Sea of Galilee

Matthew 4:18-20
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
At once they left their nets and followed him.

Michael W. Smith echoed across the waters as all the groups boarded the boats.  Tying the two boats together, we floated off into the Sea of Galilee.  It is technically more of a lake than a sea, but it's the largest freshwater lake in all of Israel.  The Sea of Galilee is also the lowest below sea level freshwater lake in the earth. Today this freshwater is actually a main source of the country's drinking water.

All was calm and peaceful, a step back in time to when Jesus sailed -and walked- on this water... until this guy flew overhead:

Many of the places we visited in Israel were just "possible" places from the Bible (like the location for the Sermon on the Mount, Peter's house, even the empty tomb...) but there is no doubt that Jesus was all over the Sea of Galilee.  It is mentioned many times throughout Jesus' ministry, and these are only the important times that the authors decided to record, who knows how many other evenings Jesus spent crossing the lake or walking on the shore with his disciples.

The Sea of Galilee and the surrounding landscape is so beautiful... it is no wonder so much of Jesus' ministry took place on and around this lake.  Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, while the crowd looked out onto the lake.  Jesus showed his power by calming a storm and later walking on these waters.  Another time, thousands of people followed Jesus to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee and on the mountainside he took 5 loaves and two fish and fed five thousand.

My uncle Jeff preached a powerful message about having faith in the midst of storms while we drifted in the middle of the lake.  A time of worship followed, as a Christian man from Israel led us in a few songs.  

An ancient fishing boat was discovered in 1986, preserved in mud and water until a drought exposed pieces of the boat to 2 fishermen brothers.  It is a first century fishing boat based on radiocarbon dating.  Boats like this one are mentioned 50 times in the Gospels and while this boat does not have a direct connection with Jesus, it is the sort of boat Jesus and his disciples would have used. 

For lunch, we had a typical fisherman's meal in a local restaurant:

 

I ate hummus.