Post-Resurrection Breakfast

Sometime after Jesus was resurrected, perhaps a month or so, a bunch of disheartened disciples went fishing. Suddenly poof! John spotted Jesus on shore, barbequing up a fish breakfast.

The Church of the Barbeque Breakfast. The stone Jesus roasted the fish on - supposedly - is by the Mensa Christi sign.

Cooking Food
I’m rather curious as to how frequently this happened, without the Messiah. Did Jews back then have fish barbeques like Americans have barbeques with burgers? It sounds reasonable to me.

The rest of the time cooking was done at home, logically enough. Ovens were cheap and some families had two, one in the courtyard and one in the common room. Kitchens weren’t used much in the first century, and the common room served as a place for children to play, food to be cooked and eaten, construction work to be done, etc. Weather around the Sea of Galilee is fairly mild, and these things were probably done in the courtyard for most of the year. It was also very humid, and in a place and time with high humidity and no air conditioning, the out-of-doors must have been preferable for both cooking and other activities during the hot summer months. The families sometimes ate on the roofs, which were flat and suitable places to chat, study Torah and dry fruit.

I never had a suitable appreciation for the work needed to prepare a meal in antiquity - in order to make bread and any other grain-based food, such as oatmeal, grain needed to be ground for approximately four hours a day!

Additional Information:
An Expanded Versions of This Article: Cooking
More Information: A Standard Peasants Meal

The Church of the Barbeque Breakfast
There is a church, and at least one alleged location, for virtually every Gospel occurence; the church here lays claim to the stone that Jesus roasted the fish on. Near the shore are 6 heart-shaped 'double-column' stones, angled to form part of a colonnade.

You can see them somewhat now, leading from the holy steps to the gate.

Abutting the church are stone steps the Oxford Archeological Guide to the Holy Land says may have been a remnant of quarrying for limestone, but no one really knows. Since there is a railing protecting them and a plaque "This is A Holy Ground," I guess someone disagrees. Sometimes the common-people Fodor's (which I lost) would be a lot more useful than some proper (read dry) Oxford thing. I mean c'mon, I want the scoop!

A holy quarry that goes up from the ground instead of down.

I sat on the pier, quite possibly here since Jesus’ time, writing, until the monk started giving me strange looks. (Not the one standing with his nose in his book when I walked into the church; I had to double check that he wasn't a statue, in all seriousness. Although later on I did see him walk - then I had to double-check it was the same monk, walking and talking.)

Resurrection Breakfast Spirituals
It was weird to sit on a pier Jesus must've sat on at some point. That's one of the few times the 'Jesus was here' concept sunk in, and it was strangely comfortable and right, in a sense none of the others had been. The pier felt much holier than the limestone steps a gold plaque declared 'holy ground.' It's all in the mind I guess.

I'm sitting on one pier...in the distance you can see another one curving out into the water, away from me, and one beyond that curving toward me. That's an ancient Tabgha harbor - the Galilee was filled with harbors back then, especially in this area, which was one of the most populated.

In a way I felt like my image of Him as Christ human, Christ divine was given life and made tangible on that beach. In so doing an amazing concept dulled by a lifetime of knowledge struck my heart anew.

Maybe it was because it happened after the resurrection, which shifts the balance to parallel what I'm taught - Christ in heaven, Christon earth - v. the Gospels almost exclusive telling of Christ on earth.

On this beach, He is the Resurrected Christ mysteriously appearing on earth in human form, not a human Christ mysteriously doing Son-of-God things. And the former is closer to what I know Him as - the Resurrected Christ doing mysterious things in my life, in tangible and intangible ways.

Travelogue
From later that afternoon - The Galilee is right in front of me again, the same ridge stretching out toward yonder horizon, swallowed by the morning fog. These rocks are different though, stretching down to scary slopes I navigate on hands and knees.

That latter sentence is altogether true; . I decided I had to explore further today, in order to find a shorter way to the car. Due to my brilliance, I navigated a lot of the mountain on my hands and knees, with innumerable prolonged shrieks

Aaaaaaaaaagh!! Aaaagh! Aaaaaagh! You get the idea. There was this big dirt slope that went on and on and on, which is I was most certainly going to take a tumble down.

After standing at the top for quite a few minutes, contemplating my predicament, I decided to go back the way I came - quite a trek, but preferable to somersaulting down a dirt hill.

Trek...trek...trek....lost path... briers...uh-oh...turn around. So I'm stuck staring at this masterpiece of dirt again, until I finally took off my socks and shoes, and proceeded to yelp and shriek my way down the hill, grasping at plants to keep me from falling, whereupon the plant would pull out of the ground... you get the idea. It took me forever! Next time, Emily, take the path cut out for you, please!!

Tiberias, Galilee's Capital

Joanna, Mary Magdalene, the 'other Mary,' Susannah, and the other wealthy women who were following Jesus likely had this type of view from their bedrooms, unless they weren't from Galilee, because the wealthy lived in Tiberias, and vacationed on their estates in the countryside.

The view from my hotel room at 4:51 a.m. You'll have to use your imagination a bit - I haven't put these photos through Photoshop yet.

As the wife of the minister of finance, the disciple Joanna traveled in the highest echelons of Galilean society. She surely would have lived in Tiberias, Herod's capital, and probably had one of the prettiest mansions, and prettiest views, available. (Hopefully she didn't see it at 4:51 a.m. very frequently.)

Because the Galilee is ringed with hills, the majority of the wealthy would have had beautiful views - and some of the poor.

Tiberias
Tiberias was the capital of the region of Galilee, which was split into Upper Galilee and Lower Galilee. The Sea of Galilee, on which Tiberias was located, was part of Lower Galilee. It was an economically split city inhabited by Galilee’s wealthy, their slaves and small shopowners or artisans such as woolmakers, basketmakers and candlemakers. The average Galilean would go nowhere near Tiberias, which King Herod Antipas had built on a graveyard, unclean ground by Jewish law, just 10-15 years before Jesus’ ministry. Outside of the city walls slept the very poor, often homeless or selling indecent wares.

Expanded Versions of This Article:
Mary Magdalene: An Aristocrat
Tiberias, Home of the Aristocrats

The Scripture
Luke 8:1-3: After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

Mark 15:40: Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

Luke 19:16-17: “Well done, my good servant!” his master replied. “Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.”

