Page 32 - Holyland Magazine - 2010 Edition

pause to gather tiny shells here, which
make perfect “natural souvenirs,” or to
stroll over to where the warm spring water
streams into the lake.
Back on the main road around the lake, a
short walk along a path created to allow
pilgrims to get the feel of walking the land,
leads down to Job’s Spring. Next to a half-
ruined tower where spring water once
welled up, which may date back as early
as Roman times, a path leads down to the
shore where the spring gushes out as a
warm waterfall (around 60 degrees
Farenheit) pouring into the lake. According
to an old local folktale, Job was cured of
his boils when he washed in this spring.
The warm water makes these prime fishing
grounds, likely to be the place where Jesus
found his disciples Simon and Andrew,
James and John (Matthew 4:21-22).
Those seeking to feel the land under their
own two feet should take the path that
leads up from Tabgha to another of the
well-loved spots around the lake, the Mount
of Beatitudes. (Most pilgrims take it downhill, Jesus spoke of in Matthew 23:1.
for obvious reasons.) A centuries-old
tradition says Jesus preached the Sermon
on the Mount on this mountaintop with its
commanding view, where a chapel was
built here in the 1930s. The chapel is
crowned by a dome, each of whose glass
windows is inscribed with one of the
Beatitudes. It is still tended by Italian nuns
who also run the pilgrims’ guesthouse on
the grounds.
Speaking of walking, a 40-mile walking
trail around the lake is now in the final
stages of preparation: The Kinneret Trail
will circumnavigate the entire Sea of Galilee
along the shore – Israeli nature-lovers have
been pushing for such a trail for years and
pilgrims who love a good walk will also
benefit.
On the north shore of the lake are the
remains of three cities Jesus must have
known well, judging by the harsh criticism
they incurred (Matt: 11:21): Chorazim and
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Bethsaida on the slope of the hill near the This restored Byzantine church marks the traditional
lake, and Capernaum on the shoreline. site where Jesus cast demons into a herd of swine.
Scholars, who imagine Jesus frequently Below: The famed loaves and fishes mosaic.
walking the roads among these three cities,
have dubbed the area the Evangelical place in the land of the Gadarenes; some
Triangle. Over the centuries, when traveling say Gerasenes (the names of famous Roman
along the roads was not always safe, their cities of the region) or even Gergesenes.
locations were gradually lost. Capernaum Scholars believe the variations in the
was the first to be rediscovered in the 19th accounts show the great need to preserve
century – the intrepid Charles Wilson of the story, although the original locales may
the British Royal Engineers explored the have been obscured over the centuries.
synagogue in 1866. Almost three decades The site was discovered when a fisherman
later, in 1894, the land was purchased by and scholar of Sea of Galilee lore, Mendel
the Franciscans, who still own it. Chorazim Nun, from nearby Kibbutz Ein Gev, noticed
was identified in the early 20th century; beautiful mosaics were being unearthed
excavations and restoration now present during road construction here following the
fascinating remains from the early centuries Six Day War in 1967. As study of the finds
after Jesus’ time. Bethsaida was the last of progressed, it was recalled that a Jewish
the “triangle” to rejoin the modern pilgrims' town called Gergesa from the time of Jesus
itinerary; over the past decade, it too has stood here. Putting two and two together,
been excavated and is believed also to be scholars realized the mosaics, which have
the site of ancient Geshur, from which now been restored, must be part of a church
David’s wife Maacah hailed (1 Chron. 3:2). marking the site of the healing known as
Capernaum’s gleaming white synagogue “the Miracle of the Swine.”
contrasts with Chorazim’s black basalt one;
the latter contains a Moses seat of the type No circumnavigation of the Sea of Galilee
is complete without a stop at the Jordan
River at its southern exit from the lake.
In Capernaum, you will undoubtedly spend The fact that Jesus’ baptism by John (see
quite a bit of time recalling Jesus’ teachings page 20) is likely to have taken place at a
and healings here and seeing the remnants point much further south has not stopped
of the traditional house of Peter’s mother- thousands of visitors over the years from
in-law and the famed synagogue, marking commemorating the event here by renewing
the spot where Jesus preached and healed their baptismal vows or being baptized in
(Mark 1:21). On the hill of Bethsaida, Prof. these famous waters, adding this jewel to
Rami Arav of the University of Nebraska the crown of the pilgrim’s progress around
has uncovered a fisherman’s house to the sacred sea.
remind visitors of Peter (who was born
here, according to John 1:42). A wine-
maker’s house has also been found, and a
street from the time of Jesus, along with
Old Testament – remains of walls and a
massive gate. Visitors gather at a lookout
over the lake and open their Bibles to the
story of Jesus’ healing of a blind man (Mark
8:22-26), somewhere near this very spot.
Chorazim, northeast of the Mount of
Beatitudes and the furthest of the three
sites from the lakeshore, also has interesting
sites to see, including the
synagogue, a ritual bath and an
ancient village square.
On the east side of the lake is
the Land of the Gadarenes,
where Jesus exorcised demons
and cast them into pigs that ran
off the cliff and into the water.
Some versions of the story
present one demoniac, some
two; some say the event took