It was here that He called common fishermen to follow Him. It was here that He taught the crowds, using stories and parables. It was here that He slept in the back of a fishing boat on a storm-whipped sea and said to the wind and waves, “Hush. Be calm. Be still.” It was here that He appeared like a ghost walking on the water. It was here that He cooked a breakfast for His friends. It was here at the Sea of Galilee that Jesus demonstrated power and grace.
Serendipity is another way of saying that God is gracious. Watching the sun rise over the hills of Golan this morning—bright streaks of sunlight pierced low, hanging clouds while yellow and orange shimmered on the sea below—peals of thunder, in applause of God’s providence in waking the sun once again, ceased the silence. As I turned to Mark 4:35–41 to contemplate Jesus’s power over the violence of the sea, the darkening clouds released a gentle shower. No longer just a story of power over nature, but a story of grace. Grace in saving the lives of His friends. Grace in bringing refreshing rain at just the moment the page turned to the story of Jesus’s sovereignty.
It was there in the village of Nahum—Capernaum—just north of the sea that Jesus healed a centurion’s servant and a paralyzed man. It was there in Capernaum that Jesus brought the precious daughter of a synagogue officer back to life and healed a woman who suffered twelve years of humiliating torment. It was there in Capernaum that Jesus healed His dear friend’s mother-in-law. Grace. Power to be sure. But grace, all grace.
And it was there, up the easy slopes of Galilee, close to His own town, Capernaum, that Jesus sat on the grass, looking over the blue sea that His hands had made. He taught the multitudes: “Oh, how blessed you are to be humble, for you will be exalted in heaven. How very blessed you are when your heart aches to the point of breaking, for you will receive loving comfort. How blessed you are to possess a spirit like Mine, meek and mild, for you will receive the earth.” And on He taught—“How very blessed you are.” It was there, on the Mount of Beatitudes, that Jesus taught those who would follow Him how to live lives fit for His kingdom. Not rules and lists which can be checked off in pride or unchecked in shame, but how to live a life of grace.
It is here in Israel—amidst the water of the Galilee, the ruins of Capernaum, and the gentle hill of Beatitudes—that God declares the power of Jesus and whispers His grace.