Travelogue
I just woke up in paradise, with a shadow of a taste of what the wealthy women that followed Jesus, helping to support them out of their own means, probably had every day. A marble-topped nightstand on either side of me. A mahogany mirror in front of me. My own couch to my right. And, a gorgeous view of the Galilee outside my floor-to-ceiling windows.

How, dear Lord that loves to get me wonderful deals I can't afford, did I get this Caesar Tiberias Hotel for cheaper than the atrocity called The Holiday Inn? Stupid thing! Never again will I stay in that horrid place - you can't sleep! Either the baby next door is crying, or the teenager is blaring music, or people are chatting at ten decibels in the hallway, or the Sabbath elevator is beeping every hour, or someone's alarm is going off next door... it's really horrid. Never stay there!

Instead, get really desperate and e-mail for a place to stay that night. Poof! You'll get a phenomenal deal that will cost you even less than the Holiday Inn! All praise to God on high.!

Speaking of Sabbath elevators - Jewish hotels have a specific type of elevator, called a 'Sabbath elevator.' It is programmed so that, on the Sabbath, you don't have to push the button of the floor you are staying on. Just hop in, and it stops at every floor automatically.

And every time it stops, it beeps.

From six a.m. to two a.m.

And in the lovely Holiday Inn, even rooms down the hall a bit can hear at loud and clear.

At midnight.

At one a.m.

At two a.m.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

If there is no one on that floor, and you are on floor eight, you stop at, depending on the hotel, either every floor or every other floor. The door opens, you wait, nobody's around, you get frustrated and punch the button to close the door, but nothing. Finally it shuts…next floor. Some hotels have it arranged so that it stops at every other floor going up, and the other floors on its way down. If you want to get from floor eight to floor five - well, get in at floor eight. Down to six, four, two, ground. Up to 1, 3, 5. Grrrrrrr!

The Wikipedia entry on Sabbath elevators has this to say about it: "The use of an elevator in a Sabbath mode, is an example of a legal workaround, where seemingly "forbidden" acts can be performed by modifying the relevant technology to such an extent that no law is actually violated. Usage of a Sabbath elevator by those who are otherwise capable is considered by some rabbinical authorities as a "violation" of the Sabbath, therefore many Orthodox Jews might prefer to walk up or down the stairs instead of taking an elevator."

Last Updated: October 4, 2008

Nazareth

Matthew 4:13-16: Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali, to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles - the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."

You know, March and April are the 'period of latter-day rains' in Israel, more colloquially known as 'sorta rainy.' Which means it should be 'sorta sunny' sometimes? But it should really be renamed: "The period of latter-day rains and omnipresent clouds." And I've never seen a great photograph with a cloudy sky. (Grumble grumble.)

A March day on the Galilee.

I confess, it does turn blue sometimes. If I tilt back my head and aim my camera straight up, I could frequently get a gorgeous photo of a big patch of sapphire.

The problem is, the sites don't fly.

I headed an hour west of Galilee to Nazareth, but after Sami's warning of Nazareth traffic being horrendous compared to Tiberias, which had me lost for two hours and sobbing, I ran low on durability and chickened out after half an hour of k-turns.

Nazareth: Its Own Character
We often think of Jesus' childhood village as Hicksville, Israel, but this was not an isolated prairie town. Galilee was a small area, and Nazareth was probably an integrated part of the regional system. It was roughly an hour outside of Sepphoris, the capital during Jesus’ childhood, and probably a satellite village of it. Sepphoris was rebuilt by King Herod Antipas in 19/20 A.D., and it's logical that Nazareth’s villagers played a key role in this rebuilding, and that Jesus worked on its carpentry - not necessarily by choice.

The suffix used for the word translated 'carpenter' in the Bible usually means woodwork but can also refer to masonry, and Nazareth may well have specialized in carpentry and stonework, using wood and limestone native to the area. If so their role in rebuilding Sepphoris may have contributed to the external framework of the major buildings as well as their internal woodwork.

It's possible that an aristocrat owned part or all of Nazareth - even that Nazareth had become part of his estate. While there was certainly strong animosity from the peasants toward the aristocracy, who taxed them brutally, this would have increased the resentment dramatically.

The Nazareth ridge, looking south across the Jezreel Valley to Judea.

Additional Information:
An Expanded Version of This Article: Nazareth
More Information: A Typical Village

Last Updated May 27, 2009

Life by the Sea of Galilee

The coasts of the Sea of Galilee were smattered with fishing villages Jesus reached out to during his ministry. On this water Peter spent many of his working hours as a typical fishermen, struggling with the nets, storms and harbors on the sea described below. The sea where Jesus calmed the storm, created a miraculous catch of fish, and barbequed after his resurrection.

I moved most of this blog entry:
Matthew: A Tax Collector
Peter: A Fisherman (Also includes 'Harbor Life.')
Calming the Storm (Storms on the Galilee)

I'll move the rest of it when I can find a spot for it!

You also might be interested in my entries on The Jesus Boat and The Temple Tax Fish.

The Sea of Galilee

What the Galilee Looked Like
The Sea of Galilee is filled by the chilly waters of the Jordan River cascading down from Mt. Hermon’s northern heights, and in Jesus’ time was laden with patched old fishing boats holding smelly creatures, and elegant trading ships plying their wares from the northern cities of Upper Galilee and the southern coasts of the Dead Sea.

A view from the Sea of Galilee.

The proud bluffs of flat-topped hills ring the Sea of Galilee, with roads winding into northern wilds and western valleys ancient fishermen could only wonder about. Summer suns rose into cloudless skies, and set into the depths of a sapphire horizon unknown to the rainy rawness of winter months.

The Temple Tax Fish

Jesus gave Peter rather unorthodox payment instructions when the tax collectors came knocking:

Matthew 17:27: ...Go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.

A bit of background here: All of the religious festivals were centered around the Temple in Jerusalem, three of which were mandated by Scripture for every adult male. The Jewish (v. Roman) ruling body convened on the Temple grounds, the tangible glory of all Israel was centered in the gleaming gold and limestone of its walls; indeed, even the top of the Temple had gold posts spaced around the top to prevent bird doo from sullying its holiness.

A lot of money was required to keep up the Temple itself, it's expansive grounds, and its workers. To this end, every Jew paid an annual half-shekel tax. Jesus told Peter to pay it with a coin he'd find in a fish's mouth.

