Sea of Galilee

Most of Jesus' ministry was set beside the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is the largest body of water in Israel. The Sea was sometimes called the "Abyss." It was believed that the "underworld" was below the sea and demons lived there.

Jesus did some interesting things on the Sea of Galilee.

It was here that Jesus walked on water as he came to the disciples in the storm. They had been rowing for about six hours already. Jesus allowed them to struggle for a while. Then Jesus walked on water and "was going to pass them by." But they called out to Him and He stopped the storm. Peter walked on the water -- he had the courage to try it.

It was also here that Jesus allowed his disciples to catch a large amount of fish after the resurrection. Peter jumped in and swam to Jesus. The disciples caught 153 fish -- number became a symbol of all the nations.

A few lessons we can learn:

• Jesus had power over evil. Even though the Sea represented bad things, Jesus showed his power over the wind and waves, over walking on water, and over the fish.
• Peter had courage to walk on the water. We need courage to try things for God.
• Catching fish. It takes practice to cast a net just right. It will take practice for us to follow in Jesus' steps. And a net doesn't catch fish every time. We need to be persistent in our work for God.

Water was quite important to the people of Israel. Jesus was even compared to "living water."

Source: Ray Vanderlaan, Faith Lessons vol. 4