We begin at the
Mount of the Beatitudes
this week. This is the traditional site where Jesus gave the
Sermon on the Mount
and spoke about the blessings (beatitudes), including “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
Not too far away is a rock where Jesus is thought to have shared a meal with his disciples after his resurrection. The
Church of the Primacy of St. Peter
has been built over this rock to commemorate this important moment.
Our next stop,
Capernaum
, the base of Jesus’ ministry. We can tour the ruins of a synagogue, the church at St. Peter’s house, or other archaeological remains. Capernaum sits next to the
Sea of Galilee
, the largest freshwater lake in Israel. Much of Jesus’ ministry took place along the Sea of Galilee.
Farther south along the Sea of Galilee is
Tiberias
, an important city for rabbinical
Judaism
. There are archaeological ruins here as well as beaches and hot springs.
Continuing south we come to the
River Jordan
where
John baptized Jesus
. Today, visitors can be baptized at
Yardenit
on the River Jordan.
On to
Mt. Tabor
, the traditional site of the
Transfiguration of Christ
. Today there are two churches and a wonderful view of the
Jezreel Valley
. After a stop here we continue the short distance back to Nazareth where we began our journey on the Jesus Trail.
From
Nazareth
we will finish our travels to Jerusalem where we will rest a bit to prepare for the
procession of palms
on Sunday. Then we complete the journey of Christ during Holy Week on our way to Easter Sunday.
Thanks for traveling along to Jerusalem
and being such good traveling companions!
Next week look for a post of some of the details of our journey.
Participants who registered mileage should look for a special gift in their church mailbox, hopefully by Easter Sunday.
