Page 12 - Holyland Magazine - 2009 Edition

long and 7 feet wide, it is one of the few the nets.' When they had done this, they The beautiful gardens at the Church
relics that can actually help us to visualize caught a great number of fish and their of Beatitudes over looking the lake.
the events relating to Jesus and his disciples nets were tearing.” This event transformed Photo: Itamar Grinberg
along these shores. the fisherman into his followers: “Jesus
said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now The current display of decorated artifacts
For a more hands-on experience, you can on you will be catching men.' When they was found by monks of the Franciscan
sail from Ginosar to Capernaum in a brought their boats to the shore, they left order, which purchased the site in 1894.
reconstructed wooden boat, feeling the everything and followed him.” (Luke 10). Excavations dating as far back as 1905-
spray of water and the wind as you read 1915, and primarily between 1968 and
the well-known verses of the Scriptures. Landing at the jetty of Capernaum brings 1984, yielded findings from a larger village
Should you happen to sail on a summer you into the center of Jesus’ activities in and synagogue built at the same location
afternoon when the hot, strong the Galilee during his early ministry. “He in the 4th and 5th centuries.
Mediterranean breeze hits the shores of left Nazareth and went and settled in
the lake almost every day at about 2 p.m., Capernaum by the sea” (Matthew 4:13). Peeking through the glass floor of a new
you can get a small taste of the fear the No other place witnessed so many of Jesus’ church built in 1990 near the synagogue,
disciples had “And when he was entered deeds and miracles of healing. allows you to see what archaeologists
into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, identify as the house of Peter, who was
behold, there arose a great tempest in the Archaeological evidence at the site reveals also known as Simon Bar-Yonah. He was
sea, insomuch that the ship was covered little about the small hamlet of fishermen’s
with the waves” (Mathew 8: 23-24 also houses situated on the northwestern shores
Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25). of the lake. The village had a few simple
homes constructed of local black basalt and
Sailing north you may pass some modern a humble synagogue in which Jesus taught.
fishermen, members of Kibbutz Ginosar
casting their nets, in much the same way
as described in Matthew 13:47-48: “… like
unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and
gathered of every kind: Which, when it was
full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and
gathered the good into vessels, but cast the
bad away.”

Seeing the trawlers return after a night at
sea with nets full of St. Peter’s Fish, we
cannot but recall the miracle of the fish
from Luke 5: “He said to Simon, 'Put out
into deep water and lower your nets for a
catch.' Simon said in reply, 'Master, we
have worked hard all night and have caught
nothing, but at your command I will lower

12 “…this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live” (Ezekiel 47:9)