Wow, What a Day!!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Korazim - Mount of Beattitudes - Seven Springs (site of Peter's Restoration) - Capernaum - the "Jesus" Boat - Sea of Galilee

... and we got home in time for dinner! Actually before dinner. As we were queued up at 6:45 at our hotel, we found out the dining room opens at 7:00.  Not a big deal. But they do like to dine late in Israel. But that's neither here nor there. This is about our day. An amazing day.

In all our travels, Rich & I have found that everything we saw that was man made was not so impressive, but everything that God made was breath-taking. Today was sort of a hybrid day, as we stood amid the things that ancient man had made, celebrating the things God had made and done.  Korazim was such a place for me.

Korazim's (Chorazin) claim to fame was for being cursed, along w/ Bethsaida and Capurnaum:

"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. (Matthew 11:21, Luke 10:13)

Its crime? Basically mine: pride. Obedience to the Hebrew law to be noticed:

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat,  so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.  They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.  They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,  and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues (Matthew 23:1-6)

Charles Morris, host of the radio program Haven Today, told us today that when we visit Israel that it will be like reading the Bible in 3D.  Today, at Korazin, those 3D glasses were placed before my eyes as Yuval, our amazing guide,  read the above passage from Matthew 23 and showed us where the people sat in the synagogue:

And then showed us the best seat in the house, the place of honor where the Rabbi sat.

But what really got me was when Charles (or was it Yuval?) reminded us that the Bible said that Jesus taught in all the synagogues in the Galilee, so he would have been in . this . synagogue.  The synagogue probably didn't look like this when Jesus was there (there had been several restorations & renovations for hundreds of years of as this  ancient town's life), but He was here.  

 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.(Matthew 4:23)

Jesus was there! It was a powerful realization to know that He stood in the very building, a couple thousand years ago, and now I was standing there, too.  And I did not want to leave.

Not my best selfie, but I was there. Boom, in the first couple hours of our "Walk Where Jesus Walked" tour, I was there. It was a little overwhelming.

To be continued...