Mountain of Blessing
February 27, 2009This is the last of my mountain experiences. After we left Mt. Carmel, we continued east to the Sea of Galilee and to the Mt. of Beatitudes…pictured below.
This was the first place where we knew Jesus had been. As we looked down upon the Sea of Galilee, Jerri McGarrah, our pastor’s wife, recited the Sermon on the Mount. As I listened to her I took in all the sights and sounds around me. Not too far from me was a large tree with birds twittering in the branches. Behind us, a small group of people were laughing and jousting with one another. As I turned and looked across the sea, I imagined Jesus standing not too far from me and talking to the people. I also imagined what was going on while Jesus was speaking. The waves were lapping up on the shore; fishing boats were lined up on the shore while fishermen prepared their nets; fires were burning as fish was prepared for a meal; children were laughing and playing tag with one another; small groups of people were half listening as they went about their business. It was not very hard to imagine all this.
As Jerri continued to recite…I heard her say…“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden…” As I looked to my right…there was the city of Tiberius…a city on a hill which when lit up at night could be seen for miles.
Continuing on in chapter 6, Jerri recited, “Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns…see how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin…..”
As I looked around, I saw the birds flitting in and out of the trees; looking down, I saw the flowers that are seen all over Israel, a small poppy like flower, the anemone.
The whole content of the Sermon on the Mount became a reality. Jesus stood somewhere on this mount and he saw what I was seeing now. This truly was a Mount of Blessing.