What's called "St. Peter's fish" today, and has been since the days of the Roman Empire, actually can't be that fish, because you didn't catch it with a line. However, it's a great marketing strategy: cheaper than the real fish (a barbel, most likely), easier to clean, easier to cook, more plentiful...

Love that money!

Expanded Versions of This Article:
The Temple Tax Fish
The Temple Tax

It's really disconcerting to eat something that's looking at you. I finally yanked off some fin or something, I don't know what it was, and plopped it over its head.

St. Peter's Fish At a Kibbutz
I had a front-row seat for somebody that absolutely loves pretty views, and the sunset rewarded me for having the grit to eat on the patio with a heavyweight windbreaker pulled tight around me and dreams of hot cocoa.

Unfortunately I didn't get the camera out a minute earlier, but this is the fading glory of a sunset over the Galilee, from Kibbutz Ein Gev, looking west toward Tiberias. To the right of Tiberias 10 - 15 miles lays Nof Ginosar, with the Jesus Boat (see previous entry), Capernaum, and Bethsaida (which may not be on the water any longer - earthquakes and avalanches and whatnot during Roman times).

Picking out the bones - or whatever the sharp things you could choke on were, since musht apparently don't have many bones to pick out - was hazardous to my sanity, and it was only the peace given by this pretty view that saved me!

Peculiar People
Well anyway. So I told you yesterday I put on the Do Not Disturb sign, and the maid cleaned it anyway, and also took the bedspread? Well I don't mind someone cleaning my room if they really insist, except I lock my suitcase when it's being cleaned, so it's a bit of a pain. But no big deal - unless you take my spread away. So I trotted down to reception, who looked at least as astonished as I was, and eventually someone came. Turned out she had stuffed it in a cupboard?

Whatever floats your boat. So today I put on the sign again. I know it was there because I checked when I came back from breakfast. Well apparently she really thinks my room should be cleaned, because she took it away. So she came in and I said "No, I don't want it cleaned..." Later I left and when I came back presto! it had been cleaned.

I was like okay, if she's really determined to clean it, go for it. Then I realized she'd left me two chocolate muffins wrapped in plastic and tied with ribbon, and a bottle of water. Now this is service! For this, hey, she can have the dumb sign. Food is definitely the way to a poor tourists heart!

The Full Scripture Passage
Matthew 17:24-27: When Peter came into the house [after talking with the tax collector], Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?"

"From others," Peter answered.

"Then the sons are exempt," Jesus said to him. "But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."


Last Updated: May 29, 2009

A 'Lonely Place'

I’m in a small cave burrowed high into a Galilean hillside, sitting on an split log worn smooth by centuries of wind and rain, resting my feet on rocks coughed up by the earth's fiery depths millenia ago. Oddly, a tree is growing at the back of the cave, arching along the ceiling, into the light it was born to crave. The small dirt patch in front of me is worn flat, stones trod level by centuries of pilgrims aching to see a place where their Lord prayed, broken only by insistent grasses struggling between the rocks.

Little birds hop in front of me, then dash away in a fit of fear. Patches of yellow and purple flowers grow wild, nourished by the gifts of sun and rain, budding glories exulting in dreams of full glory. Halfway down the slope a lone palm tree flourishes, sparse trees forest the coastal bottom and hills smattered with evergreens fade into the distant miles.

A cave a couple miles from Capernaum, Jesus' hometown, allegedly on the hill where he fed 5,000. There's quite a good chance he prayed here at times, when he went to 'lonely places.'


A bit further back.

The hill where Jesus fed 5,000, huh? It’s a little difficult to pinpoint since, in a very hilly region, one Gospel is sure they arrive at Bethsaida to feed the 5,000 and another claims they leave from Bethsaida to feed the 5,000.

Luke 9:10b, just before the feeding of the 5,000 - Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida.

Mark 6:45, just after the feeding of the 5,000 - Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

Logic, however, is in its favor; sitting at the top of the hill, you’d swear the voices halfway down were about to come around the rocks just in front of you.

I’m curious as to where you put 5,000 men? I mean, that’s a lot of space! Here’s what an empty field on a hill near the Sea of Galilee looks like in March:

Some people think this was a field owned by nobody, which would make it a tangled heap of green stuff gone wild, laden with bugs and impossible to sit in.

One theory is that it was used for grazing sheep and/or goats. The grass would be nibbled short, and the animals could go back to their owners’ courtyards.

A Lonely Place Spirituals
I wonder if this was a 'lonely place' you chose to pray in before heading off on that final trip to Jerusalem. Did you wrestle hard with God? Was it a prequel to the anguished prayer spilled from the heart, in an olive grove called Gethsemane?

It’s an inspiring place to pray, I’ll give You that. Wrapped tightly in a cloak, nightfall long past, listening to the quiet lapping of the sea you created. In the dark, you could listen and escape.

Cave of Christ's, cave of mine, cave of my Lord's feet. He sat down, and they crammed in, disciples with muscles bulging by the power of fish and plow, pulling their cloaks tight around them to escape harsh mountain winds hurtling through the mountain passes, frothing the Galilee's clear water. Peter sitting in the middle of that old log stretched across the rocks, because Peter was always in the middle of everything, marking ordinary places with sinfulness and righteousness.

For only Jesus and those knowing their sinfulness can memorialize holiness into an ordinary cave on an ordinary hillside.

I wonder if any of the disciples ever cried here. And if anyone comforted them. I cried here, hysterical tears born of loneliness and discouragement. I wonder if any of their tears were wiped away by the hand of God on earth? ‘Cause I very much wished He would show up and wipe away mine.

Travelogue
I called reception at the Caesar Tiberias Hotel at 5:50 a.m. to find out when I had to move my car by to not get a ticket.

“8 a.m.”

Anyone who knows me knows I like to sleep in. And to tell me at 5:50 a.m. that I have to be presentable and out the door and having moved my car by eight every morning inspires minor wrath, until they finally went outside and found me a parking spot and offered to move it for me. I cracked up when I got off the phone. I’m never like that – in fact I’d probably benefit from having a bit more of that in me. Ah, the power of 5:50 a.m. crankiness!

Not feeling like dealing with this again, I decided to do what the man suggested I do – buy two or three in advance. The girl at the front desk twenty minutes later: “Oh no, you just come in when you park the car, and then you buy one.”

