Archives For Capernaum

Capernaum—Jesus Slept Here (And Why)

Not many places in Galilee can genuinely claim to be the “Town of Jesus.”

But every visitor who enters the ancient site of Capernaum passes a sign that makes that boast. And it’s right.

Capernaum synagogue panorama df101801201 Capernaum—Jesus Slept Here (And Why)

(Photo: The Synagogue in Capernaum, courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

After Jesus left His former hometown of Nazareth, He moved His base of operations to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee. This move fulfilled what the Prophet Isaiah had predicted centuries earlier (Isaiah 9:1-2; Matthew 4:14).

Today, millions of tourists visit Israel each year, the majority of them Christians. I think it’s ironic that so many people still come to Capernaum and its surrounding area for the same reason they did in the first century.

Because that’s where Jesus was.

Continue Reading…

Chorazin—Sitting in the Seat but Missing the Message

From a distance, the place seems as if it’s hiding. I don’t blame it for trying.

After all, it remains one of the three cities in Galilee that Jesus rebuked for failing to respond to His message and miracles.

Chorazin panorama from west tb041103211 Chorazin—Sitting in the Seat but Missing the Message

(Photo: Chorazin’s ruins hide at center left. Courtesy of Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

The basalt ruins of Chorazin appear little more than a pile of rocks among so many thousands of others. Clumps of grass and volcanic rock offer a variegated green and gray to the hillside above the Sea of Galilee.

Unless you look carefully, you may not even see the city.

But Jesus saw it. So should we.

Continue Reading…

Dealing with Struggle in the Christian Life

We had no idea what following Jesus would demand when we started out.

We thought we knew.

vivozoom 97229493 w small1 Dealing with Struggle in the Christian Life

Photo: Tyler Olson, via Vivozoom

We thought the Christian life meant that once we believed in Jesus, if we walked obediently, God would bless us, protect us, put us at ease—basically dote on us as His children. To some extent, we still expect that.

But God wants to give us something greater than those things.

Continue Reading…