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IN
THE MORNING
there were four empty wine bottles in our trash, but for some reason we
didn’t feel sick.
Although
we had originally planned to stay another day in Jerusalem, on the spur
of the moment we decided instead to rent a car and drive up to the Sea
of Galilee. You may wonder why we didn’t retrace all of Jesus’s
steps, but this city of Jerusalem seemed to have been built centuries
after Jesus’s time, even the Via Dolorosa where he carried his cross,
so we contented ourselves with merely soaking up the general atmosphere.
We
checked out of our hotel and, with our baggage on our backs, headed for
the line-up of rental car agencies on King David Street right outside
the Jaffa Gate. After getting quote after quote, we went with Avis for
$233 for a week, everything included and unlimited miles, the insurance
covered by my Visa Gold card. Our plan was to drive up to the Sea of
Galilee and drop off the car at a different Avis location when we were
through.
David Kantor's very useful map of first
century Palestine
With
several maps in hand and Joy driving, we found our way out of Jerusalem.
Our goal was to cover as many of the spots along the way mentioned in
the Urantia Book as we could. For comparison we had three maps: David
Kantor’s map of first century Palestine, the Avis rent-a-car map, and
a map of Biblical Holy lands I’d found in a book store in
Jerusalem.
Our route
In
blissful ignorance we drove “as the crow flies” according to our
maps, straight through the West Bank, in and out of Arab occupied
territories. We looked for places to eat but found none. At one
checkpoint we even calmly asked an armed guard for directions to
Jacob’s Well in Schechem. He tried to help us but when we saw that he
was holding our map upside down, we politely thanked him and he waved us
to go on, shrugging his shoulders. (It wasn’t until the next day, when
we described our drive to someone, that we realized we’d risked our
lives driving through Palestinian-occupied territories!)
| In January of this year, A.D. 21, on a rainy Sunday morning, Jesus took unceremonious leave of his family, only explaining that he was going over to Tiberias and then on a visit to other cities about the Sea of Galilee. And thus he left them, never again to be a regular member of that household.
He spent one week at Tiberias, the new city which was soon to succeed Sepphoris as the capital of Galilee;
. . . [1419] |
Tiberias in the days of Jesus
How it looks today
Entering
Tiberias late in the afternoon I was taken aback at how it had grown
since my 1978 visit. Twenty years earlier it had seemed like a small
place but now it was a maze of concrete high-rises and shops, a major
resort. I had envisioned us staying at the great stone Youth Hostel I
remembered, but it was impossible to find, so we drove a little further
until we reached Nof Ginosar, a kibbutz that offered accommodations
recommended by our UB friends. This is the location, known in the UB as
Gennesaret, that Jesus favored when he sought rest.
| Jesus
then announced that he wished to withdraw for a few days of rest
with his apostles before they made ready to go up to Jerusalem for
the Passover, . . . Accordingly they went by boat to the region of
Gennesaret for two or three days of rest and sleep. [1704]
[They]
made their way to Gennesaret on the western shores of the lake of
Galilee, south of Capernaum, where they had appointed to meet with
David Zebedee, and where they intended to take counsel as to the
next move to be made in the work of preaching the gospel of the
kingdom. [1741]
While
resting at the home of a wealthy believer in the Gennesaret
region, Jesus held informal conferences with the twelve every
afternoon. [1705] |
The
hotel rooms were $120 but they happened to have a vacancy in their less
swanky “inn” section—little bungalow-type places with covered
outdoor patio areas and shared kitchens, set back in vast lawns. Our
total for an entire week was $350 for two, an enormous breakfast
included.
Where we stayed
After
dropping our bags in the room, we sought out the restaurant in the main
building, not having eaten all day. It was too early but the bar area
offered us soup and a salad, which we shared. While I stayed there with
my guidebooks and Urantia Book, Joy went up for an enormous buffet
costing 64 shekels (about $14)! Had I been hungrier I would have joined
her, but at that moment it would have been wasted on me.
|
GINOSAR
- THE GATEWAY TO CHRISTIAN GALILEE
For
Christians, the Galilee is where Christianity began. It was
along the shores of the Sea of Galilee that the
profound events surrounding the life and times of Jesus
unfolded. It was among the fishing villages dotting the shoreline
of the Sea of Galilee that Jesus began his ministry. Ginosar (the
biblical Genezareth) lies on the western shore of the Sea of
Galilee, which is really a freshwater inland lake. As you stand on
Ginosar's stone jetty that juts out into the lake, you will see
the waves lapping gently against the shore. On this very same
stretch of shoreline, two thousand years ago, the fishermen
disciples of Jesus mended their nets, repaired their boats, and
set off each day in the hope of a good catch. And on this very
shoreline, Jesus converted the first Apostles from catchers of
fish to fishers of men. Ginosar has always played a central role
in the life of the Galilee. In the days of old, caravans used to
stop at Ginosar on their way from Egypt to Syria along the ancient
Spice Route. Today, Ginosar is the ideal starting point from which
to visit the entire Christian Galilee. Nazareth, Capernaum, Mt.
Tabor, Tabgha, Cana and dozens of other names with which you are
familiar from your Bible, are all within easy reach of Ginosar. [Taken
from a now-defunct website] |
Joy
seemed to be going to bed earlier and earlier—tonight turning in at
7:30. I stayed in the main building watching the tourists come and go,
and returned to our room around nine.
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CLICK
HERE TO RETURN TO CALENDAR
or
read on by clicking on any of the following
links:
1.
From Los Angeles to Amsterdam
2. The Flight to Greece
3. Ancient
Corinth
4. The
Citadel
5. To Piraeus
6. Hania on
Crete
7. A
Day in Limbo
8. Back
to Athens
9. From
Athens to Cairo
10. Cairo
11. The Pyramids
12. The Bus to Israel
13. Jerusalem
14. Bethany and Bethpage
15. An Old Palestinian Hotel
16. The Drive to Galileethis
page
17. Capernaum and Environs
18. The Ancient Boat and Nazareth
19. The Golan Heights and Mt. Hermon
20. The Eastern Shore and Scythiopolis
21. Mount of the Beatitudes
22. Ptolemais and Caesarea
23. A Day in Piraeus
24. Santorini
25. A Rainy Day
26. An Eventful Day in Athens
27. Return to Amsterdam
28. Going Home
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