Lake or Sea of Kinneret, Gennesaret, Tiberias or Galilee, is all one body of water found in the northern part of the Land. Approximately the size of WA D.C., this expanse is the main source of freshwater to the whole land. It was also the center of Jesus’ ministry.
We began this day with some time of worship and Bible reading on the shores, near where it is believed Jesus restores Peter into right relationship with Him once again. After such an emotional day before, it was refreshing to be reminded of this story. Peter’s beloved friend and teacher, Jesus, had died, the most gruesome of deaths. With a swarm of rumors of resurrection, the accounts go to on to share that Jesus had reveal Himself alive several times before this particular story takes place.
He was alive, so Peter should be rejoicing, right? But he was ashamed, for he has rejected know his Savior too many times, especially in his hour of greatest need. Peter went out to do what he knew he could do best, fish. It was probably the thing that took his mind off of reality and helped him process what he was feeling. He comes back to shore after a failed night of fishing with a few disciples and they see a man on the beach, a fire roaring next to him, ask if they had caught anything. Turning up empty handed, the man tells them to cast their nets back in, and suddenly a multitude of fish overflows, leading to an eye-opening shout from John exclaiming, “It is the Lord!” Peter in his typical enthusiasm, could not contain himself and swam to shore to meet with Him. He saw Jesus was roasting fish and made some bread.
Peter encounters his Lord like never before. “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” This conversation gets repeated 3 times. This story struck differently than any time I’d read it before. You see, the words for love used by Jesus and Peter, are not the same. If you look closer, Jesus is asking for agape, unconditional love, while Peter admits he could only give him fileo, or brotherly love because he realized his human nature in denying Him. Jesus ends the interaction by asking for fileo love and Peter confesses he was trying.
Sitting on the shore, I tear up a bit thinking about my day before, when I felt so crushed by pain of the past, so ashamed of my attitude, like I had acted like a victim and realized, Jesus didn’t shame Peter for turning his back on him. Rather, He reminded him, it was okay to not love unconditionally all the time, to grasp my own humanness. God was not asking for perfection, he was asking for faith, perseverance, and humility. My heart softened, as the same grace was extended to it. I felt overcome a deep sense of peace as we moved onto our next stop.
Capernaum – hometown of Matthew, future home of Peter, a place that became central to Jesus’ ministry. Later, it was cursed and abandoned, as Korazim had been. In the time Jesus spent there, He healed a man with an unclean spirit, Peter’s mother-in-law’s fever, and the paralytic man who was lowered through a roof by his friends. He told the disciples the first shall be last on their way to Capernaum.
A beautiful example of this is the story of the centurion who was incredibly hungry for God, built a synagogue for the people in Capernaum. The faith of this centurion moved on the heart of Jesus, when he came to him and asked for the healing of his man’s servant. No faith was like his in all of Israel, Jesus proclaimed! While the synagogue we stood in was from the 4th century and not the 1st, it set the scene to picture what took place.
No faith was like this Gentile man’s in all the land. How convicting that would have been, proclaimed in a synagogue, a place of faith. Considering what had been said, I felt a need to examine my own heart and question, is my faith moving on the heart of God? Is my life testifying to what God has done? I had an opportunity to share my testimony on this trip and while that was an absolute privilege, I knew God was not done with me yet, particularly after marinating in what happened the day before.
Pondering all this in my heart, we moved onto our next stops of the day: Mt. Arbel and a boat ride on the Sea.