The sunrise over the Sea of Galilee buttered the sky first, then spilled over the water in glorious golden hues of gold. What a welcome on our second morning in Israel! We were heading north of the Sea to the place where many believe Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount.
The previous day we’d visited Caesarea Maritima to see the ruins of Herod the Great’s palace and huge amphitheater. Romans built the amphitheater to a certain height and specific dimensions to obtain the best possible acoustics so the crowd could hear someone speaking from the floor below.
As we stood at the bottom of the natural theater, I imagined being in the crowd and looking down at Jesus. As Jesus stood, the morning sun most certainly scattered dancing light on the sea behind him. The crowd would have jostled for seats, some sitting on rocks, others leaning against natural bumps in the hillside. Farther up the slope, a few lucky families might have spread blankets in the shade of a rare tree. Six hundred eight six feet below sea level, looking up at perhaps as many as 18,000 people, Jesus could have seen a handicapped man scurry from his perch, deferring his place to a group of Pharisees. Perhaps the Lord made eye contact with that man and began his message with a shout: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Today the site is developed with a beautiful church and manicured gardens. People from countries all over the world joined us, their dozens of tour buses crowding the parking lot. Many thousands of people were there, certainly, but not even close to 18,000.
Our tour guide, Shai, a Jewish Israelite, scholar of biblical history and archaeology, and fluent in Hebrew, Arabic, and English, was a wealth of knowledge. This morning he compared the acoustic capabilities of the Roman amphitheater we visited yesterday with the natural capabilities of the site of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus picked the perfect place to amplify his voice to speak to the massive crowd. It is likely the gathering went on for days, as the location was remote, and perhaps it was during this time that Jesus fed the 5,000 men, plus women and children.
Our tour leader, Pastor Bill Knopp, led a devotional, speaking to us about salt. In his famous sermon Jesus told his audience, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot,” Matthew 5:13. Pastor said salt does not go bad. So how does it lose its saltiness; how is it ruined? Salt loses its saltiness when other things are added to it, thereby diluting its qualities. Since we are the salt of the earth, Pastor urged us to keep our saltiness; to focus on the Lord and his work and not allow his presence in our lives to be diluted by distractions, circumstances, or needs we face. What a tremendous thought to ponder as we consider our lives.