Holy Land day 3

Morning prayer on the bus as we drive north to Ceasrea Phillips. We read from Matthew the story that took place there, where Jesus named Peter the Rock upon which he will build the church. Spontaneous singing broke out on the bus!

While there we saw the archaeological work done on an ancient temple of Pan then got to see Abraham’s Gate, which was the entrance to a Canaanite village where Abraham stayed on way to rescue Lot. It’s well over 4000 years old! We also could see the mountain where God “cut” the covenant with Abraham after Lot was freed.

We were unable to ride on the Sea of Galilee this morning due to high winds. This turned out to be a blessing. More on that later.

We drove to one of my favorite spots-Capernaum. I always cry at the synagogue there, thinking how often Jesus worshipped and taught there.

Next to the synagogue is a church built over the site of Peter’s house where the scriptures tell us Jesus went one sabbath after preaching and healed Peter’s mother in law. There is a glass floor in the middle of the church where you can see the excavation of the ancient house.

Our next two stops were also along the Galilean shore. The church of the Multiplication is the site of the feeding of the 5 thousand and the church of the Primacy is where in the gospel of John chapter 21, Jesus was cooking breakfast on the shore and Peter and several other disciples were fishing. This is where Jesus asked Peter 3 times “do you love me” and tells him to feed his sheep. Both churches are small and beautiful.

We then made our way to the boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. This was an amazing experience! Very holy and spiritual. We sang hymns and just soaked it all in! All of our group was giving thanks we were delayed this morning because we got a perfect ride as the sun went down. My phone had died at this point but I will add pictures from others later. What a blessed day!