"Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him..." (Matthew 3:13).
1-21-08 was our last full day in the Holy Land, and what a day it was! We left Tiberius by 8 a.m. driving north by the ruins of Magdala, Mary's home town (Mary Magdalene). We were driving to the valley of the winds and the doves. Jesus would have walked through this valley when he traveled from Nazareth to Galilee. The wind was blowing and it was very chilly!
We went to the Mount of the Beattitudes. Of course, a church has been built on the site where it is thought Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount. Interestingly, the church was built in 1939 by Mussolini. It is octagon in shape and the window are long, narrow and horizontal conforming to "pill-box" specifications. Do you suppose Mussolini was planning something other than worship?
We stopped at Nof Ginnosar to visit a museum in which an ancient boat was displayed. This boat would have been floating on Galilee during the time of Christ. One of the things that is interesting about this boat is that it had 10 different kinds of wood in it. Mostly it was oak and pine, but repairs were made with any kind of wood that could be found. With so many vast armies marching through the land, and so many wars fought there, the "land flowing with milk and honey" was stripped bare of trees. There was a time in the 19th century when there wasn't a boat floating on Galilee because there was no wood.
We took about an hour for a boat excursion on Galilee. For those who have gone to the Holy Land and were disappointed that Galilee was so small--I don't understand you. It is plenty large enough to have the severe storms and large catches of fish that the New Testament describes.
We had a short visit to Capernaum and saw the synagogue where Jesus taught. A short distance away was Peter's mother-in-laws house where Jesus healed her.
Then on to where the Jordan River exits Galilee. It was there that some of our group were baptized. Sprinkling with Jordan water is no better than being immersed in any other water (I promise, I didn't cause a problem).
Our last stop for the day was another city of the Decapolis that Jesus could well have been in, and it was a prosperous, sophisticated city, Beit Shean. It ruins were just like Jerash and Caesarea.
It took 2 hours to recross the border to Jordan. It was 9 p.m. when we arrived back at the Regency Palace Hotel in Amman. Supper was late but it was good. We were all tired, but we had a 10 a.m. flight to catch so it would be a short night.
Grace&Peace,
Tom
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