“Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.
“Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. But He said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’ So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
“The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone.
“There came other small boats from Tiberias near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did You get here?’” John 6:23
Visiting the Holy Lands changed and enhanced my perspective and my teaching about the time of Jesus. One of the most dramatic shifts for me was when the group I was travelling with stayed in a hotel in Tiberias right on the Sea of Galilee. From all the times I had read the Bible stories about activities on and around this body of water, I thought it was more like a lake – that I could see across it.
However, when you are there in real life it is a ‘sea’ in the full meaning of the word. The distance between Tiberius and Capernaum was about eight to ten miles (depending of course on the weather). The winds that blow across the water are ferocious (We experienced it ourselves when taking a boat to Capernaum for a special lunch of ‘St. Peter’s Fish’!).
Most of the towns and villages on the sea would be filled with fishing boats and fishermen who made their living from fishing. They would have been skilled at fishing and would easily have noticed one boat or another missing. So, finding Jesus where He was not expected to be would have seemed a miracle to them…even though only the disciples knew how He got there!
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Take care with love, especially His, from Darlene, who still prays for you each day.
PS: You can also find the devotions on line/ on your mobile phone here: www.weakdaydevotion.com .
NOTES: I choose to believe the Bible because it's a reliable collection of historical documents written down by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They reported supernatural events that took place before, of specific prophecies; and claim that their writings are divine rather than human in origin.
The Five Solas: Individuals are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, as revealed by Scripture alone to the glory of God alone!
Find my full statement of faith: https://especiallyhislove.blogspot.com (where you will also find a series of Bible studies). For the books, go to Amazon books. For prayer requests/ updates, email: darlenerichard@gmail.com