ISRAEL, Day 3
Our first stop was the mount of the Beatitudes from Matthew 6. The hill is a natural amphitheater that now doubles as a banana farm. (Yep, that’s right. It’s a banana farm). My dad read the Beatitudes in English while our tour guide Ami read it in Hebrew, the language that Jesus would have preached it in. I must admit, the chill bumps rose fast.
We then drove over to Capernaum, which, Ami said was really called Kafar Nahum. (Why they translated Kafar Nahum into Capernaum, I’ll never know, and neither did he). The top right hand picture was the synagogue where Jesus would have taught. The white stone was from the Byzantine period, but the black stone underneath was the actual foundation of the synagogue from Jesus time. HOW COOL IS THAT!??
Even though Studhubs isn’t a wee little man, he played Zaccheus in a play when he was a little boy, so he just couldn’t help resist climbing the Sycamore tree.
We headed over on the Golan side of the Sea of Galilee where our tour guide showed us the only cliff where the pigs in Mark 5 could have jumped off to their death. Also, behind the cliff were tombs, so they think that’s where the demoniac was living when Jesus cast out the bad guys and they flew into the pigs that charged over the hill.
The guys decided to take the opportunity to exercise their God-given right to stand up and take a……..picture. (: We ate fresh fish from the Sea of Galilee for lunch, and I must say (as a not-so-much fish lover)…it was incredible.
And my favorite moment…..my amazing Daddy baptized Studhubs in the Jordan river—the same river where Jesus was baptized!
And then JESUS AROSE FROM THE WATER!!!!!! Oh, wait…..STUDHUBS arose from the water. With the beard, white robe, and long hair, I get them confused sometimes.
The whole fam is having a life-changing time. Getting a little crispy in the 100 degree heat (thank you, Irish roots), but it’s totally worth it. (:
More to come.
xx, Sista Christa
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