wedding wine and a visit to first century Nazareth

6/08/11

Wedding wine, a step back in time to the Nazareth Village, ornate and majestic churches and a mountain top – breathtaking!

This morning we headed to the site of Jesus’ first miracle- Cana. We visited a church that represents the location of the wedding and reception and we explored the old rock foundations underneath. Whilst we were exploring we nearly missed the main event – Geoff and Jenny renewed their wedding vows- was quite the celebration! Over lunch we even had speeches that were quite funny. We finally got to buy some souvenirs too – I got some sweet red wedding wine (hope I can fit it in my bag) and some other knick knacks.

 Next stop was Nazareth, we went to the church of the annunciation – build around the area that Mary was told she would have Jesus. There were some beautifully crafted images of the annunciation-gifts given from other countries. The upstairs was magnificent and we found Australia’s image and we took photos with it and the Aussie flag. In the precinct there was also St Jospeh’s church. We learned that Joseph was probably more of a mason/carpenter as opposed to a furniture carpenter. He would have worked about an hour donkey ride away in another town 'Seferus or Seephus?'

Visited the synagogue of Nazareth- perhaps the place Jesus read from the scriptures and told his audience that what he read was now being fulfilled. This angered the assembly and they tried to take him to the cliffs to throw him off for blasphemy but he apparently disappeared in the crowd.

We stepped back in time at the Nazareth Village – a recreation of first century Nazareth built on an old vineyard and terraced farming area. Here we learned that the crucifix would have been quite small, body height and the most common way of dying was suffocation. We viewed a tomb similar to the the one Jesus would have been placed in and placed 35 people in there at once just to beat the American group’s efforts. There was also a life size replica of a synagogue (meeting place) built completely using first century techniques and tools. Here they found an old wine press- perhaps used by Jesus himself to squash the grapes (but not the seeds) but as the tour guide said, just perhaps, as he doesn’t want them to build a church over it. We had a delicious lunch with flat bread, hummus, other spreads and lentil soup then spiced chicken and a particularly tasty cabbage salad.

Now it was time to ascend the narrow slopes of Mount Tabor – the site of the transfiguration of Jesus to some of his disciples. Again an impressive church with beautifully created mosaics depicting the event. We had mass outside and ABJB challenged us follow Mary’s words at Cana about her son– do whatever he tells you. After a not as precarious drive back down the mountain around the single lane hair pin turns we headed back to Ohalo on the Sea of Galilee.

Looking forward to a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee tomorrow and a restful day.