Oy, What a morning!

Just to contrast with yesterday, I slept soundly through the night and Drew woke me up at 8:15. I guess my internal clock is not reset yet. At least I managed to catch the bus at 9:00.

This morning we went to the Mount of the Beatitudes, where Jesus gave the sermon on the mount. Many people have the misconception that he was on top of the mountain preaching when in reality, he was at the bottom, speaking up the hill like a theatre. The place where we went has a church and beautiful gardens, owned and managed by the Franciscians. There were LOTS of tourists and busses fromItaly, China and even India. It was curious to see folks you don’t normally think of as having a Christian heritage worshipping in one of the outdoor chapels on the grounds.



Then we went to the Church of Heptapegon, where Jesus fed the 5,000. It is called Tabgaa because the local people could not say the Roman name Heptapegon which is Greek for Seven Springs. In this dry and thirsty land, it gets very bad and here, where the springs are, the land is much better. That is why many people suspect that Jesus came here. It is a place where great crowds of people would come, and to listen to his teaching and to be fed. Some of the springs are small, but one comes gushing out of the rock and makes a waterfall!



The church is owned by the Benedictines, and it was discovered when they were digging a trench to divert water and found a mosaic floor. As they unearthed it, they found a beautiful image of two fish and a basket of bread. It was next to a large stone on which it is assumed Jesus set the extra baskets like a picnic table, for a good Jew would never set them on the ground. One interesting thing we learned about the mosaic is that it has two fish and only four loaves, whereas the Bible says five. Why? They believe the Byzantine church built here was making a statement that the loaves and fish in the mosaic are completed by the fifth loaf, which is the Living Bread on the altar above, the communion table. Neat, huh?



Tomorrow we go on a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee and see some sights on the other side of the lake. Should be a fun day. Hopefully not so hot. It was 41 today – c! That’s over 100 to you and me. You have to pay for internet access here at the hotel, so that is why I put up two days at a time. Guess I’m cheap. You can only buy an hour, and you have to use it all, you can’t split it up. So I am going to split my hour today with one of the other pastors, and we’ll see how that goes.

I’ll post again tomorrow, so God bless!