The next day, we make our way down the road to Cana, where Jesus did his first miracle.
Traversing the roads of Cana was ... fun. They were barely wide enough to fit our rental car.
Finally we find our destination - the church of Cana, located on the site were it is believed the wedding of Cana occurred.
6 Now
there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of
purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 9 When
the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and
did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the
water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” - John 2:6-10
This is a water "jug", similar to one found at the time of Jesus. It's huge! (About 4 feet tall.) And it's heavy! No one would be able to lift this jug, so it was filled and emptied in waves.
In the church, a very outgoing monk gives a sermon in Italian, which, surprisingly, I actually understood parts of.
At the end of the sermon, the group, made of Italians and French, went to renew their wedding vows. We jumped up and renewed our vows in the group as well! So Bram and I, along with Jessa and Rodolfo, were able to renew our wedding vows, unplanned and on the spot, in French and Italian.
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| This really was unplanned, note how we are not dressed for the event. |
A neat icon of the changing of water to wine.
Another interesting icon of "pregnant Mary".
Then we speed through the desert, heading for the Sea of Galilee! We pass sea level, and continue to wind our way down the hill.
There it is! The Sea of Galilee!
We reach Tiberias. Now this town is almost entirely Jewish. In fact, most of the towns are either Jewish or Arab, with a sprinkling of Christian towns here and there. Besides Jerusalem, there is not much mixing of religions.
A good indication of what kind of town you are in can be seen by simply finding a McDonalds.
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| Yup... Jewish town. |
Winding our way through the streets of modern Tiberias.
The Sea of Galilee beneath us.
This charter boat was built to look similar to the boat Jesus and the apostles used while fishing.
Across the sea from Tiberias is
Capernaum - the town where Jesus spent most of his adult life.
And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali. - Matthew 4:13.
This room is where Jesus lived as an adult. He lived in the house of Peter's mother-in-law. The room itself is inside this circular structure, which was built later and used to be a Byzantine church.
Now, this church is built over the spot. You could look down through a window in the floor to see the room below.
The ruins of
Capernaum.
An ancient pot.
This church was built by the centurion who had his child healed by Jesus. The centurion promised to built it in thanks for the miracle that Jesus worked that day.
The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!”
50 Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. 51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!” - John 4:49-51
Bram down by the Sea of Galilee. Standing on the shore, more than anything, brought me back 2000 years ago to see what the world really looked like through Jesus' eyes. The towns have changed, but looking out over the water, I could imagine quite easily stepping into the world 2000 years ago.
Bram and I by the statue of Peter, in Peter's hometown of
Capernaum.
Climbing the hill from the Sea of Galilee, we get to the place where Jesus gave his "Beatitudes" sermon.
And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. - Matthew 5:1-12
Inside the chapel are the Beatitudes written in stained glass in Latin.
The view that Jesus had when he gave his Beatitudes sermon.
That night, we spent the night in a convent. It was a little "hotel" that the nuns ran to make some supplementary income.
That evening, we help a priest set up for mass on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
That night, we embark on an adventure. See, the nearby town of Tiberias, as I mentioned before, is Jewish, which means everything (and I really do mean everything) is shut down on Saturdays. Therefore, we couldn't find a restaurant to eat dinner at. So therefore, we decide to make for the nearest Christian town, close to the Lebanese border.
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| On our way further north! |
Stop signs in Israel.
Fields of grapes!
Once we reach this little town, we have no idea where the restaurant in Jessa's guidebook actually is. The roads seemed to have no names, so we drove up and down steep, narrow roads that no tourist probably ever drove on before in our obvious rental car, garnering stares from the locals. Being on the border of Lebanon, this also led to a wealth of Lebanon jokes, because crossing the border would not be the greatest thing for our hosts. As we were heading down a narrow road, we almost left town, and Jessa told Rodolfo to turn around right away. This was my favorite quote of the evening: "Stay in town if you want to stay out of Lebanon!"
During dinner, we have a view of the field beyond.
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| Those sheep could be in Lebanon! |
Dinner was a great assortment of food!
The next day we had mass (in German!) on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes.
Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” 6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”
8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”
10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” 13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” - John 6:4-14
The nearby olive trees.
The church is built on a rock that Jesus supposedly sat on as He performed this miracle.
I thought it was cute that outside, they had a koi pond.
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| Yummy. |
After our roadtrip, we visit a sight near Jerusalem, where Jesus gave his apostles the Our Father.
“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."
- Matthew 6:8-13
Entering the beautiful garden.
One of the neatest thing about this church was that it had the Our Father written in hundreds of languages, some of them very, very obscure. Here is the Korean version, next to the Mayan version!
Cherokee, Moore, and Malayalam.
This one was "donated by a group of Mexicans".
Bram and I next to the French version.
The church.
Finally, in Jerusalem, we visit the place where Jesus healed the lame man.
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For
an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the
water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water,
was made well of whatever disease he had.5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”
7 The
sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when
the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down
before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. - John 5:1-9
Seeing the places that Jesus lived was an incredible experience for me. I had always had a mental image in my head what these places looked like - reality was very different. Now, when I will hear these Gospels again, I can actually picture what it was like, and hopefully, see Jesus more clearly.
