Sunday, May 29, 2022

An alternate site for the Sermon on the Mount?

Back in March, I went with a friend to the Galilee. It was almost time for Shabbat to start as we parked near the lake and scrambled up the hill to this overlook that is marked only by a simple stone with a cross carved into it. 

On the map, this observation point on the north end of the Sea of Galilee is just a dot with a name: Ein Nur. I'd never heard of it until last February, when I discovered the Israeli youtubers Sergio and Rhoda and watched their video on this place. You can watch it here:


Their stuff is pretty good, and I've enjoyed watching their videos. They seem to have solid information. I originally went to the site claiming to be the Mount Beatitudes while on my Bible tour in 2017. It was a beautiful day; I still remember all the butterflies and birds fluttering around the grounds. I had some questions though, but thought it was just my incorrect path of deduction as to where it happened. Like, at the top of the mountain? Why not closer to the water? Where were the people sitting? As Sergio and Rhoda point out in the video, the traditional site is a church that was built in the early 20th century, which was built in the place of a 4th century Byzantine church that had been destroyed.

So, I don't know about all that. Whether or not either site is legit is beyond my capabilities to discern at this moment (maybe one day I can be a tour guide or someone who knows this kind of stuff! How amazing would that be?). Somewhere around there the message happened. Jesus walked those hills around the Galilee so thoroughly that it's likely He stood in both places (assuming Ein Nur wasn't under water, since the lake was higher). 


What I do know is that Jesus was real, the messages He gave were real, and on that Friday evening in March of 2022, while sitting there with the early spring breeze lifting my hair, hearing the birds break the silence of the day already winding down—and the Sabbath to come—there was definitely Shabbat Shalom.

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