A sleepy fishing village and a global movement

Picture this two thousand years ago. A small, sleepy fishing village on the Sea of Galilee’s northern shore. It’s hot, stinking hot in the summer and wet cold in the winter. Not much happens at Capernaum – people catch fish for a living, raise their families and the sound of the lake laps endlessly against the rocky shore. But one day into this quiet village walks a carpenter from Nazareth and the whole world is about to change. Forever.

This utterly ordinary setting of Jesus’ early ministry shocked many of us as we walked through the remains of ancient Capernaum today. A Nazarene carpenter, followed by a bunch of hicksville fishermen, tax collectors and publicans from northern Galilee speaking accented Aramaic, calling himself the Son of God? You must be kidding. No wonder many of the Jerusalem religious authorities thought he was mad, dangerous, subversive, or all three. 

Visiting ‘pilgrimage’ sites in Jerusalem and beyond has been a very big part of the GAFCON agenda over the last week. For many, this has been a highlight of their visit to Israel. Without wanting to take anything away from this profound personal encounter of the Bible in its original landscape, others of us have been less enthused about yet more churches built over the supposed sites of various miracles and events.

But finally here at the small town of Capernaum, far away from anywhere important, was a real location, a real setting and a real place where Jesus lived. What a remarkable work of God that a global spiritual movement with millions of followers could emerge from such humble beginnings. I marveled.

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