On The Sea and the Shores of Galilee

I write this post having seen a number of other places since,

knowing now that it's one of my favorite places.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, as we headed to church on the boat!

On the path, a local musician was playing Blessed be the Name on his clarinet!

I can't explain the feeling!

Obviously our boat was a lot larger than the one the disciples travelled on with Jesus,

but it was just so surreal, to say it again, 

to be in this place where most of the ministry of Jesus took place.

The captain turned off the engine and it was very quiet on the water as we sang, 

all of us from different parts of the continent.

The Judean hills around us.

It is on this lake that the disciples cried out in fear one night when a storm came up. 

Now the lake does not look like it could get that stormy,

but the Israeli guide told us that because the lake is like a bowl

that heats up, when the winds come it can be prone to sudden violent storms. 

Our message was that, after Jesus asked the disciples why they were afraid

and calmed the storm, they were overwhelmed with a different kind of fear,

asking "Who is this, that even the wind and waves obey Him?"

The storm on the Sea of Galilee is the only seascape ever painted by Rembrandt. It depicts Jesus calming the waves, saving the lives of fourteen men. Why fourteen? It is because Rembrandt included a self portrait (a selfie) of himself on the boat, next to Jesus and his twelve disciples. 

I love that!

The following day, after seeing other places, we came back to the shores of this lake

to a somber teaching about Peter, 

the one who said he'd be willing to die for Jesus, but denied him three times.

It is believed to be on this site that Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He arose

and three times Jesus asked him if he loved him.

John 21: 17 says that Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" 

He said, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love you."

Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."

It was the shore that Jesus had first called him to follow Him,

and now, as He found him fishing again, Jesus gave him another chance.

And Peter never turned back.

He died for his faith. 

These are a couple of the precious lessons we had, not new, 

but impactful as we sat on the boat and on  the shores of Galilee.