A Jesus day

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Geo: 31.7738, 35.2252

This was a very long day but we visited many places all to do with the New Testament. We left Jerusalem at 6-15am and drove to Tel Aviv where we changed cars and set off for the day. We were a small group again. There was a young woman, Teiko, from Tokyo and a lovely young couple, Rebecca and Bram originally from Melbourne but working as lawyers in London at the moment. Our guide was Jacob who certainly let us know how much he knew. He told us he had two PhDs, one in Biblical Studies and one in Ancient languages and he could speak 14 different languages including the ancient ones. He did know his stuff but was fairly bossy.
Our first stop was at Nazareth where we visited the Church of the Annunciation and St Joseph's church. The Church of the Annunciation has been built over what are thought to be the remains of Mary's house where the angel Gabriel is said to have visited. It is an interesting place, On the ground floor is a huge open area and then the ruins of the house surrounded by small altars. The church is unfinished and lacks the marble covering for the pillars and the roof. Upstairs is a grand Basilica which has walls adorned with many images of Mary donated by Catholic Communities in countries all over the world. We found the Australian one which is OK but a couple of the others are far more impressive. This is all very new having been built only in the last thirty years. Underneath the church are preserved some ruins of the excavations of the original village. St Joseph's church was built in 1914 and is in the more medieval style. Underneath this church were found the remains of a building which had a bench with a full set of carpenters tools dating to the time of Christ. As it is unlikely that there would have been two carpenters in a small village archaeologists claim it to be Joseph's workshop.
From theer we headed north towards the Sea of Galilee,We drove through the town of Cana where Christ's first miracle occured. There were signs advertising Cana Wedding wine.We did not stop but noted there are 3 wedding churches each claiming to be the miracle site. It started to rain at this time, the first rain we have seen on the trip. Our next stop was at the site of the miracle of the loaves and fishes at Tabgha. This is now a Benedictine Church which has amazing original mosaic floors dating from Byzantine time. The stone on which Christ is supposed to have laid the fish and loaves is underneath the altar.I liked this place as it was simple and understated but still striking.
We then drove onto to Caphernaum where Jesus lived for 3 years with Peter at his mother-in-law's house. On the way we passed the Pilgrim's path and various holy sites such as the Mount of the Beatitudes, the cave where Christ sent out the apostles. We were driving along the sea of Galilee.
Caphernaum is the most interesting place here as there has been much excavation and again they claim to have found Peter's house and the remains of the synagogue as well as other buildings. It is a large archaeological site.A rather ugly octagonal church has been built by the Vatican over the house and while rather beautiful inside is quite unsightly from the outside.
We had lunch, appropriately at St Peter's Restaurant on the shore of Galilee. We opted for the fish as it seemed most appropriate. it was a very tasty meal. From here we could see the Golan Heights across the lake.
On the way back our last stop was at the site of the Baptism of Christ by John in the River Jordan. This is now a full on Tourist trap. You can renew your baptismal vows by being dunked in the river. You have to hire a white robe (for a fee of course) and it is all set up for mass immersions.The River is lined by eucalypts which I don't think were around in Jesus' time. The most exciting thing here is we saw a coati swimming in the river, eating bread people were throwing: Oh and the sight of one man in his baptismal robe who obviously had nothing on underneath which we discovered as it became transparent when wet!!
After a long trip back we arrived in Jerusalem about 7-15pm. It had given us a sense of the geography of Israel and the Holy sites although the over commercialisation is unbelievable!!

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