Saturday, 5/14/11

Up on the Mount Beatitudes a church was built to mark the spot where Jesus did all of His teachings. Here He did the 8 Beatitudes and the church is on the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is 170 feet deep. You can see the Kaffir Mountains from another window. The 8 Beatitudes are written in stained glass at the top. Every window in the church is exactly in the middle so you can see the Sea of Galilee wherever you sit. The windows are not tall rectangles but long horizontal rectangles. The church was built in the 20th century from 1924 to 1976. From this church you can see all the places where Jesus performed His miracles: the water into wine in Canaan, turning the loaves of bread and a few fish into an amount to feed a multitude, when He calmed the Seas while they were in the boat, and when he walked on the water, the village where He gave life to a small child, when He healed Peter's mother-in-law. There is a gorgeous mosaic floor with all kinds of symbols displayed: a diamond on it's side means holy place, a 6 with it's open side laying down means water, little tiny squares put together in a 3 x 3 grid means land. There is no marble to be found naturally in Israel, so any building with it has been brought from outside.
There are 7 springs here that flow into the Sea of Galilee. The town Capernaum is on the Sea of Galilee. This is where Jesus found His first five disciples, Matthew, Peter, James, Andrew and John. The church here is called TABA which means 7 springs. It has a door engraved with pictures of Jesus' miracles and His life. The altar in the church is built on top of where Jesus performed the miracle of the bread and the fish. On the floor are mosaics with a peacock, other birds and plants. these are the older mosaics. The newer mosaics have animals, the Nile River and symbols from Egypt because the artist was from Gaza, Egypt. One mosaic is a snake wrapped around a stork's leg. This means if you are going to sin, snake'll get you! the old Christian sign is a Y with an arch over the top. Then the cross was used with slight differences between the Greek, Roman and Russian. The Greek cross has 2 equal lines crossing. The Roman cross has the vertical line longer than the horizontal line. The Russian cross is the same as the Roman except they add a diagonal line towards the bottom to support Jesus' feet.
There is a church in Capernaum called ST. Franciscus done in all black and white volcanic stone. In front of this church is where Jesus gave Peter the staff which became the Church. Today the Pope carries this inside his staff. This is one of the things that Hitler wanted to get. there are carvings on the outside of the church of Jesus' miracles. In this town is Peter's mother-in-law's house. She was a very large woman and when Peter took her to Jesus to heal, he had to lift her out of the roof. They only receive rain during spring, so the roof is remade every spring after the rains. For the first 350 years the Church and the synagogue were in the same building. After Constantine, the shape changed from the central column of The synagogue to 6 columns in the shape of a fishing boat. The steps leading up to the church were 2 small steps then 1 big step. You had to concentrate on climbing the steps to avoid falling, therefore, it forced you to take time to prepare your heart for God. All synagogues around Galilee have 3 entrances.
The Jewish people have to follow 470 laws everyday. They also had to buy their first born from the Rabbi. therefore, they placed a coin under the floor when they built the house. In the synagogue the women had to sit up at the top so they would not distract the men. The Jews say the men are weak. There is a separate room next to the synagogue where the young boys must study the Torah.
The upper mountains of the Golan Heights are snow covered. The snowmelt flows into the Jordan River and then into the Sea of Galilee. The rainy season is in spring. if they don't receive rain then, they won't get any. Between 2 and 5 PM waves from the Mediterranean Sea flow into the Sea of Galilee and it becomes extremely rough. When the Jordan River is brown colored it is because of the sand from the farms.
We visited the Jordan River where John the Baptist baptized Jesus. People pilgrimage here to be baptized in the same spot. the water is a pretty shade of green blue. There were many fish of all sizes there and people were feeding them. Also there were muskrats all over. they are not native to here, but were brought here from South America and have no natural enemies, so they are multiplying rather quickly. The weather here is too warm to use their skins for clothing.
In Nazareth there is 1 church built on the spot where the Angel Gabriel visited Mary to tell of the Immaculate Conception. The door has the whole story of Jesus engraved on it. It starts with Gabriel, Mary marries Joseph, Elijah and Elizabeth, Jesus' birth, Gabriel and other angels telling the shepherds of His birth, Jesus' miracles, Jesus turning over the tables in the synagogue, His crucifixtion , His resurrection. This church was destroyed 3 times, but always rebuilt. On the west wall is a statue of Jesus and on the east wall is one of Mary. Mary has the 3 stars above her head. Mary the Church of the Annunciation is built on top of the grotto where Mary lived with her parents. This is the second tallest church in the world. The tallest is in ST. Peter's in Rome. There is no central column because it is centered over the grotto and it needs to have natural light on it. You have to look down into it. There is also the grotto where Jesus lived with His parents, Mary and Joseph.