“Yes, but the man just said…” I changed my mind, threw up my hands, and headed for the elevator.

It’s actually kind of ludicrous to make such a fuss, because I’m at breakfast by that time most days, anyway! Oh well, there’s no going back to sleep now, so instead I’m writing this blog. I’m stressed enough as it is. I need to use every spare minute I can find. And at 6:33, wide awake and enjoying my ever-gorgeous view of the Galilee, I feel like a minor success in the art of spare minutes utilization!

Last Updated: May 27, 2009

The Sermon On the Mount

"Keep out!" "No entry!" "Keep off grass!" "Private!"

Jeez. More like a palace than a church. Apparently I liked the Church of the Sermon on the Mount so little that I didn't take any pictures, although I thought I did. oops!

It's up another one of those steep Galilean roads with drivers that whiz this way and that, frightening me into saucer eyes and wailing prayers. I paid at a gate, which was much more keep-out-ish than most Israeli sites, hiked to the top of the hill, and waited for a nun to open that gate for me. She didn't speak English, but I remember the look on her face was very compassionate, and somewhat amused, when she saw my bafflement. The whole experience was very official, formal and unenjoyable, but if I go back I will try to get some pictures. And a tour! I get frustrated trying to figure everything out from a guidebook.

A typical Galilean hillside. Picture a road zigzagging up the hill and drivers whizzing past you. The yellow flowers are omnipresent in March and April.

The church itself is very small - too small to hold a service of any reasonable size in - and it seemed more like a shrine than a church. It was particularly uninspiring with tour groups trekking in and out. The octagonal shape corresponds with the idea that octagonal churches are often built on sites where celebrated religious events allegedly occurred.

Lilies of the Field: The Scripture
Matthew 6:28-34: "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

It's hard to see what's so special about them here, but you get an idea of what they look like.

Lilies and Us
"...for not even Solomon is dressed like one of these. And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry...”

My rather unsophisticated journal has relevance to this excerpt from the Sermon on the Mount: "Well, I gotta say, lilies wilt pretty fast when detached from their source of life!" Meaning, I picked one in the field and took it in the taxi - the taxi driver gave me a really strange look - but by the time we got ten minutes down the road it was a limp and lifeless disaster sitting in my lap. I left it in the taxi by mistake - just as well, I suppose. We can't separate from our source of life - God - and not wilt.

They are long-stemmed flowers with a bright red hue and a green and black center. Their five petals have an iridescent sheen to them, and, as I wrote in my journal, "they shine extra-pretty." A childs crayon could replicate the color of a daisy, but there's an unearthly beauty to these fragile anemones.

Solomon was a tenth-century B.C. king renowned for his wisdom and wealth, and Jesus made essentially the same statement I just did when he said "Not even Solomon in all his splendor is dressed like one of these."

In other words, if Solomon's money couldn't buy it, nobody's could. But God can provide it for free.

Additional Information:
Expanded Version of This Article

Travelogue
You really attract the most perplexing attention when you travel by yourself. I was walking around the grounds, trying to find a route down the hill that didn't say 'Keep Out!', when this woman walked up to me: "Hi, how are you?..."Where are you from?"...."Where are you staying?"..."Are you traveling by yourself?"..."How much longer are you staying at this church?" etc. etc., until I was really perplexed as to why she would even care.

It turned out she was traveling alone and had been praying for a way back to the bus station - a taxi, anything. She had seen me sitting in the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes earlier that day, thought I might be traveling by myself and asked for a ride. We walked around for awhile - it was nice to have someone to talk to - but never did find a way to get much of anywhere around the property. "Keep out!" the walkways all said, and we were both a little disgruntled. I mean, it was just a walkway! It's not like we were going to trample down pansies or something.

Anyway, we left and headed back to Tiberias - her to the bus station, and thence to the Tel Aviv airport, and me to the hotel to get some paperwork-stuff done. I wanted to get on the plane with her! Israel's wonderful, and I recommend it to any and all pilgrims traveling with a tour, but I miss America.

I also saw alleged field where Jesus fed 5,000 people today.

Last Updated October 3, 2008

Feeding the 5,000

In one well-known episode, Jesus satisfied thousands of hungry people by multiplying two fish and five loaves of bread offered up by a young boy.(Matthew 14:13b-21)

The Feeding of the 5,000 alleged location. The thing that looks a little like a tombstone is a monument to the event. There's a double ring of rocks just big enough to sit on, and it's tempting to imagine the disciples sitting in a circle, listening from behind as he preached to the crowd.

The Meal
The little boy had two small fish and five loaves of barley bread. The fish were probably sardines, the smallest of three main kinds of fish available in the Sea of Galilee. The five loaves of ‘barley bread’ were the food of a broke peasant. Usually used for animal fodder, people only consumed barley when they could scarcely feed their families. It didn’t taste as good, didn’t digest as well and wasn’t as good for you. The fact that they were eating it in the spring or summer, not long after the summer, is another indication of poverty; good food shouldn’t run out until winter is approaching. Perhaps his family was in danger of being taxed off their land.

In other words, this boy gave pretty much everything he had to Jesus.

Kind of like we should.

A snapshot of the alleged place where 5,000 men, and some of their families, listened to Jesus preach and consumed the free fish and bread he created for them.

Additional Information
Expanded Version of This Article (Fish, Bread and 5,000 Men)
More Information: Where Do You Put 5,000 Men?
God & Fish: Scripture and the Sabbath

Feeding the 5,000 Spirituals
Somehow when I saw that hillside, and added five thousand faces, and saw two yucky fish and five loaves of animal fodder, and realized it fed them all, something clicked. Of course Jesus is the first hero, but think further. The little boy is a hero too.

"See what you can find," Jesus said.

"Here's a small boy with two shrunken fish and five loaves of crappy bread," Andrew answered.

Good chance there wasn't another option waiting for that small boy at home, yet he gave it anyway. I've got two shrunken fish and five loaves of animal fodder too. I feel a little like Andrew - "Here's a little bit of writing talent, Jesus. I don't see how you can do anything with that though. Look at all the people out there! The competition! The cost! What are you even thinking?"

It’s an interesting and seemingly out of character commentary that Jesus multiplied barley bread, not wheat bread. So I write this book, and he multiplies it into 25,000 sales of figurative animal fodder? Charming. I like the idea of a Jesus that turns something not-so-great into something that’s at least good far more than a Jesus that takes something not-so-great and uses it just the way it is. On the other hand, I suppose it’s encouraging that God can use not-so-great stuff in amazing and powerful ways.

