Page 13 - Holyland Magazine - 2009 Edition

a fisherman, whose house was located close to the shores of A place of tranquility at the Church
the lake. The house is believed to be his partly because it was of The Multiplication of Loaves and
singled out by early Christian worshipers who built a church Fishes. Photo: Pascal Hoffmann
in his honor on top of the ruins.

Leaving Capernaum, we come to the area referred to today
as “the evangelical triangle,” where Jesus performed most of
his miracles while laying the foundation for his ministry. Driving
westward brings us to the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter,
where Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection
and had breakfast with them sitting on the rock that is now
at the apse of the church.

Several miracles are associated with the site – from a really big
catch of fish (John 21:1-14) to the most unforgettable walk in
the Bible, Jesus’ walk on the water (Matthew 14:22-33).

Matthew also emphasizes the importance of the place in which
Peter became The Rock upon which the Church and its Liturgy
of the Eucharist was built. “And I tell you that you are Peter,
and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of
Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound
in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed
in heaven” (Matthew 16:17-19).

Itamar Grinberg to see the buildings and the synagogue
dating back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries.
Pilgrimage tour in the town of Korazim. At right: The 1st century fishing boat At Kibbutz Ginosar.
The drive back down toward the upper
A few hundred yards away at Tabgha, a Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, Jordan estuary where it feeds into the Sea
recently constructed church stands upon whose words still reverberate over the of Galilee features thick clusters of
the ruins of a 4th century Byzantine church centuries as fundamental ethics of the eucalyptus trees and reeds that dominate
built to commemorate the famous miracle Judeo-Christian world (Matthew 5, 1-13; the mud flats that have been created by
of the loaves and fishes, when Jesus fed Luke 6:20). The church, designed by the recent years of drought. We move
the multitudes from three fish and five Antonio Barluzzi and completed in 1938, southward along the eastern shore of the
loaves of bread. A small 1,500-year-old provides a breathtaking view of the land lake, under the towering mountains of the
mosaic located in the apse near the altar in which Jesus did his “mighty works.” Golan Heights. The road takes us to Kursi
marks the stone on which Jesus set out the (the biblical Gergesa), the site of the miracle
loaves and fishes. Not far from Tabgha, past the newly built of the swine. The Gospel tells how Jesus
Domus Galilaeae center for Christian heals the madman, by casting out the devils
From the shores of the lake at 600 feet studies, is Korazim, mentioned in Matthew into a herd of swine, which “ran violently
below sea level, we are starting our climb 11:21 and Luke 10:13 as the town that down a steep place into the sea and were
north to the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus denounced. The site is worth a visit choked in the sea” (Matthew 8: 28-34).

Today Kursi is a national park, where you
can explore the restored remains of the
large Byzantine church, monastery and inn
that were found by chance when road works
exposed them in 1967.

While at Kursi, don’t miss sitting on the
“enchanted bench” just outside the gate
near the wall. Believers claim the bench
has special qualities, inducing a feeling of
peace and calm to those that sit on it. While
sitting and hoping for a wish to come true,
it is worth remembering the wise words of
Golda Meir, Israel's prime minister, who
during the 1973 war is said to have noted
that in Israel we can do the impossible,
miracles just take longer.