The Arrow's Path

The Sea of Galilee is known by several names. The Gospel of John calls it the Sea of Tiberias, Tiberias being the Roman resort city on the north western side. It is also referred to as the Lake of Gennesaret in other places in the Bible. We stayed fro a couple of days at the Kibbutz near Ginosaur (modern derivative of Gennesaret.) The Sea of Galilee is the lowest freshwater lake on earth. The Jordan river flows into it and out of it south towards the Dead Sea. Most of the fishing is done along the northern rim. Few fish live farther south. This is why most of the cities are on the Northern Rim, as it was also a trade route.  We were told it was about 8 miles by 16 miles. It is hard to tell from my photographs but you can see the mountains on the sides of the northern rim from the middle of the lake. It was sort of overcast and a bit foggy the day we took a boat trip out onto the Sea of Galilee. But the oddly spooky thing about it was that most of the mountains around the lake a...

Matthew 5: 1-12 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:  ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.  ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.  ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they perse...

Luke 4:16-27 When Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:  ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,    because he has anointed me      to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives    and recovery of sight to the blind,      to let the oppressed go free,  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’  And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’ He said to them, ‘Doubtless you wi...