ALIVE: Chapter 119 Galilee

The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali

By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan

Galilee of the Gentiles

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,

And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death

Light has dawned. Isaiah 9:1,2, Isaiah 42:7.

With the clean clothes that His mother had washed for Him and a belly full of her lovingly made stew, and a knapsack cash of fresh bread and smoked fish and honey, Jesus walked the Galilee Road from Nazareth to the Sea. Step by step He walked closer to His destiny. He was walking away from being the son of Mary and Joseph and toward His public life as the Son of God come to earth. He waited and prepared for thirty years in anonymity for this day, and alas it arrived. 

Having kissed His mother goodbye after dawn, He reached the sea at Tiberias by mid day. It was a familiar road. 

Jesus went straight to the synagogue surrounded by a fenced yard. Men, women and children gravitated there to pray or simply to talk with each other. This particular synagogue, being so close to the sea attracted many visitors to Galilee and many fishermen who brought their boats in during the hottest parts of the day. Did you know that fish form their schools, like students, at day break when the water is cool and like students they are hungry? In the heat of the afternoon, they disperse and submerge to find cooler water, giving the fisherman time to rest from their labors.

On this day the synagogue was busy. Jesus arrived and smiled to Himself seeing that the Father, from His manipulation of the sun and sea and hundreds of other details brought together a crowd to listen to Him teach. Jesus was recognized and greeted by several people who had known Him for years and were happy to see Him again. When He entered the building with the authority of a rabbi He went to the front and waited for His turn to speak. Those who had heard Jesus preach before looked forward to what He would say that day. With the fate of His cousin John the baptizer in the forefront of His mind, Jesus preached about repentance.

Surrounded by men of every age, and a few women, some standing, some sitting in chairs and children cross legged sitting on the floor of the synagogue to listen, Jesus spoke loud and clear with the knowledge and authority of a sage thrice His age. “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near. The first step that any doctor knows is to diagnose the illness. Look at yourself, not at others! As a man who sows in the sea and expects to reap a harvest, so is he who remembers wrongs done to him and prays. Look inward! How have YOU failed. How have YOU disappointed Yahweh?

If a man is ill and and recognizes his illness, his healing will be easy. Search your soul, listen to your thoughts and watch your behavior! Judge others as YOU would be judged. Repent! Change your way of thinking. 

Don’t expect instant praise and glory from God just for recognizing your sinfulness, or for an hour of repentance. 

Look at David, even after he repented of Bathsheba with tears and weeping, and God forgave him, he still suffered the war raised up against him by his son Absalom. Yet, in the strength that he gained from identifying his fault, he was able to withstand the pain of the real and dangerous threat. 

The David who yielded in such a conniving way to his lust would have killed and hated, but after his repentance, David, the child of God, accepted his suffering as deserved and did not cease loving his son. It was as if the harsh treatment of Absolom was the second phase in the lesson of repentance. Accept the penalty. It was the proof of his repentance that he offered to God. He who is chastised here, eats away at his own Gehenna.

There is no virtue more preeminent than repentance. For a man never completes the work of repentance. It is always suitable for both every sinner and righteous man who wants to gain salvation. There is no limit to perfection, for even perfection of the perfect is truly without completion. And for this reason repentance is bound neither by periods of time nor by works until a man’s death. 

If a man recognizes his sins and chastises himself, God will then take care to give him rest, because the Lord rejoices in that he, as a sinner, has passed sentence against himself for straying from the way of God; and this is a mark of true repentance.” He looked around at the crowd, reaching for the eyes of as many individuals as His own eyes could grasp in a few moments. Letting the pause allow His words to seep into their souls.

The holy silence was pierced with a loud voice that bellowed, “Ah! what have we to do with you, Jesus, the Nazarene?” The man emphasized the word Nazarene as an insult, paused and looked at Jesus who at first was taken aback. The heckler continued, “Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are,  the Holy One of God. The ugly filthy man who had been hovering in a dark corner of the synagogue for days walked up to Jesus and peered at Him with such hubris, oozing a thick air of superiority that would have melted the soul of a pious person, that would have triggered an argument or an insult from a proud person, but Jesus did not answer the man. Instead He spoke to the demon that controlled the poor sop. With the authority of a wise policeman He said in a strong loud voice, “STOP and come out of him!” 

