year round thing since there are so many varieties and colors that I've never seen before. Since it is not a phenomonon that is familiar to most midwesterners, I thougt I'd include a picture of one of these laden palms which I saw on the way to Bethsaida, our next stop. I think that this one is pretty well done for the season but it will give you an idea of what a favorite holiday baking fruit looks like when it is not dried and in a box.
Bethsaida is up in the hills, above Caperaum and is a truly anciet city which supplied at least three of Jesus' disciples, Peter, Andrew and Philip. There Jesus healed a blind man, fed five thousand, and was so distressed by their infidelity to YHWH that he pronounced "woes" upon it, along with Capernaum and Chorizin. A walk through its ruined streets and buildings seems to confirm that it is best not to agrivate the big guy. There are pagan signs which have been found, including a bas relief of the Moon Goddess afixed to the city gate. Again, the building material is basalt which looks even more foreboding when it is in ruins. This is definatly a street that Jesus walked. A somewhat thrilling exxperience in itself.
A quick stop in Kursi, Gerasene as in the Gerasene demonias of Mark 5, was our final stop of the day. We backtracked a little so that we could check-in at the guesthouse on the Mount of the Beatitudes. This is a site built in the 1930's and the chapel has a distinctive Art Deco look, clean lines, uncluttered, which befits the purity and simplicity of the beatitudes themselves. No one is prepared to say exactly where Jesus preached the Sermon of the Mount, or the Sermon of the Plain, if you prefer. but this is the commemorative site and it is a most fitting tribute to "the new commandments of our Lord." We celebrated Eucharist when we arrived, much to the relief of pilgrims who were feeling quesy because the schedule had not allowed for Sunday Mass. The Guesthouse, run by Italian Nuns was very nice, the accomodations were excellent, but illness had begun to make itself known.
Our next destination was Caesarea Philippi, the capitol that Herod Philip built to curry favor with Caesar Augustus during Jesus' life time. Scripture tells us that Jesus took his disciples away to Caesarea Philippi for rest and for more intenseive teaching. It is in many ways an unusual choice. There are no Jewish or Christian artifacts there. This was a thoroughly pagan site, best known as the sanctuary of Pan (its current Arabic name is Banias (Pan). It is a place unlike any other I've seen in the Holy Land, in that there is an abundance of water from springs which feed and form the upper Jordan (before it enters the Sea of Galilee. Quite beautiful and peaceful.
There are several pagan temples there, including one to Caesar, of course. It seems that every tourist site has to have some kind of logo or identifing symbol. In the case of Banias, they must have looked for a image-remake specialist because the symbol that is used for Pan does not reflect mythology's assesment of him (it). As I recall Pan was the son of Bacdhus and was not particulary cute or friendly. As they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
We had lunch a Migdal, which is the home of Mary Magdalene, and then went for a sail on the Sea of Galilee in an "authentic" Sea of Galilee boat, supposedly modelled on the 1st century boat that was uncovered in the 90's I believe. Assside from the fact that so many of us were under the weather, it was a pleasant time.
Everyone was suprised when the captain brought out a New Zealand flag, and hoisted it along side the Israeli one. A lusty singing of the New Zealand national anthem, first in Maori then in English seemed to raise everyone's spirits. And the captian knew the wisdom of his discision when all the New Zealanders raced to buy his kitch. Our course director told us later that we had gotten and extra 15 minutes on the cruse because of our Kiwi friends.
Our final stop of the day was at the Church of Multifplication of the Loaves and Fishes. This is a beautifully restored Byzantine chuch commorating the Multplication story(s). The floor is covered with stunning mosaics, some of which are original and some are replacements but done with such attention that it is not easy to tell which is which. It also has a rock in front of its altar, which purports to be the very rock on which Jesus divided the meager offering and presented it to his disciples. There are a number of stories about the multplication of the loaves and fishes in the gospels, and it seems that this site is meant to honor them all. German Benedictines are in charge and do an excellent job of balancing the demands of an highly sought pilgrim site against the meditative atmosphere that such a significant site suggests.
Then it was back to the Mount of the Beatitudes for another night, followed by a short retreat morning the next day. Our final stop on this Galilee trip was on Mount Tabor, back in lower Galilee. Mount Tabor is the traditional pilgrim site for the Transfiguration. Some experts insist that the actural location of the Transfiguration story is Mount Hermon, up in Caesarea Philippi, where Banias is. I don't think it made much difference to the tired pilgrims on our bus. We just wanted to get home The Church of the Transfiguration is a splendid church built in the 1920's and operated by French Franciscans. Less of it was available to pilgrims than the last time I was there. On the other hand, I felt like I benefitted from the restricted access. Sometimes, enough is enough.
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