VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE DAY 8: MAGIC CARPET TRAVEL!
Today we get off to an early start for it is Easter Day.
Hallelujah! Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Hallelujah!
We begin with a sunrise service; we go to the Garden Tomb where we can imagine Mary meeting her Saviour near the Empty Tomb. We sing “Jesus Christ is risen today Hallelujah!”
John 20 NIV
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
God of glory,
By the raising of your Son
You have broken the chains of death and hell:
Fill your Church with faith and hope;
For a new day has dawned
And the way to life stands open
In our Saviour Jesus Christ. AMEN.
We celebrate Communion and we all drink from individual olive wood communion cups which are ours to keep as a memento of a special time.
We return to the hotel for breakfast and to collect our bags which are loaded on to a special magic carpet which drops us, in an instant by the Sea of Galilee. In the twinkling of an eye, we find ourselves about 70 miles north of Jerusalem and we shall spend a day or two here staying at one of the lovely hotels in Tiberias, an ancient, but much modernised town on the shores of Galilee. We will explore the region where Jesus conducted much of his life and ministry. But for now, we are recalling the central event of the Christian calendar, and we will witness a group of disciples, who by now have left Jerusalem where the news of the resurrection has caused life for them to be a bit difficult and Peter and his companions have returned to the one trade they know they can still do – or so they thought. They go fishing.
John 21 NIV
21 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee.[a] It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus[b]), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some. ”When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.[c] 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Build your church, Lord Christ, on the rock of faith;
A faith which stands firm in persecution,
A faith which is constant in the search for truth,
A faith which journeys on in pilgrimage,
A faith which presents itself lovingly to the world,
A faith which is strong to offer help to other seekers,
And open enough to receive their support,
A faith which rests not on our weakness but on your strength.
© Peter DeRosa from Pilgrim to the Holy Land
We move on to Tabgha where, down by the water’s edge is a tiny chapel built in 1933 to commemorate the primacy of Peter following Peter’s denial prior to the crucifixion.
Jesus Reinstates Peter
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
We pray in the chapel and then move out to the grounds by the lakeside where we can sit and enjoy the serenity of Lake Galilee – so different from the rush and bustle of Jerusalem!
We then go into the main church here which commemorates the Feeding of the 5000. It is a lovely place with beautiful mosaics in the floor.
And then to our new hotel: it is a little way out of Tiberias and is called the Ron Beach – and it is right next door to the Sea of Galilee – an idyllic setting – and we note that it has its own outdoor swimming pool, so after we have settled in there will just be time for a swim before the evening meal. All in all a somewhat different Easter Day from Jerusalem to Galilee in one fell swoop!
Tomorrow promises great things! We will set sail, eat St Peter's fish and explore the area around the Lake.
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