My dad shot himself a few months ago, and I’ll never forget sitting on the steps of the gazebo near his grave, consoled by the fact that he lives on in the lives of underprivileged children that only had a chance at this thing called life because he donated money to get them off the streets. He used to work on a suicide hotline, when he was younger, and he lives on in the people that made it through life because there was someone to call.

Yet the success, the money, the respect, the social status –they didn’t even make it to the grave.

Neither would un-given fish and fodder.

Travelogue
I was so busy taking pictures that I left my guidebook on the wooden stand at the front...oops. One thing about this traveling alone thing - you don't figure out as much. It's kind of frustrating, and if I ever come again it would be a lot more useful to come with a tour. Everyone thinks it's so cool I'm traveling by myself - but you're really better off with a tour, I think.

Anyhow - so I went to the bookstore there, and the guy there took the strangest interest in me. He thought I should buy this book on Galilee, so he said "I'll make a deal with you. I'll give you this key to a private beach. It is very beautiful. Go down there, look at the book, if you still don't want it, fine." OK. The weird thing was, it was exactly the most perfect-est book I could have wanted. Thanks God!

So I went to pay for it. 'Are you in a hurry? Can you wait a minute? Here, you can sit here, behind the counter." I wandered around the store instead, until I had everything memorized three times over (it was a small store). Then he came over and totally surprised me - "What do you like in your coffee? I made you some." I am getting so puzzled.

Well I waited another half hour or so, then he had time. It turned out he was from Nazareth (an hour away). He'd dug out some brochures on Nazareth that they had in the back. So he sat there and went over them with me, said everyone passes through Nazareth in a day but it has much more to offer, see here on the map and hundred meters down is this, etc. Here's when they have this special ceremony, here's the Annunciation procession Sunday, etc. etc. Here's my phone number, here's the store number, keep in touch, let me know if you have any questions.

Modern Nazareth is quite a substantial size, as you can see in the background to this picture of the Nazareth ridge.

Etc. etc. You get the idea. I was massively perplexed by this time - three hours after I'd wandered into a small souvenir shop looking for a specific book. So I started to leave, until he realized I didn't know enough about the sites right around, so he said, go here, this one closes between blah blah blah and yakety yak...(a 2.5 hour lunch break?!!)

Well so I wish this story had some ending punch line but all I was left with was confusion - was God trying to tell me something? And if so, what? The book part and the beach parts were obvious, but that was about it. Go to Nazareth, I guess!

I left with the most puzzled look on my face, found a little scenic overlook and stared into space for a bit, trying to decipher the point of the entire thing. Then I realized I forgot my Fodor's, and wound up sitting in the church pondering fish, for a good long while.

A year later - Lord God, forgive me for being too chicken to go there? I am so sorry...and regret it so much.

Last Updated: May 27, 2009

The Capernaum Synagogue

Jesus probably preached and healed in the Capernaum Synagogue innumerable times. Capernaum was Jesus' hometown during his ministry, and some of his closest followers lived there.

The Capernaum synagogue, the quay just beyond it, the many harbors with wooden boats and smelly fish, the seawall stuffed with broken pottery and the rocky hills surrounding the town were what he called home. They are where he prayed, hiked, preached, laughed and perhaps cried. Below are spiritual reflections from my visit and information on what Jesus' synagogue looked like and .

The Capernaum synagogue. Worshipers would have sat on benches built into the synagogue structure, like these tourists are. It's quite likely the synagogue Jesus taught was a rougher version of this one, with grey stones not shaped into symmetrical blocks, and it may be buried underneath it.

Capernaum Synagogue Spirituals
You know my perpetual question at every sight I've gone to has been "Why, God, why? Why did you do it? Why did you come down here to live with a bunch of lousy people, who can't get anything right, and keep insulting you and rebelling against you? Why did you bother?" And yes, I know the pat answer as well as any other Christian - "Because He loves us so much." With the emphasis on the 'so much.' But don't give me pat answers - I can't stand the things.

Well I sat there for a very long time, watching Asian tour group after American tour group after African tour group after undecipherable-language tour group proceed in and listen to someone babble in a language I couldn't understand and then proceed out.

After awhile I began to feel really dense, since the answer was stuck right in my brain.

"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what is lost..."
"For I have not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it."
"For the Son of Man has come...that they may have life, and have it to the fullest."

So as I sat there pondering the matter, I realized that I was sitting there staring at the answer right in front of me. I was sitting in a synagogue built 1700 years ago, representing the synagogue Jesus taught in to thousands of pilgrims every year. And some of them were passing right before my eyes. The answer had wondering eyes and awe-filled hearts. The answer stood there talking about the glory of God. The answer was talking, teaching those who didn't know. The answer was listening, wondering, amazed.

The answer came from 'every tribe and nation,' every continent and so many languages, came thousands of miles to a country they didn't know and couldn't understand, to hear someone teach them about Jesus in one more way, to have the old, old story come alive in one more way.

"The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what is lost, that they may have life and have it to the fullest."

And there they were. Right in front of me. Praise God for giving His often-dense kids one more shot.

I have to go plan my trip more, because someone warned me off Jordan...'Bye!

What Jesus’ Synagogue Looked Like
The synagogue was probably built of grey basalt hauled from local fields, with stone chinks and pottery shards stuffed between larger stones. It was probably very plain, partially because synagogues served as the town hall, court, etc. as well as a religious center for Sabbath services and Scripture studies.

Furthermore, in Christ's time, Jews strictly obeyed the second of the Ten Commandments: "You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." (Exodus 20:4.) Nothing like the paintings depicting religious scenes seen in some churches today would have been available.

Capernaum houses just outside the Capernaum synagogue. The external Capernaum synagogue walls probably looked like this. Just beyond the stone wall in the background is the Sea of Galilee.

There were probably inscriptions near the entrance to people who had done significant work for the synagogue or the town, hewn from stone by a local. For example, it’s quite possible there was one to the centurion that built it.

Luke 7:2-5: There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.”

Because it was a court, there may also have been some blood spattered on the floor and walls: Matthew 10:17: Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues.”

If there were too many people to fit on the bleacher-style seats, some families probably brought home-woven straw mats with them. It's unlikely that women sat separately.

