Around Lake Kinneret
The Teachings of Jesus
Sites around the lake's perimeter, each more memorable
than the next, were the settings for the preaching and miracles of
Jesus. 'Nothing,' according to Pierre Loti, 'upon which our eyes and
minds can fix themselves, the evocative point of the Ineffable Souvenir.'
First, the site where Jesus is said to have been baptised at the confluence
of the Jordan and the Lake of Tiberias, near kibbutz Kinneret, according
to one of the main versions of the Christian tradition:
The
Baptism of Jesus
Then Jesus arrived
at the Jordan from Galilee, and came to John to be baptized by him.
John tried to dissuade him. 'Do you come to me?' he said. 'I need
rather to be baptized by you.' Jesus replied, 'Let it be so for
the present, we do well to conform in this way with all that God
requires.' John then allowed him to come. After baptism, Jesus came
up out of the water at once, and at that moment heaven opened; he
saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove to alight upon him,
and a voice from heaven was heard saying, 'This is my Son, my Beloved,
on whom my favor rests.'
Matthew III, 13-17.
The route linking Kinneret to Tiberias runs along the
ancient Hamei Tveriyya where hot springs well up from 2000 meters
below ground. An archeological park includes Roman baths, the mosaic
pavement of a IVth century synagogue, and a small museum that describes
the healing, miraculous virtues of these springs. According to rabbinical
legend, these waters were warmed as they pass by Hell. These springs
are known as King Solomon's Baths to the Arabs for whom and they invoke
another legend explaining their heat: This legend is recounted by
the geographer Ze'ev Vilnay:
The Silent
Springs
One
day, sick people came to present their plaints to King Solomon.
'Lord, they said, you are the wisest of kings. You have beautified
Jerusalem by giving it a magnificent temple. Yet how does this serve
us if you cannot find a cure for the pains of our members and the
sores of our bodies? Save us, Lord, heal us.' King Solomon, reputed
to have privileged relations with the spirits, called together a
band of demons to whom he said, 'There are springs one of the shores
of Lake Kinneret, near Tiberias. Their waters are as cold as those
of other springs in this country. Therefore, I order you to go down
into the entrails of the earth and to heat these spring waters for
me.'
The
demons, fearful of Solomon's powers, went below the ground and undertook
to heat the springs. Hot water began to bubble forth immediately.
In his great wisdom, the king had taken the precaution of making
the demons deaf so that on the day that his death was announced,
they would not be able to hear the news and would never stop heating
the water, but would continue to work, inspired by their fear.
The
demons therefore continue to toil to this day, believing that King
Solomon still reigns in Jerusalem.
As it leaves Tiberias, the great road enters the rich
valley of Arbel where the vestiges of the Arab village of Magdalah
are all that remain of what was once an important fishing port. In
Jesus' time, lake fish were salted here, and this was in all likelihood
the birthplace of Mary Magdalen, 'out of whom seven demons came,'
and whom Jesus met in the home of a Pharisee:
Mary Magdalen,
the Sinner
One
of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him. Jesus entered the
Pharisee's house and sat down to the table. Then, a sinful woman
who was in the city and knew that Jesus was dining at the Pharisee's
table brought in an alabaster vase full of perfume, and stood withdrawn,
at his feet. She was crying and began to moisten Jesus' feet with
her tears, before wiping them with her hair. She then kissed and
perfumed them. Upon seeing this,, the Pharisee, who had invited
Jesus, said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, he would know
who this woman is who touches him and he would know that she is
a sinner.' Jesus began to speak and said, 'Simon, I have something
to say to you.' 'Speak, Lord,' he answered. A lender had two indebted
men, one of whom owed five hundred deniers and the other fifty.
As neither could pay, the lender forgave both of them their debts.
Which man loved him best? 'Simon replied, 'I suppose that the man
who owed him the greatest debt.' Jesus answered, 'You have judged
correctly, and then he turned towards the woman and said to Simon,
'You see this woman? I came into your house and you gave me no water
for my feet but she moistened my feet with her tears and dried them
with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but since I entered, she has
not stopped kissing my feet. You put no oil on my head while she
has put perfume on my feet. This is why I say to you that her many
sins are pardoned since she has loved many. But he whom one pardons
little has loved little.' And he said to the woman, 'Your sins are
forgiven.' Those who were seated with him began to wonder who this
man was who pardoned even sins. But he said to the woman, 'Your
faith has saved you, go in peace.'
Luke VII,
36-49
During the Great Revolt,
the inhabitants of Magdalah fought off the Romans with all their force,
attacking their warships with their meager fishing boats, showing
so much valor that Flavius Josephus declared, 'The lake was red with
blood, its shores full of debris, and both were covered with bodies.'
Slightly to the north, the road comes
into the rich plain of Ghenossar -- the Gardens of the Lord -- or
Genesareth, which stretch for 6 kilometers and are 3 kilometers wide,
'It seems that nature, declared Flavius Josephus, through an effort
of love for this beautiful country, takes pleasure in uniting opposites,
and that by an agreeable contestation, the seasons favor this fortunate
land, to the envy of others.' The road passes by the foot of the Arbel
whose cliffs are filled with grottos that sheltered Galilean insurgents
during the revolts against the Greeks and Romans.
