A letter to Capernaum

The sun shines and warms perfectly. The sea moves peacefully. I can hear the birds. They’re not worried. They, too, are at peace. Thus far, this is the richest soil I’ve walked. Your rocky, beachy soil holds footprints too big for my small marks. In the strolling along your shores, I hear the Spirit of the Living God breeze into my ears, It’s not the size of your footprints, but that You delight in following Me.

Fishermen worked your shores. I was mistaken about this job. I saw it as a lowly job, but it was quite good. Smelly most definitely. To walk away from this occupation would have been costly. In Jesus’ day of calling the fishermen, you would have considered him a prophet. So as He arrived in your town, you would have already heard some things about Him. 

Jesus left Nazareth and came to your town to do His ministry. Your town was chosen strategically. You wouldn’t have been much of a destination spot, but where people would stop on their way somewhere. The international highway that stretched from Egypt to Syria ran right through you bringing people in and out of your fishing town on the sea.

“And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria…” (Matthew 4:23-24)

Jesus would have finished his Sermon on the Mount and entered your town. Matthew 8 records Jesus finishing the sermon, coming down the mountain, crowds following Him to your place along the sea. And I’m amazed by a few of your citizens.

The Roman centurion. Luke writes about him in chapter 7. He would have helped you build the synagogue. This place of worship was quite large in your days. And this is a big deal for a Roman to build a Jewish synagogue. Jesus saw it and pointed it out. “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” (Verse 9) This gentleman was fine being humble and humility doesn’t escape God. He sees it and it amazes Him! As I ventured around your remains of the synagogue, I see the dark stones you used. I wonder what it must have been like to step outside of the front doors and see the mountains and the sea. To breathe in the sea-air.To have encountered Jesus speaking healing over the centurion’s servant and then have seen the servant days later and heard his story firsthand. 

Peter’s home with octagonal shape built around it and now with a church built above it.

Peter, Christ’s disciple. Just a stone’s throw from the front steps of the synagogue is Peter’s home. It seems circular and the second century Christians built an octagonal building around it. Architectural shape doesn’t speak to me like it does to my friend, John, rather the fact that Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law in your town (Luke 4:38-39) and others here grabs my searching heart. I think I’d be like a little reporter following Jesus around as he healed Jairus’ daughter, called Matthew the tax collector, and engaged with his newly called fishers of men. Maybe I could have written for the Capernaum news. What do you think? 

Four men and their paralytic friend. What I noticed in Mark’s account is that Jesus was at home in your town. Don’t miss this in Mark 2:1, “And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.” Jesus was at home in your town! He shows me that we can make home even for a short while. And in that home, we can minister to the needs of others and receive those who are only passing through. Jesus teaches strategy from your spot by the sea. And He does so with the power and purpose! 

Faith abounded in more than one of your citizens. These guys cared more for their hurting friend than they cared about their image. Were they citizens of Capernaum or had they followed Jesus to your place? I don’t think that’s necessary to know. What I leave with is FAITH. The presence of Jesus, the stirrings and miracles He brought to your community, His teachings, was like the water’s tide rushing up on your shores. 

I’m still wrestling with why Jesus rebuked you in Matthew 11:23 and perhaps I’ll write you again, but for now, thank you for letting me walk the stones of your community. For I see you now. I see why Jesus chose you. Maybe you had fishy fishermen and weary travelers and a revolving door at your city entrance and just as you started to make a friend or think they’d be good for your community, off they moved. Jesus did the same to you. He was here but a short while and then He needed to make His journey to Jerusalem. 

But let me leave you with this beautiful verse tucked in the Scriptures about your town, Capernaum. “They [the crowd] got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.” (John 6:24) People went to your town seeking Jesus! May this be said of my city and those who read this letter. I want people to come and visit and live in San Francisco and no matter how long they are there, I hope and pray they find what they are looking for in Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Who still does miracles today! 

A girl whose faith has been strengthened in your place by the sea,

Shauna 

(Facts shared come from the Scriptures and from the tour with Insight for Living Ministries. Imagination from my own heart.)