LAST DAY IN GALILEE

Hello, my fellow pilgrims!  Are you excited to see where our adventures on day 5 of our Holy Land pilgrimage will take us?  I continue to pray the places and scriptures come alive so you personally experience the fifth gospel.  Try to take a few minutes to pause, think about, and answer the reflection questions you will find along the way. Enjoy today’s sights which will complete our time in Galilee, my dear reader~

 

Our first stop today is at the Mount of Beatitudes area. These first pictures are from the guesthouse in Galilee where we stayed. Walking the grounds you can also see the beautiful landscape of the area, the Sea of Galilee, and the Mount of Beatitudes church.

 

The Mount of Beatitudes Guesthouse

 

A view of the grounds

 

The Sea of Galilee view from our guesthouse

 

A beautiful garden area at our guesthouse

 

I gained new insights into the Scripture on the Beatitudes as our tour guide read and explained it. There is an interesting parallel to thinking about how Moses received the Ten Commandments, the law, from God on Mount Sinai. Here, on the Mount of Beatitudes, Jesus brought us the Beatitudes, a message of the Law of Love. Jesus came to fulfill the law, the Law of Love.

 

The Mount of Beatitudes Church

 

The word “blessed” can be translated as happy. I had never noticed how the Beatitudes build on each other, kind of like climbing a ladder. As you read, think of the blessing we receive with the second half of each of the beatitudes.

Being poor in spirit can mean poverty in spirit where we recognize we need God’s help. We surrender our lives and ourselves to God. This poverty in spirit leads our hearts to be sensitive to the needs, pain, and losses of others joining in their mourning. We also mourn our own weaknesses, the way we sin or fail to love unconditionally. This leads to the next beatitude of being meek. Meekness in the Biblical sense means we align our will with God’s will. We follow Christ no matter what the risk or what others think. When we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we desperately crave Christ. We have a deep desire to continually feed upon the Word, spend time with Him, and share His love and goodness with others.

This next rung of our ladder is the Beatitude of being merciful. Being merciful is self-giving, forgiving with the forgiveness God has granted to us, and loving our enemies, even those who persecute us. The next rung leads to being pure in heart. Our hearts are the center of God’s activity in us. Scripture tells us our hearts are the center of the human spirit from which springs emotion, thoughts, motivations, courage, and action. Being pure in heart leads us to be peacemakers. Peacemakers share healing in words and actions, keeping in mind that we are all made in God’s image. We are all valuable in God’s kingdom. Some of us, through the ages, have faced persecution for our faith. Maybe loved ones have deserted us because of our faith. We are joined in carrying the cross of Jesus. Our reward in heaven, too, will be great!

 

 

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

He said:

     “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
       for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
       Blessed are those who mourn,
       for they will be comforted.
     Blessed are the meek,
       for they will inherit the earth.
       Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
       for they will be filled.
      Blessed are the merciful,
       for they will be shown mercy.
      Blessed are the pure in heart,
       for they will see God.
      Blessed are the peacemakers,
      for they will be called children of God.
     Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
      for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  -Matthew 5:1-12  (NIV)

Reflection:  When have you experienced God’s presence, once far away, become close to you in your suffering? Do you need to work on a particular rung of the ladder of the Beatitudes?

 

Eremos cave, at the bottom of the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus is believed to have prayed and gotten away from the crowds

 

In awe of sitting in a cave where Jesus did!

 

The view from the cave overlooking the Sea of Galilee

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Our next stop is to the village of Tabgha, where Jesus’ miracle of feeding the five thousand took place. It is a story told by all four gospel writers.  In retrospect, I realize the sacredness of standing in the place known as the Church of the Multiplication, where Jesus performed this miracle, did not hit me. Wow…What a privilege to be standing here! A highlight of the church here is seeing the restored fifth-century mosaic floor.

 

The rock and mosaic where the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish took place

 

Original, ornate flooring in the church

 

An outside altar at the church next to the Sea of Galilee

 

 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said.  And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.  They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.  The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.  –Matthew 14:13-21  (NIV)

Reflection:  Do you offer to Jesus the little you have, generously and unashamedly, so He can turn it into something greater for His glory?  Do you give thanks to God for your life and ask Him how He can use you to bless others?

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We have arrived in Magdala, the village where Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ loyal followers, lived.  It was a well-known fishing town along the Sea of Galilee. A first-century synagogue, known as the Magdala Synagogue, was unearthed here along with the Magdala stone in 2009! The Magdala stone is a carved stone block, which dates to before the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70. You can see carvings of a menorah and some coins. This stone is a replica, as the original was removed for safekeeping.

 

The Sea of Galilee in Magdala, a fishing town back in Jesus’ day

 

The first-century Magdala Synagogue discovered in 2009-Stand on the right where Jesus read from the Torah

 

Parts of houses

 

The Magdala Stone replica showing the menorah

 

A boat altar in a church at the Sea of Galilee

 

My first reminder of God’s love in the Holy Land finding this heart at Magdala

 

It was surreal to stand in this place that has original stones from a synagogue where Jesus preached. Seeing this beautiful, realistic painting of the woman with the issue of blood touching the hem of Jesus’ garment as He was passing by was a God moment. The tour guide suggested we reach out to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment as we prayed for people who needed a miracle in their life.

 

The stone bench from a synagogue back in Jesus’ day

 

Touching the hem of Jesus’ garment lifting friends in prayer

 

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God.  He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.  He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.  So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.  –Luke 5:1-11  (NIV)

Reflection:  Do you put your net into the deep water following Jesus’ lead, even when it seems impractical? How do you fish for people in your life bringing them into a relationship with Jesus?

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Our last stop today is in Bethsaida, the birthplace of the disciples, Peter, Andrew, and Philip. We were able to visit an archeological site where we saw parts of the walled city one of our tour hosts assisted at some years ago. Jesus also performed miracles in Bethsaida, one of which was a little different. For one particular blind man, Jesus’ healing was not immediate; rather, it was in two stages, something to reflect on. Isn’t that like us in coming to faith? Doesn’t faith, too, come in stages in our lives and continue to grow?

 

A view from Bethsaida

 

A residential quarter from the second temple period

 

 

 

The lighter stones unearthed from an archeological dig in Bethsaida

 

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.  He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.  –Mark 8:22-25  (NIV)

Reflection:  Do you need Jesus to heal the spiritual blindness of your heart? Are the eyes of your heart open to Jesus working in your life?

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As you reflect on our pilgrimage stops this week, be encouraged to remember to…

…live out the ladder of the Beatitudes daily.

…daily offer Jesus the little you have so He can multiply it for His glory.

…let the net of your life down in deep water, letting Jesus guide you.

…keep striving to grow in your faith journey, especially seeing with the eyes of your heart.

 

Spoiler alert: We journey to Jerusalem next week where we will visit the Holy Week sites as we continue our Fifth Gospel pilgrimage walking in Jesus’ footsteps. See you soon!

 

Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”  –Mark 10:27  (NLT)