Teaching The People

The Mount of Beatitudes The Cove of the Parables and

Chinnereth aka Tabgha

A Walk in the Galilee

Where Jesus Walked

©2012-2014 Pastor Rod Aslesen

Matt 4:23-5:2 Ministry in Galilee

23 Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

24 The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.

25 Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea andfrom beyond the Jordan.

WHERE

COULD HE

TEACH

THEM?

Gamla

Bethsaida

Chorazin

Capernaum

Magdala

Mt. Arbel

Decapolis“The other side”

Plain o

f

Gennesaret

Likely teaching locations?

Mt. Of BeatitudesCove of the Parables

And Chinnerethaka Tabgha

The Sermon on the Mount:Matthew 5:1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain;

and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.

2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them…….

G3735 HILLH1387 HILL, HeapH2022 HILL, Range ofWhere is it?

Let’s start with…

What do you noticeabout the area wherethe Mt. of BeatitudesChinnereth and theSower’s Cove are?

1 mile1/2 mile

Traditional

Mount of Beatitudes

The Cove of the Parables

1/2 mile

Chinnerethaka Tabgha

Map 5

Where is the Cove?

Where is the Mountof Beatitudes?

Where was the Via Maris?

Where wasJesus’ H.Q.?

Where isChinnereth?AKA Tabgha

N Is the“Mount Of Beatitudes”

a mountainof just a hill?

The hillside and churchof the Mount of Beatitudes

The “mountain” is topped by a Catholic chapel built in 1939 by the Franciscan Sisters with the support of the Italian ruler Mussolini.

Sower’sCove

Plain ofGennesaret

View From Mt. of Beatitudes Looking Southwest400’ above the water

Tiberias Via

Maris

Magdala

Mt. Arbel

760’ above water

440’above water

The Decapolis - “The otherside”

View From Mt. of Beatitudes Looking Southeast

Tiberias Mt. Arbel

Sower’s Cove

Traditional site - Mt. of Beatitudes

Current Church

Tabgha

The “sermon” – Matthew 5, 6 & 7

Was this one LONG sermon?

or a series smaller teachings strung together in one long text?

The “sermon” has 15+ topics…

Would Jesus dump all this in one long talk?

Or is there another possibility?

How would Matthew “record” this all in such detail?

In the scriptures we discover a difference in the way the Hebrew mind viewed things compared to the way many Westerners relate to God.

Hebrews used something called Block Logic or Hebrew reasoning

That is, concepts were expressed in self-contained units or blocks of thought.

These blocks did not necessarily fit together in any obvious rational or harmonious pattern.

Western Vs. Hebrew Thinking

Greek logic, which has influenced the Western world, was different.

The Greeks often used tightly contained step logic which reason a premise to a conclusion

Each step linked tightly to the next in coherent, rational, logical fashion.

1 + 2 + 3 = 6

This is why some Bible stories don't make sense to the western mind.

It is particularly difficult for Westerners – those whose thought-patterns have been influenced

more by the Greeks and Romans than by the Hebrews – to piece together the block logic of Scripture.

For example:

• The Gospel narratives have chronological problems at some points…

• WHY? In the Hebrew mind chronology takes a back seat to subject, or theological pattern etc.

• Remember? Concepts were expressed in self-contained units or blocks of thought.

• These blocks did not necessarily fit together in any obviously rational or harmonious pattern, particularly when one block represented the

human perspective on truth and the other represented the divine.

It is most important is that we understand that: Block logic is not illogic

Nor is it 'lesser-logic'

It's simply that Hebrews didn't seem to mind making statements that 'seemed' to contradict.

This doesn't mean that the Bible cannot be trusted in its chronology. • Rather, we must understand where it is attempting

to be chronological and where it is not

• OR where it is attempting to be subject, theology & context driven

and not chronologically analytic (or linear in it's thinking.)

AN EXAMPLE OF WESTERN Vs. BLOCK LOGIC

WESTERN LOGIC/Thinking:

"I got up and ate breakfast and read the newspaper.

I then drove to work.

While at work I read yesterday's reports.

At noon I walked across the street for lunch. While there I read a magazine.

Back at work I read my emails.

After work I drove home and had dinner."

HEBREW BLOCK LOGIC/Reasoning:

"I drove to work, walked across the street and I drove home

and I ate breakfast, I ate lunch and I ate dinner

and I read the newspaper, I read the reports, I read a magazine and I read my emails."

Block logic records the life and events of Yeshua according to their types.

Using the book of Matthew as an example, we find:

• Most of the healings of Yeshua are recorded in chapters 8, 9 and 12.

