I was at Jesus’ house today in Capernaum. (No, I’m not using some religious metaphor here.) I was ACTUALLY AT his old house. The place where he lived when he did the great majority of his public ministry in this area called Galilee.
He stayed with Peter during those times, “moving in with him” for the three years they operated out of the north of Israel, and this is where archeologists have found the house, with pretty reliable historical certitude. (Without getting into detail, this is a cite they have strong certainty about, as there is good historical evidence that in early 1st century A.D. the early follower’s set aside what was Peter’s house and turned it into a “meeting place”, and identified it as such. Then it was treated as special for a number of years, and later, when excavated, it was easy to determine based on a variety of criteria. Kind of like “Capernaum: C.S.I.”)
First of all, here is the neighborhood .
He stayed with Peter during those times, “moving in with him” for the three years they operated out of the north of Israel, and this is where archeologists have found the house, with pretty reliable historical certitude. (Without getting into detail, this is a cite they have strong certainty about, as there is good historical evidence that in early 1st century A.D. the early follower’s set aside what was Peter’s house and turned it into a “meeting place”, and identified it as such. Then it was treated as special for a number of years, and later, when excavated, it was easy to determine based on a variety of criteria. Kind of like “Capernaum: C.S.I.”)
First of all, here is the neighborhood .
A little run down after 2000 years, but what can you expect. Now, here is the actual house of Peter:
Now, besides being in need of a little repair work (Peter apparently did not get to Home Depot often enough, it seems), there is one other major difference in the structure. It now has a HUGE church that has been built right on top of it, virtually hovering over it. It has been “set” right on top of the house, with just enough careful elevation so you can see into the sides of the house. In addition, large glass cutouts in the center of the floor of the church allow you to look down into the house.
Once you consider it and observe it, it is actually a nice conceptual design that works, even in its modernity.
So, one stands there and closely observe and reflects on the reality that these are the rooms Jesus would have spent time in, where he would have eat, dined, and slept. Right here. Talk about the importance and meaning of “place” for humans! It becomes very moving to think about, just feet away.
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