Village streets surrounded it on three sides, and the international north-south trading route ran between it and the Sea of Galilee, just yards away. Matthew, the Capernaum tax collector mentioned in the Gospels, probably collected tolls from both that trading route and ships docked in the nearby harbor.

Additional Information:
A Sabbath Service Reconstruction
Synagogue Life in Jesus' Time

Last Updated: May 27, 2009

The Jesus Boat

Some brothers at a coastal kibbutz found 'The Jesus Boat' buried in the sand in 1986, when the water level in the Sea of Galilee was unusually low.

This flimsy thing is what got stuck in a massive storm, and somehow survived. You can see the video on the wall, showing what it looked like in action.

Its cedar body, and the oak supports that ran crossways, were repaired numerous times over the years, for a final count of twelve different types of wood. The secular and religious taxes of first century Galilee left its peasants with either debt or little to spare, and the repairman may have used whatever was in the scrapyard.

As the largest boat in standard use on the Galilee its capacity was twelve to thirteen men, but it generally took a crew of four to five to operate it as a fishing boat. It had one sail, square and perpendicular to the boat.

Normal baggage would have included a variety of linen nets, cork to make the top of the nets float, lead sinkers to make the bottom of the net sink, perhaps needles and thread for emergency repairs to torn nets, plenty of ropes, at least two oars and probably some food, such as bread or fig cakes.

Sailing to the Diaspora
The Jordan River empties into the Sea of Galilee, dividing the creeds of its peoples. On the west Capernaum began the Jewish territory, ruled by Herod Antipas. On its eastern flank Bethsaida started off the Diaspora, meaning all Jews living in the pagan lands outside of the Land of Israel, ruled by Antipas’ half-brother Philip.

Access by land from one side to the other wasn’t convenient – in those days, bridges weren’t quite so easy to build, and people from pagan lands may have been hesitant to enter Jewish territory. The best route was by boat, which Jesus and the disciples often took advantage of.

(‘Sailing to the Diaspora is temporarily in both this and bibledigging.)

The Jesus Boat Spirituals
I stood there and stared at it for awhile, awed by a Lord that sailed in a flimsy boat with a ratgag bunch of messups. Strange, it hits me anew every time. It is my everylasting question on this trip - Why, God, why? Why did you do it? Why did you bother with us? It makes no sense.

Oh, I know the old pat answer, but I hate pat answers! He loves us that much....etc. etc. etc. .... yes, I know. All right already. I believe it.

It perplexes my heart, because it’s not logical. Who am I that the Son of God would bother with me, who are any of us, just measly little humans that can't quite get anything right. So why bother? Yet He did... so much love, my own smallness can't quite comprehend it.

Last Updated: May 27, 2009

The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea is right opposite a brutal wilderness, and is surprisingly pretty when the sun shines; the water is a turquoise green, and you can see the Jordan mountains on the other side. Unfortunately I was there on one of the rare rainy days, and only got pictures when it was cloudy!

This rock I'm sitting on, this beach I've become a part of, is alive with the sounds and sights of life. Waves crest and crash. People bedecked in summer colors float and frolic in warm water, even though I’m shivering with my hood up and jeans on and the wind’s whipping my hair. (Journal entry.)

The Salt Sea
The Dead Sea was, and is, famous for its salt; in the Bible it is often the ‘Salt Sea’, the valley south of it is ‘The Valley of Salt.’ The rabbis called the ‘salt of Sodom’ unending, which means that they dug it out of salt mountains instead of mining it deep into the ground. (Sodom being the proverbial and biblical town of destruction, which is located by the Dead Sea.)

A significant portion of the Dead Sea salt harvest must have been for preserving fish, meat and other food. These were done at salteries, one of which was in Magdala, home of Mary Magdalene on the Sea of Galilee, and some of the Dead Sea salt was probably shipped there. Magdala had the perfect combination for a salting installation: plenty of fresh water (the Galilee is a freshwater lake), salt and fish (lakes tend to have fish).

Here slaves and day laborers worked in huge vats, perhaps ten square feet and eight feet deep, that layered salt, fish and ice until the fish were saturated enough for long-term preservation. They also had vats of water to clean it and a furnace room for cool seasons, as well as drying racks for the fish.

In a world without refrigeration, salt was used heavily to preservation, to the point that it tasted disgusting, as well as for flavor. They actually soaked some of the salt out of preserved fish in order to eat it.

The Temple consumed a great deal of salt, both for purity reasons and to prevent the priests from slipping as they walked on the altar ramp, which they had to do barefoot. As a result, salt would have signified purity as well as preservation and flavor to the ancient Jew. (Fortunately Jerusalem isn’t in Alaska.)

Dead Sea cosmetics are actually a huge trade in modern times (I felt rather exotic purchasing Dead Sea deoderant) and the aristocrats probably utilized them back then as well. Tiberias was the wealthy capital and coastal port on the Sea of Galilee, and it’s quite possible ships stopping at Tiberias arrived with salt cosmetics to prevent acne.

Dead Sea Spirituals
This place makes me feel small, alone in a great big world I can’t quite understand. Sometimes beauty is deceiving; it’s creepy here, cruelty and glory side by side. I suppose that’s how it goes spiritually. As the beauty of this turquoise sea parallels an endless line of barren mountains, so my growth in God Almighty reaches into yonder tough times.

I feel trapped between a rock and a hard place, swimming down blue waters in a sea defined by death. Blessed be your Name, and maybe that’s the ticket.

Odd, there’s beauty on shores bereft of life, sheltered with barren mountains etching hopelessness into horizons near and far. So what’s the secret to this beauty, this sea of beauty lying between death and the unknown?

How can I get this God? Is it really just cast all your cares upon Me? It doesn’t make sense, that anything born of goodness can survive in a land that should hold naught but pain. Nothing lives in this piece of turqoise beauty – no schools of fish dash by, no kelp floats to the surface, no children search for shells lining the shores.

I can’t even sink here – a good thing in a sea of death. "Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid"...is that what it is, the secret to this beauty of the heart, and contentment of the soul? Is it all based on the trust of a child I can never be?


