“When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread…Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.”” (Jn 21.9, 12a)
I love the Sea of Galilee! We spent the bulk of the day here and went to the location where Jesus made a resurrection appearance to the disciples on the shore, cooking them breakfast. (Above: On the beach at the Sea of Galilee at the site of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to his disciples.)
We also took a boat ride in a larger replica of a 1st century fishing boat.
It was glorious being out on the sea. We got to see a demonstration of fishing with a 1st century style casting net.
This is a wonderful place for Jesus to have based his ministry. It puts some distance between him and the Romans and allowed him freedom in a serene space to gather enough followers to head to Jerusalem.
Earlier in the day we made a very quick trip to the Mount of Transfiguration and a longer trip to Caesarea Phillipi. This is the place where Peter proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah and where Jesus named him Peter and proclaimed him as the rock upon which he would build his church. It is very interesting that Jesus went to Caesarea Phillipi and chose this as the location to ask “Who do you say that I am?” It is at Caesarea Phillipi that King Herod built a temple to Emperor Augustus – its remains still stand today.
Caesarea Phillip is in the Golan Heights from which one can see both Syria and Lebanon. We could see the UN Peacekeepers base and old Army posts and tanks.
Once we came back to our guesthouse, a large group of us took a swim in the Galilee and had a marvelous time playing and laughing. I could just imagine Jesus and his hot, sweaty, tired disciples jumping in to cool off and enjoy some recreation after a long day.
We finished the day with Eucharist. Although the picture is dark, you should be able to make out the altar and our view as we celebrated our last Sunday in Israel.
We have one more day in Galilee and it’s back to Jerusalem tomorrow night.
Looking Out Seeing Within 
