When Jesus came into Peter’s house, He saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. –Mt 8:14
The Christian church began in houses. To this day there are house church movements, especially in countries where Christianity is banned from public expression.
He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. -John 6:59
A husband and wife who could not agree on where to go for their vacation finally settled on a compromise. The first year they would go mountain climbing in Austria—the husband’s choice—and the following year they would fulfill the wife’s desire to visit the Holy Land.
Leaving Nazareth, He went to live in Capernaum. –Mt 4:13
The ancient village of Capernaum (which means town of Nahum) was located on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, some three miles west of where the upper Jordan River flows into the lake from the northern mountains.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves. -Mt 14:19
If Jesus were stuck out in the wilderness with a multitude today, a little boy might bring Him, not five loaves and two fish, but maybe a bag of jalapino chips and a couple of Mars bars.
Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. –John 1:44
Note that the verse says “from” Bethsaida. When these men began to follow Jesus, they were living in Capernaum. But they had probably learned their trade in Bethsaida, another ancient fishing village on the Sea of Galilee.
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from 20 to 30 gallons. –Jn 2:6
Both today and in ancient times, the towns of Israel are made of stone. The streets are stone, the walls are stone, the houses are stone, and in the first century even the furniture, the baths, and many cooking pots, jugs, bowls, and dishes were all made of stone.
During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. –Mt 14:25
If we’re looking for places where Jesus walked, let’s not overlook the Sea of Galilee—not only because He frequented its shores but because He walked on the water itself.
They drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. –1 Cor 10:4
Significant stones in the life of Christ are not confined to His thirty-three years on earth. His life spans all of history (to say nothing of eternity), especially sacred history as recorded in scripture, and this larger life is also strewn with rocks.
The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” –Mt 4:3
It doesn’t look very comfortable to me. But on this stone, enshrined in the Monastery of Quarantal, Jesus is said to have sat to pray during His forty days in the wilderness.
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. –Matt 5:14
Lying in bed at night as a little boy in Montreal, every half-minute or so the searchlight from the international airport, five miles distant, swept through my room. This is one of the most vibrant memories from my childhood.