Tel el-Areimeh is a hill on the site of ancient Kinneret
set at the turn in the road, and houses installations to pump lake
water towards aqueducts leading it to the Negev. Further north, Tabgha,
an Arab corruption of the Greek Heptagon or the seven springs, houses
the stone on which Jesus is supposed to have wrought this miracle
in the church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes:
The Loaves
and Fishes
There
was another occasion about this time when a huge crowd had collected,
and as they had no food, Jesus called his disciples and said to
them, 'I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me
now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home
unfed they will turn faint on the way, some of them have come fro
a great distance.' The disciples answered, 'How can anyone provide
all these people with bread in this lonely place?' 'How many loaves
have you?' he asked, and they answered, 'Seven.' So he ordered the
people to sit down on the ground and then he took the seven loaves
and after giving thanks to God, he broke the bread and gave it to
his disciples to distribute. They served it out to the people. They
also had a few small fishes which he blessed and ordered them to
distribute. They all ate to their hearts' content, and seven baskets
were filled with the scraps that were left. The people numbered
about four thousand. Then he dismissed them and without delay got
into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
Mark VIII, 1-9
The current church is
built on the remains of a Byzantine church that dates back to the
IVth century. The mosaic floor depicts the lake's wildlife and vegetation.
Slightly further down, the Benedictine monastery of Ein Sheva and
the Church of Saint Peter rise on the site where Jesus revealed himself
to his disciples after his resurrection to name Simon-Peter as the
guide to his church.
The Love
of Simon-Peter
After having eaten,
Jesus said to Simon-Peter, 'Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me
more than the others do?' He answered, 'Yes Lord, you know that
I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Take care of my lambs.' And he
said a second time, 'Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me?' Peter
answered, 'Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him,
'Be the shepherd of my ewes.' He said, a third time, 'Simon, son
of Jonas, do you love me?' Peter was saddened because he was asked
a third time, 'Do you love me?' and answered, 'Lord, you know all
things, you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Take care
of my ewes.'
John XXI, 15-17
The Mount of Beatitudes overlooks the road on the west.
A circular chapel, built in 1937, commemorates the site where Jesus
pronounced his famous Sermon on the Mount. Its cupola has as many
facets as there are beatitudes.
The Sermon
on the Mount
When he saw the
crowds he went up the hill. There he took his seat, and when his
disciples had gathered round him, he began to address them. And
this is the teaching he gave. 'How blessed are these who know their
need of God, the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. How blessed are the
sorrowful, they shall find consolation. How blessed are those of
a gentle spirit, they shall have the earth for their possession.
How blessed are those who hunger and thirst to see right prevail,
they shall be satisfied. How blessed are those who show mercy, mercy
shall be shown to them. How blessed are those whose hearts are pure,
they shall see God. How blessed are the peacemakers, God shall call
them his sons. How blessed are those who have suffered persecution
for the cause of right, the kingdom of Heaven is theirs. How blessed
you are, when you suffer insults and persecution and every kind
of calumny for my sake.'
Matthew, 5:1-11
Capernaum or Capharnaum,
to the northwest of the lake, is taken from the Hebrew name Kfar Nahun,
the village of Nahun and perhaps the prophet of the same name. Flavius
Josephus, commander of the revolt against the Romans in the Galilee,
evokes the springs of the village in these terms: 'a very abundant
spring... which some take for a branch of the Nile, since there are
fish there that resemble the Alexandrian coracin.' This is considered
to be the site where Jesus started preaching, and it became the center
of his ministry. Mark the Evangelist tells of the circumstances surrounding
his arrival in the village.
The Entry
into Capharnaum
After
John had been arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the
Gospel of God. 'The time has come, the kingdom of God is upon you,
repent and believe the Gospel.' Jesus was walking by the Sea of
Galilee when he saw Simon and his brother Andrew on the lake at
work with a casting net, for they were fishermen. Jesus said to
them, 'Come with me, and I will make you fishers of men.' And at
once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little
further, he saw James son of Webedee, and his brother John, who
were in the boat overhauling their nets. He called them and, leaving
their father Webedee in the boat with the hired men, they went off
to follow him.
They
came to Capernaum and on the Sabbath he went to synagogue and began
to teach. The people were astounded at his teaching, for unlike
the doctors of law, he taught with a note of authority. Now there
was a man in the synagogue possessed by an unclean spirit. He shrieked,
'What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy
us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.' Jesus rebuked him,
'Be silent,' he said, 'and come out of him.' And the unclean spirit
threw the man into convulsions and with a loud cry, left him. They
were all dumbfounded and began to ask one another, 'What is this?
A new kind of teaching! He speaks with authority. When he gives
orders, even the unclean spirits submit.' The news spread rapidly
and he was soon spoken of all over the district of Galilee.'
Mark, 1:14-28
Jesus' preaching nonetheless
encountered both resistance and jeering since he began to rail against
the inhabitants of cities and towns that he had tried to persuade
of his views.
