Thursdays Child-Jesus' Geography

Just a little suggestion before you get started, If you click on the map it shows up better.

As I was getting ready for the next Thursdays Child I was reading John 6:22-59 and I started wondering, where was Jesus when He crossed the Sea Of Galilee, and just how far did He travel (walk) in His ministry. This map can give you an idea how far He traveled. He changed the water to wine at the wedding feast in Cana. Then, He went to Jerusalem to heal the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, which seems to be about sixty to seventy miles or so. After He healed the lame man is when He made all the Jewish leaders angry by claiming to be The Son Of God. That's when it says He crossed the Sea of Galilee and fed the five thousand. Well, the Sea of Galilee wasn't right there for Him to just hop in a boat and go. He had to walk another sixty miles or so. Then I started wondering, where did He feed the five thousand, so we would know where he landed. As I was looking for that I read an article that said, since Jesus celebrated the Jewish Festivals, and the timing of them, He probably fed the five thousand about six months after He healed the lame man. I have been trying to focus only on the book of John when writing this, but I wanted to know where Jesus landed when He crossed the Sea of Galilee, and found it in Luke. Luke says "He took the disciples and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed them there." If you check the map, that's at the top of the sea. Again, checking the map, it looks like the trip over to Capernaum may have just be possible to do overnight. Their route must have taken them far enough out to sea though, that a bad storm could have been very frightening.

If it really was six months from healing the lame man, to feeding the five thousand, that gave Jesus plenty of time to do a lot of other miracles. That makes me think of the very last verse in the book of John. If you're not familiar with it, I won't make you wait 'til we get there it says "I suppose that if all the other things Jesus did were written down, the whole world could not contain the books." He had six months and over sixty miles of walking, to do a lot of miracles, and develop a huge following. Which is probably why He had five thousand people to feed when He got there.

Thanks for taking a break from the next scripture in line to satisfy my curiosity. As I have always said the more we question the more we learn.

Thanks for learning a little geography with me today,

Paul