THE town of Tiberias is on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
In ancient days the town was a noted seat of the Jews There was a celebrated school here.
Scripture does not say that the Lord Jesus ever visited Tiberias. We know He spent much of His time on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
Many wonderful works were done here. He walked on the waves; He slept in the storm; He rebuked the wind and calmed the sea. Not far from the shore was the desert place where the Lord fed five thousand hungry souls. Mary Magdalene, out of whom the Lord cast seven devils, came from Magdala along these shores.
From the shores of the Sea of Galilee the Lord chose the patient fishermen who were to be His servants and become fishers of men.
After Robert M. McCheyene visited this sacred spot, he penned these lines:
“How pleasant to me thy deep blue wave,
O See of Galilee!
For the glorious One who came to save,
Hath often stood by thee.
It is not that the wild gazelle
Comes down to drink thy tide,
But He that was pierced to save from hell,
Oft wandered by thy side.
Graceful around thee the mountains meet,
Thou calm reposing sea;
But oh! far more, the beautiful feet
Of Jesus walked o’er thee.
Those days are passed—Bethsaida, where?
Chorazin, where art thou?
His tent the wild Arab pitches there,
The wild reed shades his brow.
Tell me, ye mouldering fragments, tell,
Was the Saviour’s city here?
Lifted to heaven, has it sunk to hell,
With none to shed a tear?
O Saviour! gone to God’s right hand,
Yet the same Saviour still,
Graven on Thy heart is this lovely strand
And every fragrant hill.”
ML 11/07/1909