Sunday, March 7, 2021

Journey to Jerusalem - Stop #6 Bethsaida

 

Stop #6 – Bethsaida

Historical Notes:

Bethsaida, a fishing village on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, was the scene of Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the five thousand.  After the disciples returned from a mission Jesus sent them on, they told him all they had done.  He took them with him, and they went off by themselves to a town named Bethsaida…The crowds gathered around Jesus to hear him preach and to be healed.  When the day was drawing to a close, the twelve came to him and said, “Send them away so that they may go and get something to eat.  Jesus said to them, “You yourselves give them something to eat.”  They answered, “All we have are five loaves and two fish.  Do you want us to go and buy food for this whole crowd?” (There were about five thousand men there plus women and children).Jesus said to the disciples, “Make the people sit down in groups of about fifty each.”

After the disciples had done so, Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, thanked God for them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people.  They all ate and had enough, and the disciples took up twelve baskets of what was left over.  (Luke 9:10-17)

Bethsaida was also the scene of Jesus’ miraculous healing of the blind man (Mark 8:22-26) Bethsaida is also identified as the home of three disciples: Philip, Andrew, and Peter (John 1:44).

Today, the location of ancient Bethsaida remains a mystery.  Some scholars place it on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee while others place it west of the Jordan and others, east.

Read John 6:1-14, Luke 9:10-17.  Also read Matthew 25:31-46 as to OUR response to those who are hungry.

Watch this YouTube video by Dr. Todd Fink explain about the site of Bethsaida.

https://youtu.be/yD0YDKTP5f4

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