Today we sailed across and then drove around the Sea of Galilee, the region Jesus established as his ministry headquarters next to the strategic Via Maris (Way by the Sea) 'superhighway' that connected Egypt and Mesopotamia. Our skipper Daniel is a Messianic Jew and a gifted singer. Stopping in the middle of the lake we meditated on Mark 6:45-56, the text that describes the disciples struggling and straining at the oars in the darkness for six hours as Jesus prays on a hill. Jesus saw the disciples straining and he let them struggle to the point of weakness. Only then did he go to them, walking on the water and helping them by climbing into the boat and calming the storm. This was a demonstration of his deity. When Mark tells us 'he was about to pass by them' he is using the language of Lordship; just as God 'passed by' Moses and Elijah to reveal his presence and power. It is in the darkness, when life is most difficult, that we discover we are never out of Jesus' sight and never beyond his care. Captain Daniel sang, Kadosh Kadosh Adonai Elohim Tsavot' (Our God is an awesome God) in praise of Jesus' power. After docking we drove to Mount Beatitudes. After King Herod died in 4BC there was rising unemployment (since his elaborate construction projects ceased) and increasing Roman oppression of the Jewish faith. This heightened the expectation for a Messianic movement but Jesus did not fit the concept of a king come to deliver Israel by force. (The average first century Jewish man was only 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed just 60 kilograms). On top of Mount Beatitude sits an eight sided church built by the Italian fascist Benito Mussolini. However, we came to see the slope that leads down to the sea from where Jesus almost certainly taught on a number of occasions (Matthew 5:1; Luke 6:17). We could imagine how the sea breeze would carry the words of Christ up to the crowd. Jesus spoke with his own authority. 'You have heard it said, but I say!" The beatitudes are not a highway to heaven - they are the low way to life - recognizing our poverty of spirit, mourning our sin, humbling our hearts and hungering and thirsting for true righteousness leads us to receive God's mercy and purity and with that God's peace and persecution. The beatitudes begin with blessing and end with building a life founded on the Rock (7:24). Surrounded by the Golan Heights we recalled that only 22km away from these quiet waters a civil war is raging in Syria. At Taghba, the traditional site of the feeding of the four thousand, we were reminded that Jesus is the living bread from heaven, the Manna Man who provides food that does not perish but 'endures to eternal life' (John 6:27) Continuing on to Capernaum, the last Jewish town before crossing the border into ancient Roman Syria, we visited the synagogue site, dated to the 4th century AD but which is built on the basalt foundation of the 1st century synagogue where our Savior taught. Jesus was the town rabbi and the people were amazed at his teaching. A first century house identified as Peter's is a plausible site since Capernaum had historical continuity for centuries. A group of Chinese tourists (whom I am reliably told by one of our Mandarin speaking tour members had no idea of the significance of this site) were laughing loudly as they posed for pictures by lying on the synagogue floor. We asked them to be quiet. Jesus did the same, not to tourists but to evil spirits. In and around Capernaum Jesus controlled spirits, nature, sickness, wind, waves and death. He said, "Be quiet" "Come Out" "Be Clean" "Be Still" and "Get Up"! But his most powerful words are surely, "Son, your sins are forgiven." (Mark 2:5) We moved on to Bethsaida (the house of the hunter) in the ancient province of Syria and the home town of Peter, Andrew and Phillip (John 1:44). Here Jesus healed a blind man (Mark 8:22-25) in the only gradual miracle of his ministry. Jesus healed him gradually and privately. He never embarrasses or humiliates! 'Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair.' (Blaise Pascal) On the way to the Jordan River we passed by Migdal, the home town of Mary Magdalene. Migdal was a staging post for travellers on the Via Maris with a reputation for immorality. Mary's association with the town has traditionally tagged her with the title 'prostitute' although the Bible doesn't say this. She was demon possessed and in first century Judaism demon possession in women was almost always associated with sexual immorality. In reality she was Jesus' faithful follower from Galilee all the way to Golgotha and then from Jesus' grave to becoming the first witness to the world that He has been raised. To conclude our exploration of 'Galilee of the nations' (Isaiah 9:1) we viewed 'The Galilee Experience', a 21 minute film portraying 4000 years of Israel's history. God announced through the prophet Amos, "I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the LORD your God." (Amos 9:14-15) This beautiful land has been blessed by the Lord. God keeps his promises. Touring teaches us to trust God! "Noone who trusts you will be disgraced." (Psalm 25:3)