So these days have been super packed, so I'm like 4 days behind, my bad. But here we are at Day 3 of my Israel Experience.
Just kidding, now I'm 5 days behind... I think. I literally just had to look at our itinerary to remember what we did on day 3.
Our day started with the Mount of Beattitudes. First of all, it is absolutely gorgeous there. The hillside is covered in red, white, and pink flowers, and palm trees are everywhere looking over the Sea of Galilee. We of course sat together and read Matthew 5. But there was a little more light shed on some of the things Jesus said there. For example, when He says "a city on a hill cannot be hidden," that's not just a nice analogy. From where he was standing, He could point directly to a city right on the next hill. Also, when he says that if someone asks for your shirt to give him your cloak also - to do that would leave you basically naked. But this would not be to your shame, but rather the shame of the one to whom you've given more than they asked. Again with walking the second mile - this refers to the law that stated that a Roman soldier could force a Jew to carry his belongings for up to one mile. For the Jew to go beyond what is required and voluntarily walk a second mile with his oppressor, is to force the Roman to see humanity of the one he has oppressed.
Like, guys, Jesus knew what He was saying. He wasn't just telling them to let people walk all over them, but rather to be human and discover the shared humanity between enemies. That's how to love. And it's so beautiful. Gah.
There was another thought that occurred to me at the Mount of Beattitudes. When we had free time to roam the place, I wanted to sit around and think. Meditate on what was said there, try and feel closer to the One who had said it. Of course, with a group of friends, a camera, and a ton of pretty flowers, we ended up goofing off and taking pictures. And part of me felt wrong for just playing around but then the thought hit me: Jesus and His disciples spent 3 years together. It would take less than three days, maybe one, to read through what we know about what they did. There is so much that happened in the middle. And I get the feeling that Jesus would have goofed off with His friends. I think I've too often thought of Jesus as completely stoic and emotionless (unless He was angry, but with righteous anger of course). But what I'm learning/being reminded of a lot on this trip is that Jesus was fully human. Humans laugh. Humans have fun. Humans interact with the people they love and those interactions are not always solemn and reverent. They're full of joy and laughter. I don't think Jesus was upset that I goofed off on that mountain. In fact, considering its location, I think He and His friends were there more than once, and I'm sure at least one of those times, they shared a good laugh or two.
Anywho. After the mountain. Ok sorry. I just have to interrupt this and mention the donkey that just started braying a few feet away. Hahahaha I can't even handle these things hahaha. More on that to come in a couple days. We now return to our regularly scheduled program. Ahem.
So after the Mount of Beattitudes, we went to Capernaum, which is where Jesus' ministry was kinda based for the years he traveled. Also where Peter and his family lived. There's the remains of a large synagogue there, right across from the remains of one of the first churches. There are some people who say that the synagogue is so big because the Jews were trying to appear to outnumber the Christians, when the most likely reality is that the Christians never stopped going to the synagogue. Again, we see that the early church did not see itself as separate from the Jews, but rather as Jews who saw and believed that the prophecies of old had been fulfilled. Capernaum was one of those places where you just stood on the shore and imagined Jesus standing there before going out onto the sea with His disciples.
And we interrupt this program once again to bring you.... porcupines. No lie. Two just walked past me. What is life. I can't even.
And we're back.
So in order to truly walk in the footsteps of Christ, we ate lunch the way He did. At a place near Capernaum called En Gev, we had what is called the Peter Fish. Aka tilapia. Aka Fred. Freshly Caught Fred. I got fileted Fred. I can't eat things with eyeballs still on em. Nope. Sorry Jesus.
After our fish lunch was one of my favorite experiences of this trip so far. A boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. The boat looked like a small ark too, like it was straight off the pages of my Bible coloring books haha. The water was so beautiful. The waves were gentle and the wind was calm. And as I stood on that boat and looked out on the hills surrounding us, I had a very distinct thought. Jesus knew I would be there one day. And I believe He thought of me. I honestly felt as though He looked on those same hills and left me a thought there. A thought that waited there for 2000 years until I would one day look at the same spot and make that connection. He knew who I was and who I would be and where and when I would be. God is amazing.
We checked into Kerei Deshe, a youth hostel on the shores of the Galilee. As in, my back porch led out to the Sea of Galilee. It was cool. We had a meeting there with an Israel Experience alumni who now interns here. Of all the things he said, one comment in particular stuck out to me. It is that being here in Israel both hits you and doesn't hit you. And it is so true. When coming here, you expect that being where Jesus, and the apostles, and the forefathers of the Jewish faith, and thereby our own, have been should strike you with awe. But when you arrive, you find that there's just something so ordinary about it. Something so human. And yet it's an extraordinary experience.
And I'll tell you more about it later. It's 1am and I gotta be up in like... not a lot of hours. I wanna see the sunrise. Shalom.
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