A Pensive Pilgrim: The Holy Land

When we were in Israel, I became introduced to the writings of Bargil Pixner. He was a Benedictine monk who lived in Israel for 25 years, half of that time at the Sea of Galilee. He believed that the land itself was the Fifth Gospel - that you would not fully understand the Bible without also understanding the land where it was set. He believed that God's revelations were made in a particular time and in a particular place. By understanding the biblical landscape, Pixner believed that we can "experience the four Gospels with a new and greater clarity." His books with Jesus through Galilee according to the fifth Gospel, and with Jesus in Jerusalem - His First and Last Days in Judea, are beautifully photographed and full of insights drawn from the physical topography of the Holy Land. I thoroughly recommend them.

This was our first glimpse of the Sea of Galilee - which is actually a fresh-water lake. It is also known as Kinneret, Lake of Gennesart, or Lake Tiberias. The majority of Jesus' ministry took place in the area of the Sea of Galilee - in what is often called "The Evangelical Triangle" - from Capernaum to Korazin to Bethasida. This is where the marjority of Jesus' miracles ocurred. The first side stretched from Tabgha-Eremos-Korazin. The second stretched from Korazin along the Roman road to Bethasida. The lake shore from the mouth of the Jordan as far as Tabgha forms the base of the triangle, with Capernaum in the middle of the base of the triangle.

Tiberias is located on the Sea of Galilee. There is no record of Jesus ever visiting Tiberias. He probably avoided this area, as it was the home of Herod Antipas. Tiberias is located on the west side of the Sea of Galilee.

These are ruins in the Tiberias area dating back to the time of the Ottoman Empire. The building stone is basalt - volcanic rock.

These are the Golan Heights. Even though it comprises a large amount of land, only 8,000 Palestinians are allowed to live here, under very strict restrictions.