Walking on the land Jesus walked

Tiberias, Israel - We arrived at this city of Tiberias founded by Herod Antipas, the son of King Herod the Great. The city is along the Sea of Galilee and 200 meters below sea level. It is the biggest city in the Sea of Galilee when our Lord Jesus Christ held his Galilean ministry. As our tour guide Exie Schlossberg told us, the area along the Sea of Galilee is the place where nearly 80% of the gospel teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ were done.

Early Monday morning, we left our hotel called the Leonardo Club for the first of many of our visits to the biblical sites. Along the way, no less than a 15-minute drive from Tiberias, we saw Mt. Arbel, the highest point in the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee, where the Zealots used its caves as their headquarters and hiding place against their Roman occupiers.

It is interesting to note that our Lord Jesus Christ preached in what was a mere 10-mile area along the banks of the North shore of the Sea of Galilee. Many Galileans were attracted to follow our Lord Jesus Christ and because of his popularity and large following, many Jews wanted him to lead the revolt against Rome. But only to realize later that our Lord was preaching forgiveness of sins and loving your enemies.

Just a few kilometers from Mt. Arbel is the town of Magdala. Yes it is in this town that Mary Magdalene came from. From her, our Lord Jesus Christ exorcised seven demons. Not far from the town of Magdala is the place called "The Primacy of Peter." This is the spot where our Lord Jesus Christ searched for his disciples after he resurrected. He sensed that they went back to their old ways, which was fishing, and he was right. St. Peter and his disciples were on the shoreline fishing the whole night.

As we learned from Scriptures, our Lord Jesus Christ asked Peter if they caught anything. Peter said they caught nothing. And the Lord told them to go into the deeper waters and drop their nets…and whey they did, they caught so many fish. Then the Lord invited them over to the shore for breakfast, which he already prepared. In that scene, our Lord asked Peter, "Peter do you love me?" He asked Peter this question three times and Peter also replied three times that he loved Jesus. This was our Lord's way of forgiving Peter for denying him three times before his crucifixion.

This place is also reported to be the fishing area of Peter and his brothers and where our Lord Jesus first met Peter and told him, "Follow me for you shall be fishers of men." Inside the chapel is the "Mensa Christi" or the table of Christ, a limestone rock with an altar placed over it.

We then motored to Capernaum to see the house of St. Peter. It is all in ruins now, but the Franciscans built a church on top of it and our tour guide told us that part of the money to build this church came from the late Don Ramon Durano, Sr. It was there that we held another mass officiated by Fr. Dante Barcelona with Fr. Gerry Martiano. After the mass, we went to the ruins of the old Synagogue where our Lord Jesus Christ used to teach and preach to his disciples and cured countless sick people.

Nearby this place is the Church of the Multiplication, the very site where our Lord Jesus Christ performed the Miracle of the Loaves or the Feeding of the Five Thousand. The stone where our Lord reportedly placed the bread and fish is venerated there with an altar to mark the spot. After this visit we had lunch courtesy of Mrs. Marilou Ordoñez of Delmar Travel and Tours who went along with us for this pilgrimage. Our lunch was holy fish or tilapia, which is plentiful in the freshwaters of the Sea of Galilee.

After lunch, we took a boat cruise in the Sea of Galilee, which was operated by Messianic Jews - Jews who believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ was truly the Messiah. So we had spiritual readings and songs by the boat's crew. We had two readings…the one where our Lord Jesus walks on the water after he did the Feeding of the Five Thousand. In that story, Peter asked the Lord if he too could walk on water and our Lord Jesus beckoned him to come out of the boat. But he started to sink and asked the Lord to help him. And our Lord rescued him and told him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" You can read that scripture story in Matt. 14:22-23.

The other scripture story is similar to the first Matt.8: 23-27 where they took a boat to the Sea of Galilee and were caught in a storm while our Lord Jesus was sleeping. The disciples, fearful of their boat sinking, woke up our Lord and told them, "O You of Little faith, why were you afraid?" Then calmed the sea and the storm. It was then that the disciples knew that their Master had control over the sea and the storm.

For the last visit of the day, we rode towards another mountain to visit the Church of the Beatitudes, where our Lord gave the Sermon on the Mount or the Sermon on the Plain. Exie, our tour guide, explained the difference, which you can see from the church. Indeed, it was a hectic day-long pilgrimage and very spiritually rewarding. It was like taking a two-week retreat!

*  *  *

Email: [email protected].