Day 2: Israel

My first observation today was the Jordan River is TINY! At least the section we say today. We are supposed to go on a float trip tomorrow so I hope it gets a little bigger
First stop was Bethsaida. This means house of fish and was a village of fisherman. When archeologists first went looking for the city they couldn't find it because they were looking by the modern coast line of the Sea of Galilee. The current coast line is about 6 miles away from the city. It just is amazing to look at this city and know that Jesus was ACTUALLY HERE!

And he took (the apostles) and withdrew apart to a city called Bethsaida. When the crowds learned it, they followed him; and he welcomed them and... cured those who were in need of healing.
Luke 9:10

Woe to you, Chorazin, woe to you, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
Luke 10:13

Here are some other biblical facts about Bethsaida. Peter, Andrew, and Philip were all from here. It is also maintained that James and John, the sons of Zebedee, also lived here. This is the place of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes and the healing of a blind man.

From here we rushed down the Sea of Galilee. None of us tried walking on the water... Sorry. We took a ride on a replica of a boat that dates back to the time period of Jesus. It's called the Jesus boat. They demonstrated how the apostles and other fisherman of the day would have fished. The only difference is the type of material used to make the net. Instead of nylon they would have used cotton and instead of weights, small stones. We didn't catch anything so we cast our net of the other side of the boat and still came up with nothing. We got out into the middle of the sea and sang together. Every time I praise God in a place where I know Jesus was it is an amazing and unique feeling.
Anyway, let me tell you a little bit about the Jesus Boat. When they found it as they were digging it out they had to keep it soaked because when the wood dried out it turned to powder. When it came time to move the boat they coated the entire thing in polyurethane, dug channels to the sea and sailed it for the first time in 2000 years. I would have like to have been there to witness it. It was then lifted with a crane and transported to the Jesus Boat Museum.
Next site was Capernaum. The modern day spelling of the word is Capharnum. Matthew 4:13-- And He (Jesus) left Nazareth and went to live in Capharnaum. Here we saw was is traditionally thought of as Peter's Mother-In-Law's House. (Luke 4:38-- Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her.) The house was changed into a church but the original walls are still standing.
We saw a synagogue which was almost right next door to the house. It is called the "White Synagogue" and dates from the 4th century. It was built on top of the "Jesus-Synagogue".
5 o'clock comes all too early when you're in Israel so we finished up our day with a nature hike up to the Mt. of Beatitudes. The catholics bought up all the land surrounding where they though the "mountain" (more like a hill) was and built a church on top of it. We skipped the church and went to the place where it is more likely that Jesus actually taught from. The catholics even think the archeologists might have gotten it right because they are making plans to build another church in that location. Well if you don't get it right the first time try again... Like I said I find it really ANNOYING they construct churches on all of these sites.
We read through the Sermon on the Mount as we watched the sun set over the Sea of Galilee. I've heard that Sermon my entire life but it came alive for me in an entirely new light. If you haven't read it recently you should read it again. It's beautiful.

More to come... There are still 8 days left and LOTS to see!

Day 2 Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004785&l=db590&id=1523040053