Day 10

Today we went to more sites than we have on any other single day. Mostly it was because they were close together, but also because it was our last day in the Holy Land and we wanted to get all we could in. I wont tell every site we visited today but just some of the highlights.

The day was started off with a Jewish tradition called the Bread and the Salt. Bread is the staple of life and salt is the preserver. Friends gather to welcome each other with this special ceremony. Our guide, David Arens, is Jewish and he performed the ceremony. We did it in the Valley of the Winds and the Doves, the valley Jesus walked through to get from Nazareth to Galilee. There is no church built there or other structures to get in the way of the simplicity and naturalness of the scene, the scene Jesus saw. Here is a picture of me in the valley.

There on the Sea of Galilee there is a boat that they discovered that was in use during Jesus’ lifetime. It is a fishing boat. It was made about 100 years before Christ and was in use until about 70 AD. It has been preserved and now sits in its own museum. No one knows if Jesus or the disciples rode in this boat, but Jesus would certainly have seen it on the sea at some point. There was a little man there names Hiam, who told us all about the boat. The man reminded Jenny of her grandfather that passed away a couple of years ago so we took her picture with him and our guide David.

The boat had repairs and patches from 12 different trees and one of them is Sycamore. They planted the 12 trees outside the museum so tourists could get an idea of what the trees looked like. Lee couldn’t help himself. He wanted t be Zaccheus and he climbed that Sycamore Tree!

Another great site was the Mount of Beatitudes, the hill on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee that Jesus did the majority of his teaching. There is a church built on the spot but the hills surrounding it are still much like in Jesus’ day. The northern portion of the sea is the place where Jesus did the majority of his ministry. He did go to Jerusalem and other places but Galilee was the place he did the most ministry. We took a picture of Adam at the top of the hill as Adam is becoming a great teacher and it seemed fitting to have him there.

There in Galilee is the spot where Jesus performed the miracle of the Loaves and the Fishes. There at the spot is a beautiful mosaic that is 1500 years old. The interesting thing about the mosaic, at the foot of the altar, is there are two fish and only four loaves in the picture. I have always wondered about the four loaves when the Bible tells of five. I became very clear; the fifth loaf is the Eucharist on the altar.

The Sea Galilee is an amazing site. Along the shore are various churches making the spot of Jesus’ calling of his disciples and one church that commemorates the spot where Jesus told Peter that he would become the Rock. At the beach along the shore, Jenny collected shells and sand for a “homemade” souvenir.

For lunch, we ate at the shores of Galilee and I had the famous St. Peter’s fish. It comes whole and we had a blast eating it. Below is a video of the fish talking about being lunch.

We concluded our time on the sea with a boat ride. It was amazing to hear the waves hit the side of the boat and think of the many stories of Jesus calming the storm and Peter walking on the water. Lee and I got so caught up in the moment we started dancing together. See the photo of Lee’s head on my shoulder…it’s precious. Ok, we did have a little fun on the boat ride.

To wrap up the day, we had baptisms in the Jordan. About five people in our group got baptized and another 10 or so did a “remembrance” of their baptism. The remembrance was a sprinkling of Jordan water as they recalled their own personal baptism experience. I had the opportunity to officiate along with Richie. A few years ago I did a pouring baptism for two of our “special needs” members at Hillcrest and with this experience I have come full circle…immersion, pouring and sprinkling…how many other Baptist pastors can say that!

Pastor Karen performed some of the baptisms as well as Gordon Harris.

Tomorrow is a relaxed day in Amman, Jordan. We will go to the mall and try to find a Burger King of something that’s not a falafel!