Jesus worshiped and taught at the synagogue built here by the Roman centurion, who's servant was healed by Jesus. It was at this synagogue that Jesus first proclaimed that He was the Bread of Life. The current ruins are from a second synagogue built in the 4th or 5th century.
It was here in Capernaum that Jesus cast out demons and healed many people, including Peter's mother-in-law and Jarius' daughter. Jarius was the synagogue leader there.
Despite all this, it is one of the three cities that Jesus cursed for rejecting Him.
The ruins were discovered in 1838. Then when the synagogue ruins were excavated, Franciscans bought it from the local Bedouins in 1894.
In the 1960s, a Roman-era house was unearthed that had an octagonal Byzantine chapel built over it. It is believed to be the site of Peter's home. In 1990 a new octagonal chapel was built over the house. It is also believed that the home was used as an early Christian home church.
There were other things to see there as well...
a statue of Peter
this building???
another mosaic floor
this instructional sign
But one of the greatest parts for me was that I finally got the opportunity to get my feet into the Sea of Galilee before we left the area the next morning!
With the temperature at 105, I was thankful for the cooling dip and ice cream... :)
We covered a lot of territory!
It was so hot and we were so tired that we took a swim as soon as we got back to the hotel. Then I bought a dress I had been eyeing from a woman who ran a small secondhand store in the hotel lobby.
After dinner we had a pastor come from a local Arab Bible college to speak to us. He made this statement that was so powerful:
When evangelizing the lost you must ask this question: Do you want another member in your church or another member of your family? It's not enough to open your doors, you must also open your heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment