Capernaum,
an ancient fishing village, is where Jesus and his disciples lived and
ministered.
And
leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea – Matthew 4:13
The women's court...
Jesus taught
in the synagogue of Capernaum and healed many from diseases:
When
he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord,
my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I
will come and heal him.” But the centurion
replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say
the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And
I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to
my servant,‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who
followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel
have I found such faith. I
tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer
darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. – Matthew 8:5-13
And
when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at
home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more
room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them.
And they came, bringing to him a
paralytic carried by four men. And when they
could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him,
and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic
lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said
to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Now some of the scribes were sitting
there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can
forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus
questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you
question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are
forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the
paralytic— “I say to you,
rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out
before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We
never saw anything like this!” – Mark 2:1-12
Knowing that this was the very town where
Jesus healed so many brought me to a place of prayer and reflection. I know Him
intimately as my Jehovah Rapha (Healer) and met with Him in prayer as I stood
in the modern church that is built directly over Peter’s house, where Peter’s
mother-in-law was healed.
And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he
saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she
rose and began to serve him. – Matthew 8:14-15
There is a glass floor so that we could see
directly into Peter’s home below. We were moving so fast and seeing so many things, our days were incredibly
full, but this was one moment where I had a quiet moment to pray and ask
Jesus for healing in a particular area of my spiritual life. Lord, may I rise to serve you in all the
work you’ve prepared for me to do.
Moving on from the ancient ruins, we
visited The Church of the Primacy of Peter, located on the northwest shore of
the Sea of Galilee.
See in John 21 how Jesus appeared to the disciples a third
time after the resurrection and the events that happened here:
Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the
disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children,
do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the
right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they
were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore
said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord,
he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself
into the sea. The other
disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not
far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.
When they got out on
land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus
said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled
the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so
many, the net was not torn. Jesus
said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask
him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took
the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus
was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.- John 21:4-14
This
is also where Jesus reinstated Peter after his three-time denial of Jesus at
the crucifixion (John 21:15-19).
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