Travelogue
I was so relieved to get to my hotel night before last, after driving down Route 90 in the blackness, stopping at some roadside flea market turned permanent sort of something because my car was careening back and forth on the road I was so tired, & I didn’t want to land in the Dead Sea – people might float in it but I’m not so sure cars do - so I stopped to get a few sodas - yes, three! – the guy looked at me like I was a little nuts – and after seeing a bunch of men staring at me and having the suddenly creepy feeling, after buying the third one, that I’d better get out of there. Which I did, in a hurry – rather like a macho teenager in the movies trying to show off his hot car by pealing out of the nightclub parking lot.

Well I made it to my hotel, obviously – ugh! The guy hardlly spoke English, quite problematic since I can’t even read the alphabet let alone speak the language, finally I got some sort of receipt from him and a key, and after fifteen minutes of wandering around – well, maybe five, but it felt like fifteen – I found my room.

I felt like I was in a pre-Civil War dorm room. I actually took pictures of the room, it was such a cold piece of yuckiness. Well so I dropped my laptop and suitcase on the floor, climbed into my pajamas and sat on the bed and stared into space (it’s a little hard to sleep with three sodas in you.)

I actually slept that night though! That was a really cool feeling, after flying from America to Israel and arriving at Tel Aviv at 5 a.m.

The Wilderness

I went to the Dead sea, near the place where David hid from Saul - I couldn't believe how beautiful it was, although the mountains lining the beach were an atrocity. I didn't know God made things that ugly!(Maybe I should have contemplated cockroaches before I went.) They are the biblical 'wilderness,' hundreds of feet of desolate rock and bare dirt, akin to the land Jesus was tempted in.


A close-up of the hills lining the Dead Sea. This is similar to the land Jesus was tempted in. Mark 1:12-13 - At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Nahal David is a rocky gorge that torrents of water have carved out over the millenia. It comes down in flash floods that kill, and its sister gorge was closed off when I was there, in case it flooded.


Nahal David, in En Gedi. David and his men hid from Saul in these rocky crags. If you strain your eyes you can make out a large group of teenagers in the middle, and a few in the bottom corner. This was taken in mid-March - the mid-February photograph on the site I linked to above makes things look a lot greener. (Alternatively, it may have graduated from Adobe Photoshop! :)

At the very end of the gorge there's a waterfall, and you begin to realize that there might actually be some logic behind this oasis rumor. Not a great deal perhaps, as it's a pretty thin waterfall, but there is a fair amount of greenery clinging to the rocks near it, and you begin to see the correlation.
Gravity has clearly changed its tactics according to this waterfall, but you get the idea. Song of Solomon 1:13 - My lover is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi. I don't have any idea what henna blossoms look like, but I'm thinking maybe things have changed a bit over the last three thousand years, because this is the lushest part of Nahal David I could find - at the 'lush season.'

The place depressed me just being there. All this plain rock and dirt, ugh. I can't imagine growing up there - I'd be a depressed discouraged mess.

The Scripture - Judas Iscariot
John 6:71 - Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

John 13:2 - The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.

John 13:26 - Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon.

Matthew 10:4 - Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

See sections below for more Scripture.

Judas Iscariot, the Dagger-maker from Kerioth
I read a couple books with sections on Judas, and turned up some interesting information on his name. The meanings are in italics:

“The word [Iscariot] can be geographical, designating the town from which he came. It can also come from a word meaning “dagger-carrying assassins,” and meaning that Judas was a Zealot party member. The word also may come from the Hebrew word meaning ‘false one’; or finally, perhaps the word came from both Greek and Hebrew, meaning the one who “handed over” [Jesus]. At this point individuals can pick and choose the meaning that makes more sense to them…‘Iscariot’ probably designated Judas’ place of origin, but not without some sense of a relationship to the Zealots, and the name somehow relates to what Judas did.” (O’Grady, 190. Italics mine.)

“His surname, Iscariot, signifies the region he came from. It is derived from the Hebrew term ish (“man”) and the name of a town, Kerioth – “man of Kerioth.” Judas probably came from Kerioth-hezron (cf. Joshua 15:25), a humble town in the south of Judea.” (MacArthur, 182, author of the MacArthur Study Bible. Italics his.)

Kerioth was near the southern end of the Dead Sea, a region known for its copper and iron deposits. Since many towns specialized in an industry – see my Nazareth entry – it’s quite sensible that a town near metal deposits specialized in metalwork of some sort – say, dagger-making. This is even more likely in light of the fact that there aren’t a lot of ways to make a living in the desert.

“For I am bringing you into a good land - a land of streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with milk and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey, a land where bread is not scarce and you will lack nothing, a land where rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.” (Deut 8:6-9)


Judas Son of Simon Iscariot
John states that Judas was the son of Simon Iscariot. This is slightly odd, since surnames persay didn’t exist, and most people were known by their occupation or father/husband, e.g., Simon son of Jonah, James son of Alphaeus. If their location was significant in identifying them, you might use the place instead – e.g., Jesus of Nazareth. There were a mighty lot of Jesus’ around, and everybody would have known who Jesus of Nazareth was.

Perhaps Judas was known by both his father and his location because both were significant to his identity. This would explain why his father is given a surname, which doesn’t add up with the other examples in Scripture – ‘Simon Iscariot’ may have been a name people knew. ‘Jenna Bush’ might not mean much in twenty years, but ‘Jenna Bush daughter of George Bush’ would.

Simon the Zealot consistently precedes Judas’ name in the lists of the apostles. The Zealots robbed and murdered those oppressing the peasants, all in the name of killing for God.* Judas acted like a Zealot, yet he wasn’t referred to as one when listed. If Iscariot had a more specific designation, that would make sense.

Nearly all of the iron and much of the copper deposits were from the southern desert, where Kerioth was located. It’s possible that Kerioth specialized in a specific type of dagger, like Bethlehem specialized in a specific type of pottery, and Judas’ family ‘owned’ Kerioth and/or its industry. Aristocrats did sometimes own towns; see my Nazareth and/or Tiberias entry. This would add up with his stealing from the common purse of the group – it’s easier to go from poor to poor than it is from well-off to poor, with the fact that he acted like a Zealot but was listed right after Simon the Zealot and wasn’t referred to as one, and with both aspects of the name.

Trusting God
This is what the LORD says:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."

Travelogue
I went do Nahal David and the Dead Sea, as described above. Then back to the hotel. Jammies on again…. Sitting on bed…. Staring into space…thanking God I didn’t go to college before the Civil War….