Invective
against Capharnaum
Then he spoke
of the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, and
denounced them for their impenitence. 'Alas for you, Chorazin!'
he said, 'alas for you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed
in you had been performed in Tyr and Sidon, they would have repented
long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable, I
tell you, for Tyr and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to the skies? No,
brought down to the depths! For if the miracles which were performed
in you had been performed in Sodom, Sodom would be standing to this
day. But it will be more bearable, I tell you, for the land of Sodom
on the day of judgment than for you.'
Matthew, 11:20-24
The archeological park of Kfar Nahum has been maintained
by the Franciscans since 1894. It contains the remains of a synagogue,
one of the best preserved in the Galilee, which dates back to the
second or third century. The synagogue consists of a main hall, in
the form of a basilica, with a large central portal and two smaller
lateral portals. The main hall has two rows of columns, the one transverse
and the other longitudinal. Stone benches line the walls on the inside,
and an outside staircase led to an upper gallery for women. The stones
in the gallery were decorated with friezes representing local flora,
Jewish symbols such as the Tabernacle, the menorah, and the Holy Ark,
and magic symbols such as the pentagram and the hexagram.
During his 1905 trip, the French writer Pierre Loti succumbed to the
sacred vertigo which overtakes some Christian pilgrims in 'this unviolated
temple of the Great Memory,' thus reconstituting the ambiance which
supposedly reigned at the places during Jesus' time:
The
Humility of the Lake
It was
there, therefore, a little bit at every point on these shores, depending
on the breeze in the sails, that fishermen came together in small
flotillas in the evening around he who spoke of unheard of and marvelous
things, and on the land, crowds also came running and then people
came closer to the boats up to the edge of the grasses so that all
could hear. Little by little, a simple association of men from the
fields or the sea took shape around the Nazarene, forgetting everything
to live with Him in a new and celestial dream.
In these
same places, in the diminishing precision of details, when Christ
and his apostles are removed from the legendary aura, their humility
becomes a troubling subject sometimes of saddened doubt and other
times of unhoped for faith.
Pierre
Loti, Galilee
The great road
cuts the Jordan at a small point, the Arik Bridge, the object of many
battles since antiquity, before running along the eastern shore, which
was held by the Syrians as far as Kursi until the Six Day War of 1967.
The plain first grows smaller here between the lake and Ein Gev kibbutz
which was established in 1937. A small museum houses the discoveries
of the archeological digs at Sussita, Greek Hippos, one of the free
cities of the Decapolis, which can be reached by a small path.
The road cuts through a rich plain cultivated by the region's
kibbutzim. At the Tel Qatzir-Maagan intersection, a bifurcation leads
to Hamat Gader, 8 kilometers further on, which overlooks the Yarmuk
Valley. The curative virtues of these hot springs and their mineral
deposits attracted Greek, Jewish and Roman dignitaries very early
on. Today, the site houses a vestige of a VIth century synagogue,
Roman buildings, a theater and baths, as well as a crocodile farm.
The road encircling the lake crosses Beth Shayan Road
at the point where the Jordan leaves the lake to enter the valley
that takes it to the Dead Sea. At Deganya kibbutz, a natural history
museum exhibits the flora and fauna of the region.
The lake has such a powerful effect on its visitors that
theyare led inevitably to religious or poetic thoughts. Mark Twain,
who is usually rather acerbic in his narratives, also succumbed to
the magic of the lake, one evening.
A
Nocturnal Site
The
night is the best moment to visit the Galilee. In the starlight,
the lake is no longer in the least repellent. While watching the
sparkling reflections of the constellations which danced on its
water, I almost regretted having seen it in the harsh daylight.
Its history and the associations that it awakens are, for us, its
principal attraction. Yet the lake's charm would be lessened by
the son's critical light: we barely feel its echo. Our thoughts
naturally and inevitable turn towards the practical things in life,
and slide over those things which appear to us to be vague and unreal.
But when night falls, even the least sensitive among us inevitably
give in to the magic effects of this peaceful moonlight. Old traditions
tied to places stalk our memory and haunt our dreams. Our imagination
clothes the sites, and lets itself be filled by the supernatural.
With the lapping of waves against the base of the bench we see the
movement of imaginary oars, in the secret murmur of the night we
hear religious voices, in the slight sweeping of the breeze we hear
the rush of invisible wings. Phantom ships glide over the surface,
the dead of the last twenty centuries rise from their tombs and
in the hymns of the nocturnal wind, old songs echo.
In
the moonlight, the Galilee knows no other limits than those traced
by the sky's compass. It once again becomes the privileged theater
for great events, the birth of a religion reputed to save the world,
the arrival of a man of state destined to occupy center stage and
to make decrees. Whereas in daylight, we say to ourselves, 'is it
really for the acts that have taken place and the words that have
been uttered eighteen centuries ago in this tiny spot of rocks and
sand that the bells still ring today on the furthest flung islands
of the sea and on all the continents of this heavy terrestrial globe?'
We only really realize all of that when the night hides the aberrations
and creates a stage that demands such a grandiose drama.
Mark
Twain, The Innocents Abroad
|