All eyes were fixed on the heckler as they watched him instantly fall to the ground and start to squirm. For several moments the man writhed and then he was still. His eyes closed as if he had been sleeping. When They opened again the man was changed. He was no longer the heckler. A layer of dirty sweat vanished from his body.  He looked around at everyone gazing at him to see what he would do next. He wasn’t hurt at all. He twisted and pushed himself up with his hands. Standing before Jesus, he bowed his head and lowered his eyes, and whispered so only Jesus could hear him, “Forgive me.” Jesus placed His hand on the man’s shoulder in response. The purified man turned and went back to his place in the dark corner, to rest. 

The rest of the people were amazed, some hardly believing what they had just seen with their eyes. Some people remained silent, trying to process what they had seen, others started murmuring to their neighbors. “What was that? With what authority and power did that young rabbi command unclean spirits, and they obeyed? Have you ever seen such a thing?” “No, have you?”

Jesus then stepped down from the rabbi’s podium and walked out of the synagogue face forward, no stopping to recognize anyone. The audience too stood up and many quietly gathered their satchels and walked out, some to follow Him, others to go back to their work or homes, others lingered in the cool dark space to think or to pray. There was no chatter. There was much to contemplate as each hungry person searched his or her own soul for the food made by His teaching. 

It was time for the fishermen to get ready for the evening catch.

Jesus walked over to the harbor at Tiberias. He was on a mission to recruit His team of students (aka disciples) to mirror the twelve tribes of Israel, but this time His twelve would be a cohesive band of men who would learn from Him, serve and assist Him in His mission and then be sent into the world like seed cast on rich soil to multiply and cover the earth with Wisdom and Life.

While walking to the sea Jesus sensed that He was being followed by a young man named Phillip who had been in the synagogue listening to Him. He slowed down and let Phillip catch up, which he did. 

“Shalom. I heard You speak. I want to know more.” 

Jesus smiled with the confidence of a man who expected what was happening as if it was written in the script for the day. “You are welcome to come and follow Me. I am gathering disciples. You are the first. Do you accept?”

“Of course I do!” replied Phillip enthusiastically. ‘Wait, I see a friend over there by the sycamore, his name is Nathanial, can I call him over too? He is a great guy.”

“Sure, go ahead.” replied Jesus, again smiling to Himself that everything was going according to plan. 

Phillip left Jesus and walked over to Nathanael. “Nathan! Hello how are you!”

‘I’m fine, what’s up?”

“Were you just at the synagogue? Did you hear the young rabbi speak?”

“No, I just got in town. I thought I could find some work here. How long have you been in Galilee?”

“I’ve been here a few days. Listen! I think this young rabbi is the one whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote about! He is from Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

“You’ve got to be kidding! Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

“Come and see!” said Phillip.

Nathanael and Philip walked over to Jesus who was watching them and waited for them to come to Him. Jesus welcomed Nathanael by saying, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile!” Phillip chuckled at that because it was true. Nathanael could be so child-like. 

“How do you know me?” said Nathanael immodestly.

Jesus replied, “Before Phillip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 

“Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” exclaimed Nathanael. 

Jesus smiled and answered him, “Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see much greater things than this. You will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Nathanael was sold. 

Jesus said, “Come on, let’s go.” 

“Okay, said Phillip, let’s go!”

Jesus with Phillip and Nathanael in tow walked over to the harbor. Phillip was the first to spot two guys from his home town of Bethsaida, Andrew and Simon, who were rigging up their boat for the evening fishing. “Hello Simon!”

“Hey Phillip, when did you get in town?”

Andrew popped his head up and said, “Come on Simon, get to work.” Then he noticed the rabbi, Jesus. “Oh, hello, I saw you preach today. You re good. You speak with authority.”

Phillip was a little embarrassed that Andrew was speaking so casually with the man that he revered so highly.

Jesus was not offended and looked up at the brothers as if checking them off His list and simply said, “Phillip and Nathanael are my new disciples, join us too.”

