Day 12 Sepphoris, Cana, Mt. Tabor

Tis Good Lord to be Here

Today, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, is the day that the Lutheran Church celebrates The Transfiguration of our Lord.  It was very fitting then for us to start our day on Mount Tabor; the traditional site of the Transfiguration of Jesus.  While Lutherans all around the world were reading the account of Jesus revealing His glory to His disciples, we were fortunate enough to be on the place where He did this, and when we sang the song "Tis Good Lord To Be Here," it took on special meaning.

The inside of the church is beautiful with a dome that is covered in gold to portray the light emitting from Jesus when He was transfigured before Peter, James, and John.

More Wine, Please

Once we descended the mount and returned to the plain we moved on to Cana, where Jesus performed His first miracle.  Here he turned water into wine when the wine had run out at a wedding celebration (John 2).  In the church that has been built over the site of this miracle, you will notice 6 pottery jars above the altar.  They represent the 6 jars of wine from this miracle.  When you go into the basement of the church you can view the ruins of former churches that were built on this site centuries ago.

Blessed Are You

We then moved on to Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up.  We will be returning tomorrow, but for today we visited the Church of the Annunciation where the Angel Gabriel visited Mary and announce to her that she would bear the Christ Child.  This is a Roman Catholic church, and, not surprizingly, it is filled with images of Mary.

Jesus' Morning Commute

Jesus grew up in Nazareth, but at that time it was a sleepy little village of about 300 people.  It is likely, therefore that Joseph and Jesus commuted to the booming nearby city of Sepphoris to gain employment as carpenters.  In this picture you can see the ruins of Sepphoris with the modern city of Nazareth in the background located in the top right of the photo.  The distance was not far.

Sepphoris is famous for its mosaics, as you can see in this detailed face on a floor found in one of the houses. We were also able to spend some time in the local synagogue where Jesus and Joseph likely also listened to the Word of God.
Tomorrow we return to Nazareth, visit Tabgah, and move on to Jerusalem.