Breakfast is busy. Must have had a new batch of pilgrims in last night as there are lines everywhere. I have found among all the vegetables and salads offered for breakfast a large bowl of a granola/oatmeal mix that I assume is supposed to be sprinkled on some of the salad offerings as a topping. I fetch a bowl quickly and fill it. Ah! I have my oatmeal for breakfast now. Not to say that Mediterranean style olives and salads aren't great for breakfast, they're just not familiar, I'm all in for comfort food.
I take a "yogurt" in the familiar little plastic container with the foil top and a few berries to top it with. I go over to the hot water and stir up a little Nescafe to pretend I am having my morning coffee. The granola/oatmeal is great. I will survive. I open the yogurt and get a spoonful. My mind is telling me to slowdown and look at what is going into my mouth, but not soon enough. It is buttermilk masquerading as yogurt. Thick, only slightly runny buttermilk. I smile and look around to see if anyone is watching and discreetly deposit the mouthful in my napkin. I look at the label. It is all in Hebrew.
The first floor of the hotel where we eat is beautifully situated at the shore of the Sea of Galilee. There are large picture windows to look out on to the Sea. It is a beautiful scene. Indiana Jolie joins me as does a couple of people we have not met before. It is fun getting to compare notes about all the adventures so far.
Today we are going to the Chapel of the Beattitudes, an overlook of the area where 95% of Jesus' ministry took place, Chorazim, Magdala, Capernaum and "The House of the Boat." It looks like another full day. And then there is the "surprise" whatever that is going to be.
We are anxious to get going, we assume there will be many rocks to take pictures of today and we are ready. We board our bus. Dr. George Wood, the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God is riding with us today.
If that doesn't mean anything to you, he is my highest boss, the Pope if you will of the Assemblies of God. He is a very kind man and fun to have along. It is not very often that I have this kind of access to a man like Dr. Wood.
The bus ride is not too long, maybe an hour to the north end of the Sea of Galilee, not too far from the north shore. We do gain some altitude and there are cattle everywhere. There is lush grass but only growing between the innumerable stones.
It would be impossible to farm this land for all the stones. Short spindly trees grow here and offer the cows some shade. The buses wind up a small dirt road and the bus drivers do their rodeo magic and shoehorn these immense buses into small parking spaces.
We debus and walk up into some beautifully manicured gardens with grass lawns and towering trees. Up ahead is a white and gray stone Catholic Chapel that is round and beautiful. You can use the restrooms here but it will cost you 1 Euro, about a buck and a half. I assume that includes TP. Long lines form.
There are beautiful small amphitheaters that I suppose are first-come-first-served and they tell us to find seating in one of them. This one overlooks the hillside we are perched on top of and out over the Sea of Galilee. Tiberias is in the background to the west and we settle in for a teaching on the Beattitudes.
There is no definitive site identified as the place of the Sermon on the Mount, but this place would have served admirably.
Matthew 5:1-3 (NKJV)
And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. [2] Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
[3] "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
You kind of look around and wonder if Jesus was somewhere near where you are sitting. The place sure "looks" right. Intriguing. Our tour organizer and guide, Dr. Marc Turnage says the area we are overlooking is probably where Jesus experienced his temptation in the wilderness and his baptism by John.
This comes as somewhat of a shock to me. It is lush and beautiful in the valley below. There is heavy vegetation and the clear beautiful waters of the upper Jordan river flow through it. It looks nothing like the Sunday School flannel graph pictures of barren wasteland in my mind. Dr. Turnage explains that "wilderness" in Hebrew is not necessarily the hot and dry places we usually think of, but more as "unsettled" or "wild" lands. I think about it. Jesus' first temptation had to do with making stones into bread, there are certainly plenty of them here.
Matthew 4:3 (NKJV)
Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."
Jesus also told the parable of the "stony soil" which is what this place is all about.
Dr. Turnage also said that in contrast to the traditional site of Jesus' baptism, this upper Jordan area from a scholarship point of view is much more likely. Having to do with the more pure, "living" water of the upper Jordan and the fact that Jesus lived here in this area. It doesn't make much sense that he would travel many miles south of Galilee be baptized and return. It was likely that John the Baptist lived in this same wilderness and ministered here as well. Dr. Turnage also believes that John was beheaded in Tiberias as well and not at a site on the Dead Sea as tradition teaches.
It is interesting to ponder these debates of scholarship, archaeology and traditions. Sometimes they all line up and satisfy everyone and sometimes they don't and everyone disagrees. Sometimes it is true that traditional sites were established out of convenience and not fact. Such is the case with the Mount of Transfiguration. It was just easier for pilgrims to get to Mt. Tabor in central Israel as opposed to Mt. Hermon in the north. Sometimes the traditional sites have been established because that's the real deal and pilgrims have been coming there since the third and fourth centuries. It's wonderful stuff to try to sort out.
After our devotional, we are given a little time to wander around. I am surprised that I have absolutely no interest in the Catholic Chapel. I wander the grounds and enjoy the beautiful flowers and pathways. This would be a wonderful place for a personal spiritual retreat.
We are bid to get on the bus again. We are still in archaeologist mode and there were no rocks at all to take pictures of at the Chapel of the Beattitudes so we are ready to see some, cameras at the ready.
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