Sea of Galilee
Located in the northeastern part of modern Israel, the Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake 690 feet (210 meters) below sea level and ringed by hills. As a key feature of the Galilean plain, the lake—also known as Chinnereth, Gennesaret, and Tiberias in the Bible—was central to the local fishing industry in Christ Jesus’ time. And some of its shoreline cities (including Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Magdala) figure in scriptural accounts.
Several remarkable healings illustrating God’s power took place on the sea. Twice Jesus provided enormous catches of fish after long nights of unsuccessful labor by his disciples (see Luke 5:1–11 and John 21:1–6). Two other demonstrations of divine power related to turbulent weather. On one windy night, Jesus walked on the water to his followers’ boat—and brought it immediately to its destination. And during a violent storm, he decisively calmed both wind and water (see John 6:16–21 and Mark 4:37–39).
God’s supremacy is described by a psalmist this way: “He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still” (Psalms 107:29). Christian Science Discoverer and Founder Mary Baker Eddy applies this dominion to storms of the mind as well: “To the burdened and weary, Jesus saith: ‘Come unto me.’ O glorious hope! there remaineth a rest for the righteous, a rest in Christ, a peace in Love. The thought of it stills complaint; the heaving surf of life’s troubled sea foams itself away, and underneath is a deep-settled calm” (Message to The Mother Church for 1902, p. 19).
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
