Skip to main content

Day 3 In Israel: Capernaum and the Jordan River

Today may have been the most exciting day yet. We visited Bet-Shean, Harod Spring (or Gideon's Spring), took a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee, visited Capernaum, and went to the Jordan River.

The remains of the Roman city, Scythopolis, with the tell in background.
After another great breakfast here at Nof Ginosar, we drove across the Jordan River to the town of Bet-Shean. A magnificent place, with a large tell consisting of 20 tels (or different cities built one on top of another). This city was originally a part of the Decapolis. It is found in the Biblical story of King Saul and Jonathan, because after they were killed in battle, their bodies were hung from the walls of this city. The excavations offered a great glimpse into the former glory of the Roman city, Scythopolis, one of the most exposed portions of this tel. 

Want to guess what bodily function this was used for?

The actual spring used by Gideon and his soldiers in Judges 7.
After a long morning at Bet-Shean, we stopped by Harod's Spring, which is the place where Gideon brought his soldiers to drink in Judges 7. In an effort to dwindle the number of soldiers to give God more glory in the ensuing victory over the Midianites, Gideon culled out men based on how the drank from the spring. It was really cool, and fun to imagine 10,000 soldiers drinking water, much like I tried to do. 


Me attempting to drink from the spring the "correct way."
Riding on the boat on the Sea of Galilee. 
After, we drove down to Tiberias where we had lunch beside the Sea of Galilee at a popular restaurant, Decks. We were treated to an awesome meal of St. Peter's Fish (similar totilapia). And we mean the whole fish! After lunch, we boarded a boat for a ride across the Sea of Galilee back to Ginosar. While on this boat ride, we were able to reflect on Jesus' actions with the disciples on these waters by singing as a group the traditional hymn, "It Is Well With My Soul."
St. Peter's Fish for lunch. 


Upon reaching shore, we boarded our bus and headed to the ancient city of Capernaum. This is the city where Jesus lived during his ministry, and also is where Peter was from. At this located we were treated to a devotion by my roommate for the trip, Pastor Thomas Farrow of FBC Clinton. While here, we were treated to a special treat, the traditional site of Peter's house, of which some remains are present. If this is in fact Peter's house, this is most likely where Jesus lived, and it would be where Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law. To walk in the very place where Jesus would have lived and worked was truly special.
The believed to be remains of Peter's house in Capernaum.

The Jordan River.
After our time at Capernaum, we headed to the site known as Jardenit, which is the popular baptismal site on the Jordan River. Here we were able to participate in a very high and holy event, undergoing baptism in the Jordan River, just as Jesus did. As those who wanted to entered the water, we were able to share any words that we wanted before being charged to remember our baptisms. A truly powerful event, made even more important considering today is Pentecost Sunday. When all who desired had been dipped, we sang a verse of Amazing Grace together before closing in prayer.
Dr. Cartledge charging me to remember by baptism.


Today consisted of a lot of reflection and even worship. Tonight is our last night at Nof Ginosar. Tomorrow we make our way to Jerusalem, where we will be staying for the remainder of the trip. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Just Because We Can Doesn't Mean We Should

Over the last ten weeks the sanctuary at First Baptist Monroe has sat dormant. Though we haven't been worshiping in that space, worship has continued via a more intimate setting in our church's choir room beamed up into airwaves for people to participate in on all manner of personal devices. I have missed being able to gather with our folks there, and when I walk through it now, something is definitely missing. It is a vast understatement to say the COVID-19 pandemic has overturned our very way of life. Restrictions on work, retail, recreational, and social activities have hit us all hard. Like a two year old toddler, the first instance or two of being told "no" might slip right by us, but after repeated denials, that opposition often grows into anger-filled defiance before generating fits of rage-fueled outbursts. It happens. Churches are no stranger to this as the recent push to allow congregants to gather in NC has made its way through the court system. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lent: Not Just Another Resolution To Keep

Over the past few weeks, I have been amazed at the number of cultural and secular references I have both seen and heard in regards to what an individual is "giving up for Lent." Just last night, my favorite late night host, Jimmy Fallon, incorporated the question of "What are you planning to give up for Lent?" into one of his infamous skits with the audience and house band, The Roots. The common responses I have seen are sodas, sugars, coffee, social media, and cursing. All of these are certainly admirable goals and definitely would improve one's life, but sadly they negate the entire purpose behind the season of Lent. The ways in which I see people describing their "sacrifices" bears striking resemblance to language I am accustomed to hearing around New Years in regards to a person's resolution, and not about penance or reflection. You see the season of Lent is not about identifying traits that we want to improve in ourselves, but recognizing o...
1 comment
Read more

Boy Scouts of America & the SBC: My Adolescent Pillars

The annual Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) finished up last night in Houston, TX and one of the major news stories coming out of the convention is the resolution passed regarding the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) [read full resolution and press release by Baptist Press here ]. Essentially, the resolution expresses the disappointment by the denomination in both the leadership and decision made by the national Scouting board in regards to allowing all boys to participate in the organization despite their sexual orientation. What it does not do is tell churches to dissolve their relationships with BSA troops/packs (because then they would cease to be Baptist, you know the whole local church autonomy thing is KIND of a big part of the Baptist denomination), but instead encourages them to funnel support into the Royal Ambassadors (the SBC equivalent of an organization to the BSA). For those of you who may not know, I am an Eagle Scout, and a proud one at that. My family and I were a part ...
3 comments
Read more