Uncharacteristically Simon blurted out, “Yes! Sure.” Andrew confirmed, “Yes!” The truth is that these brothers had been discussing God and their concern that following in their father’s fishing business was not where they belonged in the world. Actually, they had been preparing for this moment for months and didn’t know it which explains why they jumped at the chance to do something else.

Simon went over to the first mate and directed him. “You know what to do. You have been in training for years. You have served my father well, continue in my place and he will take care of you.” Their father had his own boat and would find out later that his sons deserted the family business. 

The apprentice fisherman nodded joyfully at the raise in position that he humbly never expected. He bowed before his patron’s son and  thanked him profusely for the honor bestowed upon him. Just the week before his wife had given birth, his world had opened in unexpected ways. He was a man now, soon to be a father and now a full fledged fisherman!

Jesus, Phillip and Nathanael watched with pleasure the elevation of the young man. Simon and Andrew bid their mates farewell, and watched as their boat was launched and they went out to sea. Andrew looked at Jesus for approval. 

So that Andrew would have no regrets at the sudden and unexpected turn his life just took, Jesus looked Andrew in the eyes and said, “I will make you fishers of men. Come, let’s go.” 

Simon said, “Let’s first go my house in Capernaum to tell my father.  We can stay there and plan the next steps.”

“Okay.” replied Jesus. “Thank you; good idea.” 

The five men walked in a pack with a sense of purpose and excitement. They were leaving the life they had expected to lead since childhood and were walking into uncharted territory.  There was something inexplicable about this young rabbi that drew them. Nathanael called him the son of God, the realization of the prophecy of Moses. Those words just tumbled out of Nathanael and he didn’t know why he said it. Nathanael, as simple and as pure of heart as he was, sensed the auspicious day with inner excitement. He didn’t know what the future would bring, but he was sure that he was making the right decision to abandon his old plans, toss out his old expectations, open his heart to accept the unknown, and trust the young rabbi. 

As they walked in silence, each man filled with his own thoughts, his own perception of the moment, a young boy by the name of John and his older brother James were walking towards this band of men and recognized the rabbi. John clasped eyes with Jesus as he approached Him. Jesus flashed a facial greeting to the boy that stopped him in his tracks. His brother stopped too. 

“Wait a minute,” said Jesus to His new friends. Simon and Phillip looked at each other and then at James and John. Phillip shrugged his shoulders as if to predict that their group was about to increase. 

Jesus looked at James and John and waited for them to speak first.

“Greetings rabbi, my name is John, I heard you speak. You have the words of God in your heart.”

Jesus replied, “Join us, both of you. Become my students and I will show you wonders.”  

Neither brother could resist the invitation. This could have been the single most important moment of their lives until then and they sensed it. The brothers, the sons of Zebeddee looked at each other. James shot a slight nod to little John who looked up at him, and then a larger nod at Jesus and the four men with Him. James answered aloud for him and his young brother, “Let’s go. What are we waiting for? Where are we going?’ The rest of the men, chuckled to each other, and patted the backs of James and John welcoming them to the group.

“We are going to Capernaum, to my house.” replied Simon.

The six men walked in twos and threes for miles. Some in chatter, some in silent thoughts. Jesus knew their hearts, He read them by their appearance and by their souls; these men were born to be His disciples. 

Hours later the new band of brothers arrived at Simon’s house. 

“Wait here, while I go inside and let them know we are coming in.” 

‘I’ll come with you.” added Andrew.

...

Something new and different happened in Galilee and in Capernaum. Something the planet had never seen before. It didn’t start in Jerusalem, nor in Egypt. It didn’t start in London. Abraham never imagined this was possible. It wasn’t born into the world on the top of Mt. Ararat. Rock-hard laws of nature were about to be smashed. The offspring of the woman struck the serpent’s head with His heel. The great enemy of God, Satan who controlled the earth and humankind with corruption and decay recoiled at the presence of the Son of the Creator. The massive veil between heaven and earth was lifted and the energy of God circulated freely in Galilee in the man Jesus. 

The infant Jesus grew up as every infant born of woman does. He learned, He thrived, He blossomed from a bud into a pearl-white multi-petaled Grandiflora rose. He was fully human. There was nothing inhuman in Him, physically, mentally, or emotionally. At the same time He was so in tune with His Father, the Creator, the one true God that He became increasingly aware of the power of God over nature. 

