Israel - Day Four & Five

Today we started our day with a cruise on the Sea of Galilee. For those of you following from Canada, the Sea of Galilee for me resembles Okanagan Lake. There were many boats bursting with tourists. Some had praise music cranked in anticipation as they launched. We were on the sea (which really is a fresh water lake) for about an hour. The day was beautiful as the sun shon on us. In fact, the weather the entire time we were in Israel was much like that day. It was a lovely morning.

After leaving the sea, we headed to yet another famous body of water, the Jordan River. The Jordan river is the spot where John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus. It was here he baptized followers of Jesus. I have been a christian for many years, but had not at this point been baptized. There were a couple of reasons for my lapse. But jokingly, I say I saved it for such a special spot. This particular spot in the Jordan River has been made for just such ceremonies. The water was a lot cooler than I imagined, but I took the plunge regardless. This step was a long time coming, but one I am relieved to have taken. It was an amazing moment.

After leaving the Jordan River we went to a restaurant for lunch called Peter's fish. For those of you unfamiliar with the story Simon Peter was one of Jesus' disciples who was a fisherman. Jesus told him instead of being of fisherman, he was now a fisher of men. The lunch was delicious and obviously a spot where most of the tour buses would stop.

After lunch we headed to Capernaum. Rejected in his hometown of Nazareth, we are told that Jesus moved to Capernaum and settled there. In it's day it was one of the most important towns on the lake. It was estimated to have a population of between four and five thousand. Jesus moved among the rich and poor. He chose to live and labor in this busy, populated and worldly-minded section of his country. The majority here rejected him despite the fact that they had the most contact with him and the number of miracles they witnessed.