We had a beautiful start to our day by taking a boat ride on the sea of Galilee. It’s a beautiful, warm, sunny day. Joe has been hoping for a chance to make us really sweat, and today the weather cooperated with him. On the boat, we were privileged to sing along in worship as they played the song “Bless the Lord, O my Soul”. There was a large group of Chinese tourists along, with whom we communicated by smiles!
From there, we traveled from the Arbel Valley through the Wadi Hamam. Then came the big event of the day – we climbed the Cliffs of Arbel, 590 feet high. We accomplished this one step at a time, avoiding cow pies on the way! We also saw the cows who live on the sides of the mountain. This place was full of of other groups, including many school children on school trips. We had some great interaction with them as we waited our turn to climb up.
We had a delicious lunch at St. Peter’s Restaurant beside the Sea of Galilee, at which most of us ate fish, of course, some with heads, eyes, and bones intact!
Next we went to the third of the cities on which Jesus pronounced judgement – Chorazin. Here were remains of a large synagogue, and other ruined buildings, and some amazing stone arches.
The crowning event of the day was going to the (supposed) Mount of Beatitudes. Here we were blessed to read the Sermon on the Mount together. We could look out over the Sea of Galilee and imagine Jesus sitting here with his disciples and the multitudes gathering around Him.
Walk the Text 