Gradually as He matured into a teenager, a young man through many hours of conferring with His Father God on mountaintops and during sleepless nights in the darkness He came to learn the secrets of Life available to any human being who wants it enough to set their own ego aside and reach into heaven to touch the finger of God and receive the spark that ignited the first light and was the source of everything that followed. 

The first moment that Jesus discovered that He was able to heal, to reverse the corruption of illness, He was elated! How often He grieved as a child whenever He saw the suffering that illness brings and how He lamented at its effect on the soul of the person, whether it be another child, or a grown woman or man. He watched with great interest how often bodies healed automatically with little care, but with sleep or broth. He rejoiced at the marvel of physical design that restored health over and over again. But not always and He was curious about how to take a body the next step when it wasn’t automatic no matter how much care was given it. Then there were injuries, that gross violation of the construction of a man. And there were the demons to deal with. 

The boy Jesus learned about the power of the word, and the power of the heart for both evil and good. The people needed to see God again as Adam saw Him in the garden. Could He, would God venture out into the wilderness to where He had caste Adam and Eve? Yes. God expelled Himself from His throne room, above the heavens to enter into evil territory, the land where anger and hatred foment evil, where corruption thrives. This is the land of greed, of illness, murder, and exploitation, falsehood, tyranny, slavery and death. It was like taking a vacation to Hell. Yet, but in this cesspool flowers grow, and babies too, compassion is here, and generosity and love, the beauty of nature. The place strewn with fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Have was become wise as a result as the serpent promised? That was a lie. It was the primal lie.

Simon left the band of men sitting in the square while he walked into his home.

“Hey! What are you doing here at this time of day? Are you sick too?” inquired his wife.

“No. What do you mean, ‘too?’” answered Simon. 

“Mother has a high fever, she is in bed sleeping.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Um...” Simon wasn’t quite sure how to tell her delicately that he quit his job and was bringing six men into the house for a meeting, so he just said it.

“What!! Are you crazy?” she replied. “No way! I told you that Mom is ill! I’m not having six men traipsing in this house to disturb her. Quit your job?! Have you told your father? At least he has Andrew to help him.”

“Um, Andrew quit with me.”

“Okay, so you are both insane. How are we to live? What will your father say?” She tried not to raise her voice to wake her mother, but she was furious. Simon was a little quirky but she never expected him to abandon her and his own father in one day.”

“Okay, I’ll go out and tell them that she is ill. We will find some place else to go.”

“You do that!” spewing anger as quietly as she could.

Simon opened the front door and walked down the steps to look for his new friends.  He walked around and saw them lingering around a stone fence. John and Nathanael were sitting on it. The guys were talking to each other, small talk to get to know each other. 

Simon approached and said, “I’m sorry but my wife’s mother is ill with a high fever so we can’t go into my house.”

Jesus replied confidently and with authority, “That’s okay. Let’s go.” and then He walked directly to the house and up the steps to the front door not giving Simon a chance to protest.

A little dumbfounded Simon rushed to be right behind Jesus when he went through the front door. 

His wife was folding clothes when she saw this stranger enter her home. She was a little shocked until she saw her husband right behind Him followed by a group of other men. She shot her husband an expression that would have frozen the bones of a corpse. 

Jesus said, “Show me where your mother is.”

The manner in which this Man spoke seemed to drain her of her ire, and she set down the garment she had just folded and ushered the rabbi to the bed room. 

Jesus walked over to the woman who was not asleep, but rather gazing at the ceiling, feeling her weakness and dizziness. 

He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.  Immediately she sat up. Her eyes were clear, and she felt fine! ‘How is this possible?’ She thought. She was full of energy and gratitude. “Come my son, I want to prepare lunch for you. How about a little falafel? Would you like that?”

“Yes mama, I would like that very much.” replied Jesus. 

Then Jesus left the room to allow her to dress, and returned to the great room. His new friends looked curiously at Him inquiring with their expressions about what had just happened. Jesus simply said, “Supper will be ready soon. Who else is hungry?”

John spoke first he said, “How did you do that?” Jesus didn’t reply.