Miracles in Capernaum

Daily Thoughts – September 2^nd

In May of 2001, just 4 months before 9-11 happened in the US, Lisa and I were fortunate enough to travel to Israel.  Over the span of 10 days we saw amazing archaeological findings from the time Jesus walked the earth.  And if you are questioning if he really walked the earth, there is plenty of documented evidence to prove that He did.  Several first century non-biblical writers captured the history of a man “called the Messiah”, “Christus”, “Chrestus”, put to death at the hands of Pontius Pilate, and even written documents to Roman Emperor Claudius, referencing the uprising and movement of the early Christian church (see: Flavius Josephus, Tacitus, governor Pliney the Younger, and Suetonius).

So we didn’t go to Israel to determine if Jesus existed, but rather to deepen our understanding of who He was and to draw closer to Him through a first-hand experience.  Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing a few of these experiences with you, in the hope that you may also find connection and spiritual growth.  By all means though, I strongly recommend, if you have the opportunity to visit Israel and these archaeological sites, please do.  It can be life changing.


Miracles in Capernaum

“After Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went to Simon and Andrew’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. They told Jesus about her right away. So he went to her bedside, took her by the hand, and helped her sit up. Then the fever left her, and she prepared a meal for them.” – Mark 1:29-31 (in context)

We look right past the simple things in life, and in doing so miss some of the miracles God is working all around us.  The baby gets sick and we pray for him/her to feel better.  The car is low on gas, so we pray to God, just let me make it to the next gas station.  Unsure of how we will pay the bills this month, so we pray for God’s help.  We are quick to look to God for help when we are facing challenges in life, big or small, but are we as quick to thank Him for answering our prayers?  You see, a quick “pop-corn” prayer in the middle of the day is a good way to communicate with our Lord, but we need to be as quick to respond with gratefulness and thanksgiving when those prayers are answered.

Capernaum was a city on the northeastern edge of the Sea of Galilee, in the North-East area of Israel.  Jesus spent much of his final 3 years using Capernaum as the base for His ministerial treks.  The majority of the city walls, and buildings have been unearthed over the last 180 years, since the Synagogue was first uncovered in 1838.  The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke capture the story of Jesus teaching in the synagogue of Capernaum.  According to scripture; Jesus performed many miracles in Capernaum including:

- Jesus called Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow Him

- Healed Peter’s Mother In-Law

- Casting out demons from a possessed man

- Healing many others who were ill

- Healed the centurion’s servant

- Stilled the storming sea after pushing from shore in Capernaum

- Peter was told to cast his nets to the other side of the boat, and hauled in more fish than
  he could contain

Just to name a few.

Walking amongst this fisherman’s village of Capernaum, there is strong visual evidence to corroborate the timing of biblical events that happened here.  There are no footprints in the sand, or left over crumbs of bread or fish skeletal remain as a hardened investigator would look for.  But, through scriptural writings, logical thought, and application one can easily tie the location to the writings.  Yes, it does take faith, but it also takes an openness to accept what the writers of the gospels penned, as historical evidence.

For Mark, Matthew and Luke to capture the events in and around Capernaum based on their own first hand experiences had to be done for 1 of 3 possible reasons. 

1) The writings are indeed factual and captured as evidence to real events
2) The writings are fabricated to create a false narrative of Jesus Christ’s power and authority

3) The writings are completely fictional for entertainment purposes in 1^st century AD

Let’s first remove #3, simply based on the fact that papyrus wasn’t plentiful and never used for just entertainment purposes.  1^st Century writers were writing with a purpose, not for entertainment.  Writers were classified as Poets, Philosophers, Historians, Scholars, Greek Mythology, and Scribes.  The only classification that fits the disciples writing from 1^st century is that of historian.  The scriptures are not poems, nor philosophical, nor university targeted, or mythological.  They are written as fact based events from a historical representation.
What benefit would be gained for these men from #2.  They would see no monetary gain, they lived from the work of their hands as fisherman, tent makers, and laborers.  Following Christ and then evangelizing His works after His death, was not for monetary gain, so think through why would any of these men want to fabricate such a wild tale of Jesus life and miracles?
That leaves us with #1, that these men wrote the scriptures as an accurate (best to their memories) account of Jesus Christ’s life.  They were first hand witnesses or walked closely with those who were first hand witnesses (Mark was extremely close to Simon Peter).  They captured the events in Capernaum based on the testimony of their own experiences, and wrote it as inspired by God the Father. 

Capernaum is real.  It’s archaeologically evident to be right where it had been recorded to be.  It is obviously a fishing village, and the scriptural references of the Synagogue, the homes in the city, and specifically the home of Peter’s Mother In-Law are demonstrably true through the evidence of the written word and location.  The scriptures were written between 68 and 86 AD, as a historical record of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.  These writers were intent to capture the details that would stand the test of time and provide wisdom and guidance for generations to come.  1950 years later we are able to use these as reference and accurate testament to align with our first hand evidenced physical exploration to better understand the life of our Savior. 

I hope and pray for you to have a better perspective on the reality of the scriptures through this memoir.  Miracles were evident in the life and times of Jesus Christ, but are very much part of our lives today as well.  Let your heart and mind seek the truth through prayer and hearing from God alone, and you will also see the miracles experienced every day in our life.  Let’s be sure to lift up our thanksgiving when these occur.


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