Monday, August 06, 2012
After a late start, we went straight to Capernaum. The Catholic Franciscans have done a lot of archeology there. They have built a church over what they claim is St. Peter’s house in Capernaum. Here are some pictures of Peter’s house under the church building.
Archeologist have found some first century fishing equipment in this simple house. It was surrounded by an octagonal structure that archeologists believe to be a fourth century church building built to venerate the home of Simon Peter The structure above the ancient structure is a Franciscan Church building built once again to venerate the home of Simon Peter. Less than a block from this site is the Capernaum Synagogue. Shown in this picture is the ruin of the third or fourth century synagogue. Note it is made of Limestone, not the local basalt. This means that those who constructed the synagogue were people of some wealth. The fourth century upper structure is built upon the foundation of a first century synagogue. That means the synagogue in Capernaum in which Jesus spoke was built upon this same foundation.
Note in this picture that the foundation is black basalt. This is the first century foundation stone.
After touring the ruins we went down to the shore, took our shoes off and put our feet in the water. Then we sat on the shore and talked about the many of the events that must have happened on this shore within a few hundred yards of where we were sitting—the call of Peter, Andrew, James and John, the miracle of the great catch when they had fished all night and caught nothing, etc. Finally we read John 21, understanding that it also probably occurred within a few hundred yards where we were sitting.
Leaving Capernaum we drove to the church of the Mount of Beatitudes. The church was closed for 2 hours so we drove around to the back parking lot and went out and sat under a tree overlooking the slopes of the mountain down to the sea of Galilee. We read the Sermon on the Mount together.
From The Mount of Beatitudes we drove to the ruins of the Chorazin. Here is the synagogue of Chorazin.
It struck us that of the three cities upon which Jesus pronounced woe, Capernaum, Bethsaida & Chorazin, (Matthew 11:21-24) They are all ruins now.
From Chorazin we drove to Mt. Tabor. Many venerate this as the site of the transfiguration of Jesus. The Franciscans have built a church building there for that purpose, although I think one of the many heights of Mount Hermon probably fits the Biblical text better. From Mt. Tabor on a clear day one can see Meggido, Nazareth, the Hill of Moreh, Mt. Gilboa and almost to Beth Shean. In this picture looking from Mt. Tabor over the East end of the Valley of Jezreel one can see (moving from right to left) the Hill of Moreh, on the near slopes of Moreh, En-Dor, Nain, hazy in the background is the range of Mt. Gilboa. On the other side of the Hill of Moreh is Shunem. With a good telescope or binoculars at various points in history from this location, one might have been able to see: Gideon fighting the Midianites, or Deborah and Barak fighting the Canaanites, or Saul sneaking to see the witch at En-Dor, or taking his last stand the next day on the slopes of Mt. Gilboa, or the Shunemite woman hurrying to bring Elisha back to raise her son, or Jesus meeting the funeral procession coming out of Nain and raising the widow’s only son from the dead.
We left Tabor and drove to Cana. After some hunting we found the wedding church of the first miracle. (Traffic in Cana and Nazareth is awful). The church is built over the ruins of an old house. Of course they claim it is where Jesus turned water into wine. After coming up from the basement, we found ourselves in the middle of a wedding service. All the couples on tour got to participate in a wedding ceremony to renew their vows. Laura, you should have been here! There were probably about 10 couples coming down the aisle.
We then drove to Nazareth and spent the evening trying to find our hostel. We finally were forces to leave our car behind and find it on foot. It is in the middle of the old city and is literally on a street that is too small for cars to drive down. What a hoot! We felt like we were in an Indiana Jones movie! The hostel is an old mansion that has been turned into a youth hostel. It is really fabulous. Here visit their website on line:
http://www.fauziazarinn.com/langswitch_lang/en/?gclid=CPrq4urn07ECFUrP3wodylkAkg
We finally got settled in about 8:30 and then went out to find something to eat. And of course we are back now.
Archeologist have found some first century fishing equipment in this simple house. It was surrounded by an octagonal structure that archeologists believe to be a fourth century church building built to venerate the home of Simon Peter The structure above the ancient structure is a Franciscan Church building built once again to venerate the home of Simon Peter. Less than a block from this site is the Capernaum Synagogue. Shown in this picture is the ruin of the third or fourth century synagogue. Note it is made of Limestone, not the local basalt. This means that those who constructed the synagogue were people of some wealth. The fourth century upper structure is built upon the foundation of a first century synagogue. That means the synagogue in Capernaum in which Jesus spoke was built upon this same foundation.
Note in this picture that the foundation is black basalt. This is the first century foundation stone.
After touring the ruins we went down to the shore, took our shoes off and put our feet in the water. Then we sat on the shore and talked about the many of the events that must have happened on this shore within a few hundred yards of where we were sitting—the call of Peter, Andrew, James and John, the miracle of the great catch when they had fished all night and caught nothing, etc. Finally we read John 21, understanding that it also probably occurred within a few hundred yards where we were sitting.
Leaving Capernaum we drove to the church of the Mount of Beatitudes. The church was closed for 2 hours so we drove around to the back parking lot and went out and sat under a tree overlooking the slopes of the mountain down to the sea of Galilee. We read the Sermon on the Mount together.
From The Mount of Beatitudes we drove to the ruins of the Chorazin. Here is the synagogue of Chorazin.
It struck us that of the three cities upon which Jesus pronounced woe, Capernaum, Bethsaida & Chorazin, (Matthew 11:21-24) They are all ruins now.
From Chorazin we drove to Mt. Tabor. Many venerate this as the site of the transfiguration of Jesus. The Franciscans have built a church building there for that purpose, although I think one of the many heights of Mount Hermon probably fits the Biblical text better. From Mt. Tabor on a clear day one can see Meggido, Nazareth, the Hill of Moreh, Mt. Gilboa and almost to Beth Shean. In this picture looking from Mt. Tabor over the East end of the Valley of Jezreel one can see (moving from right to left) the Hill of Moreh, on the near slopes of Moreh, En-Dor, Nain, hazy in the background is the range of Mt. Gilboa. On the other side of the Hill of Moreh is Shunem. With a good telescope or binoculars at various points in history from this location, one might have been able to see: Gideon fighting the Midianites, or Deborah and Barak fighting the Canaanites, or Saul sneaking to see the witch at En-Dor, or taking his last stand the next day on the slopes of Mt. Gilboa, or the Shunemite woman hurrying to bring Elisha back to raise her son, or Jesus meeting the funeral procession coming out of Nain and raising the widow’s only son from the dead.
We left Tabor and drove to Cana. After some hunting we found the wedding church of the first miracle. (Traffic in Cana and Nazareth is awful). The church is built over the ruins of an old house. Of course they claim it is where Jesus turned water into wine. After coming up from the basement, we found ourselves in the middle of a wedding service. All the couples on tour got to participate in a wedding ceremony to renew their vows. Laura, you should have been here! There were probably about 10 couples coming down the aisle.
We then drove to Nazareth and spent the evening trying to find our hostel. We finally were forces to leave our car behind and find it on foot. It is in the middle of the old city and is literally on a street that is too small for cars to drive down. What a hoot! We felt like we were in an Indiana Jones movie! The hostel is an old mansion that has been turned into a youth hostel. It is really fabulous. Here visit their website on line:
http://www.fauziazarinn.com/langswitch_lang/en/?gclid=CPrq4urn07ECFUrP3wodylkAkg
We finally got settled in about 8:30 and then went out to find something to eat. And of course we are back now.
No comments:
Post a Comment