• Most encounters with the Pharisees and officials are found in chapters 15, 16 and 22.

• Many of Yeshua's teachings to his students are found in chapters 18 and 24.

• And finally, most of Yeshua's parables are found in chapters 13 and 25.

Back to the Sermon on the mount:

Did Jesus speak to large crowds? Yes … i.e. feeding of 5,000

Could Jesus have taught “all of it at once”? Yes…Lots of time!

But how could Matthew have recorded it all so accurately?

OR COULD IT BE: Jesus was always

teaching his disciples…everywhere he went…all the time!

Jesus would likely tell the same stories and lessons over and over.

As disciples they wanted to become just like their Rabbi.

This means they would have memorized every lesson Jesus shared with them and the crowds.

1) Jesus gave one long sermon and Matthew had no problem recording it because he had memorized every individual lesson prior.

So two possibilities:

2) Matthew simply recorded various teachings of Jesus in the form of Block Logic writing in his Gospel.

Cove of The Parables

LikelySeating AreaFor Listening

Likely teaching spot

Downhill from the Mt. of Beatitudes

View of the Cove from the water“a natural amphitheater”

Is this the way it looked back then?

Cove

Chinnerethaka Tabgha

DockArea

½ Mile

> The seven springs that emerged at Tabgha (today only six have been discovered) produced water warmer than that of the Sea of Galilee. > This warmer water helped the production of algae, which in turn attracted the fish. Fishermen thus have frequented this area for thousands of years.

Tabgha from Northwest

> Evidence of ancient boating activity at Tabgha is found in the recently discovered harbor on the shore.  > Visible when the water level is -693 feet or lower, the curved western breakwater was 197 feet long.  Another 130 feet breakwater ran perpendicular to the shore and protected the 100 feet wide basin which was entered from the east.

Tabgha from south

Referred to as the "well of Capernaum“ by Josephus. 

It is believed that here Jesus called out to brothers Simon

Peter and Andrew and two other brothers, James and John here.

Is there a natural amphitheater? No

A very busy area? YesNot great for teaching!

Feeding of the 5,000#1

Stories from the area

We saw hints for Bethsaida as the site… Possible…But

This area has wide sweeping hills Quiet Away from Roman solders Near cities for food and water

Matthew 13

1 That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea.

2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow...”

WhichHouse?

Where?

Parable of the sower#2

Calling of Peter#2

Luke 5:1-111 Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret;

2 He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.

3 And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little way from the land.

And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. 4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."

5 Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”

6 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;

7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them.

And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.

8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;

10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men."

11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

Do we know for sure

where they happened?

NO!

One area seems to make sense…”Listen” for yourself

The CoveNo DockDock

Large Dock

Ports on the lake

Picture Jesus in a boat just

off the shore…

andcrowds on

the hill

View Of The CoveLooking SouthFrom The Top

Sound Technicians Tested The Cove

An acoustical study of the cove was done by B. Cobbey Crisler and is published as "The Acoustics and Crowd Capacity of Natural Theaters in Palestine" in Biblical Archaeologist Dec 1976, pp. 128-41.

He concludes that 5,000-7,000 people could fit in the area below the road.

More than double that could fit on the entire area of the hillside.

“From this vantage point, [top of hill]

a person on the shoreline is a mere speck.

I've done this experiment more than a dozen times and every time the idea that sound will carry from the water's edge to the top of the slope is greeted with skepticism.

How can you hear him when you can hardly see him?”

Todd Bolen, Associate Professor of Biblical Studiesat the Israel Bible Extension of The Master's College

Said on: BiblePlaces.com

Recording

Man Standing Here

Hear It For Yourself

“This audio file was recorded from approximately the position from which this photograph was taken. 

The speaker is standing on the shoreline (near the tree). 

This sound file has not been edited in any way and will give you some idea of how the sound carries.”

Play

Recording

View from the lake

View from top

Must be connectedto the internet.

1 - There are many things we just don’t know… > Where did these events

actually take place… > Were these singular events

or a series strung together in text?

2 - Many people flocked to Him for the sensationalism of what was happening

> Sort of like the mega churches today

But when it came time to get serious…. > People faded or didn’t believe Him

Lessons from these sites:

4 - God is always reaching out to people

5 - He even shaped the land to provide a natural way to reach the people.

6 - He used nature to reveal Himself > The area is beautiful > It is so peaceful > Isolated so he had their attention > Huge catch of fish

Luke 58 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;

10 ……And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men."

11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

7 – Reaction

If God can do big things with nature and draw people to himself…

Is there any reason he can’t do it in the small things of our surroundings????

Is He saying to us: "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men."