|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
While walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:18-19, ESV).
When visiting Israel, walking along the northern Sea of Galilee, you are on the same shoreline, stepping over the same rocks, and seeing the same sunsets that Jesus saw.
In Jerusalem, the streets that Jesus walked are buried under centuries of rubble. But walking along the Sea of Galilee, you literally walk in the footsteps of Jesus.
And He walked a lot around the Sea of Galilee since about 80 percent of the events in Jesus’s life, recorded in the Gospels, happened close to the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
A pilgrim visiting the Sea of Galilee can walk the steps of Jesus in Capernaum (A), Magdala (B), and where Jesus healed the Gerasene (C) demoniac. Just a word of caution, as it’s best not to walk His steps on water (D)!
The operational center for Jesus’s ministry was Capernaum on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law in Capernaum, and five disciples came from this city — Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew.
The Sea of Galilee is 13 miles long and 8 miles wide and is mentioned about sixty times in the Gospels. Josephus (an ancient historian) wrote that during the time of Jesus, the population of the Galilean region was three million, living in hundreds of towns and villages.
Watching The Chosen, the scenes of Galilee seem unpopulated, but understandable with the series filmed in arid parts of Texas and Utah. However, going back a few thousand years to the Sea of Galilee in the time of Jesus, with a population of millions within walking distance, the following story in Luke 5:1-3 makes sense. . .
Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and great crowds kept pressing towards Him. And seeing several boats, He stepped into one of them, and having it pushed out into the water, Jesus sat in the boat and kept teaching the large number of people (Luke 5:1-3, OGV [Old Guy Version]).
The land surrounding the Sea of Galilee, during the time of Jesus, has been described as, “A region with great fertility. The land rejects no plant, for the air is genial that it suits every variety.” Now, we understand. . .
One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples broke off heads of grain, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grain (Luke 6:1).
If we could walk with Jesus around the Sea of Galilee, we’d witness the feeding of the five thousand (E), hear the Sermon on the Mount (F), watch storms calm, catch fish breaking nets, and many other miracles.
John describes the changing of water into wine at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus . . .
This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana (G) of Galilee, and revealed His glory; and His disciples believed in Him (John 2:11, NASB).
Jesus also ended His ministry along the Sea of Galilee. His last words were given to his disciples on Mount Arbel (H) overlooking the Sea of Galilee. . .
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).
Amen.
*The “brain mapping” episodes of Interruptions give us a visual geography of Israel during
the time of Jesus, allowing us to better understand and remember the wondrous works of our Lord.
Read Interruptions #1389 and #1399 for other “brain mapping” sessions.