Shriieeeeeeekk! Shrrriiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeekkk!

There is this thing on my wall, with legs, that looks horribly like pictures I’ve seen in books of a disgusting member of the reptile species named lizards! That weird splay-legged thing, seven or eight inches long, I think, but I can guarantee you, when it heard me it took off – behind the microwavae!! Oh gross! A lizard hiding out in my room and I’m supposed to sleep???

Oh dearie me no. None of that.

I heaved my laptop and suitcase off the cold tile floor onto the couch made of plywoods cloth cousin, stood on the bed to change back into day clothes, dragged everything to the car and slept there.

Yes, I’m serious. And I have to give myself due credit here – those were two good, long, loud shrieks, even for me, and I can shriek pretty well when put to the test.

I hate lizards! What ever was God thinking when he made lizards?

They must have evolved.

Well so I saw the sunrise next morning, over the Dead Sea – it was kinda pretty, actually. I never knew the Dead Sea could be pretty – seems rather like an oxymoron – and I don’t recommend my methodology for investigating the matter. I did, however, enjoy the moment – here’s my journal entry:

“I’m sitting in a car by the shores of the Dead Sea. The sun is just emerging, glinting things with beauty after a depressing rain. Palm trees that were bent horizontal in the wind an hour ago stand tall now. The fog has lifted and I can see Jordan. It’s really weird to stare across a narrow sea and see another country!

"I never understood before why they called it the Dead Sea. Now I get it – virtually nothing lives here. Even the shore is nothing but rock and dirt. I’m a little perplexed as to why the palm trees smack in front of me aren’t landing on my car, the way they’re blowing this way and that. The ones in the distance are flattening again now. The Jordan mountains are disappearing again. Storm clouds cover the sky to my right, left and behind me, but straight ahead they are clear blue. Beyond that, they’re moving in for the kill.”

Then I went to breakfast at the kibbutz in my clothes-turned-pj’s-turned-clothes-again – that’s the last time I ever stay in a kibbutz – where an American reporter traveling alone informed me that it probably was a lizard, and I really should have left it alone because it would have eaten all the bugs for me.

Oh fantastic.

She also told me to nix my plans to go to Jordan, which apparently is a really stupid idea for women traveling alone, despite my travel guides comment that Jordan is one of the safest places in the world.

So now I’m homeless. This is going to be a very interesting trip.

Future Glory! :)
The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.

Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
"Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you."

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.

Sources
MacArthur, John, Twelve Ordinary Men, W Publishing Group, 2002
O’Grady, John F., Men In The Bible: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Paulist Press, 2005

Where David Slew Goliath

Low ridges, the color of flesh, flank this broad field – living flesh, living bodies, living battles, with the camp on the left spared and victorious by a faith rooted in God on high. “I defy you in the name of the living God,” hollered David, as he walked from the narrow streambed running along the base of the Israelite ridge, with five smooth stones in his bag.

Goliath charged down the opposing ridge, across the broad field of dark mud laden with swaying hay, through the grasses blowing gently as they raised glorious heads above all.


The base of the Israelite ridge, and part of the field.


Part of the Philistine ridge; the field where they fought was to the left. Presumably the camps of the armies went back quite a bit.

A boy threw a stone, and a worshiper of pagan gods, rich in human strength, was slammed forever to the ground. And so David climbed up the long dirt path winding into the Israelite camp, toward King Saul, and the heap of armor discarded by this boy of passionate faith, in a God that scoffs at mortals armor.

Where David Slew Goliath Spirituals
Armor? Who, indeed, needs armor, when they have the Living God fighting for them? Nary a soul, as Paul cried in a letter written thousands of years ago: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

It is odd to see this field, where it all took place - this field of might, faith and power from on high, that conquers every one of my battles.

Every one of my battles that I surrender, that is. Are you letting Him conquer yours, or are you trying to slay Goliath with your own aim and might?

Shepherds Food
1 Samuel 17:17-19 - Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. [e] See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance [f] from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines."

Seed stored after drying or parching saved better than undried kernels or kernels ground and baked into bread. David's father was telling him to take ten loaves of bread and roughly 5.5 gallons of dried kernels to his brothers.

The kernels, which preserved well because of their tight husks and the lack of moisture inside, would have been soaked and ground for several hours before they could be made into bread.

The Scripture: Shepherds, Angels and a Baby Messiah
Luke 2:7b-15 - [Mary] wrapped [the newborn Jesus] in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

Shepherds? Yuck!
In David’s time the land wasn’t as crowded as it was in Jesus’ time, and shepherds were still of some value. By Jesus’ time, they were outcasts, particularly in crowded areas like Bethlehem. They stunk, for one, and for two they required land that others wanted. Because they lived in the fields sometimes, they were far from the religious education offered to many Jewish boys in Jesus’ time (or soon thereafter – this is debateable). Any girl not betrothed by 15 or so may have been resigned to the likes of a shepherd.

The Judean Foothills

I’m sitting in a park on Route 383, in what I think is the Judean foothills. It’s 8 a.m., and I’ve just left the airport in Tel Aviv. It’s pouring rain in this place that seems so natural, and I’m sitting in the car with the doors locked.

The one-way road my car jolted up is old, cracked and full of potholes, the edges dodging in inches there, dodging out a bit there. Baby rivulets of water stream through pebbles rich in a scattering of colors, and blackstone chipped away by wind and rain. These rocks lining the road are the rocks Christ sat on, these the trees that shaded him, this the grass that muddied him. The disciples scattered their tired bodies among this light and shade, swatting bugs away from faces tanned by the sun.

The Judean foothills.

Tree branches are waving in the air, cutting a cool nip through my jeans. It smells clean here, fresh, like a Nebraska park when the hard rain stops, and sunlight given by the first shades of sapphire conquers the clouds spreading across the sky. Yet the wind still blows, branches reaching for the sky, striving for the ground, in a constant pattern of glory given by God above.

Ah! Here is the sun. Pouring warmth onto these chilly jeans, a million tiny raindrops glinting off dead grass, diamonds bathed in sunlight, sparks of beauty in a patch that has none of its own.


Note: I wrote out of my imagination, out of sheer astonishment the first day I was truly in the Holy Land, and it came alive to me. While Christ certainly toured around a lot, I find it doubtful that he ever truly sat on 'these' rocks. Since I liked the writing, I thought I'd keep it posted.