Experiencing the Land of the Bible – Tour Stop #4

Experiencing the Land of the Bible is a series of posts about places in the Holy Land that I visited on my trip in 2023. If you travel to Israel with me, many (if not all) of these are places we’ll visit as well. Each week’s post highlights the biblical and historical significance of the site, any interesting modern facts that add value, some pictures and maybe some videos I took in those locations as well. And if there’s a faith lesson to be learned, I’ll make sure to point that out as well.

Israel is a beautiful place that will not only inspire you, but totally transform your faith. You’ll never see the Bible the same way again… it will come alive in a way you never expected. If you’re interested in visiting the Holy Land, we have a trip scheduled for March 12-20, 2026. Space is going fast, but you can still get more information and reserve a spot now!

Where Are We?

Welcome to Capernaum, a fishing village right on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. In Jesus’ day, it wasn’t glamorous or grand, but it was highly strategic. Capernaum was located along a major trade route called the Via Maris (“Way of the Sea”), which was a significant crossroads: travelers moving between Egypt, Damascus, and the Mediterranean coast passed right through here.

The town itself was small – likely just 1,000–1,500 residents – but buzzing with activity. Fishermen hauled in catches from the Sea of Galilee. Tax collectors (like Matthew) worked nearby. Roman soldiers stationed in town kept an eye on things, making sure peace was maintained on the empire’s northern edge.

This is the place Matthew 9:1 calls Jesus’ “own town.” After leaving his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus chose Capernaum as His ministry headquarters. And at the center of that ministry was one home in particular: the home of a fisherman named Simon Peter.

Today, Capernaum’s ruins are some of the best preserved in the Galilee region. You can still walk the black basalt streets, see the remains of houses, and stand inside a huge synagogue built directly on top of the one from Jesus’ time. Above Peter’s house, a modern church hovers, allowing you to peer through a glass floor into a room that quite literally changed the world.

Biblical Significance

Peter’s house isn’t just mentioned once – it’s a recurring backdrop for key moments in the Gospels.

• Mark 1:29-31: Immediately after healing in the synagogue, Jesus goes to Peter’s house and heals Peter’s mother-in-law from a fever. She gets up and serves them. It’s an early picture of Jesus’ healing leading to immediate service.
• Mark 2:1-12: In what is probably the town’s most famous moment, four friends tear open the roof of Peter’s home to lower a paralyzed man before Jesus because the crowd inside the house was so packed they couldn’t get through the door. Jesus forgives the man’s sins and heals him on the spot, sparking both awe and controversy.
• Mark 3:20-21: Crowds press in so tightly again that Jesus and His disciples can’t even eat.

This house became more than a private residence. It was the epicenter of the kingdom breaking into everyday life. Teaching, miracles, forgiveness, all happening under one roof.

Think about that: what could happen when your home becomes the meeting place between heaven and earth?

Peter’s house also embodies a bigger truth: Jesus didn’t just teach in synagogues or temples—He brought the presence of God into ordinary spaces. Homes. Tables. Backyards. It was here, in living rooms like this, that the kingdom spread like wildfire.

Archaeological Insight: Proof in the Walls

The site believed to be Peter’s house was uncovered during excavations in the 1960s and 70s. What archaeologists found is fascinating:

• Layers of History: The house began as a simple, one-room structure made of black basalt stone just like the other homes in Capernaum. But by the second half of the first century, something changed. The walls were plastered and repainted multiple times, something rarely done in ordinary homes. This suggests the space took on special significance very early on.
• Christian Inscriptions: Pilgrims visiting the site in the 3rd and 4th centuries scratched prayers and Christian symbols into the walls. This shows that early believers venerated the site as a place connected directly to Jesus.
• Transformation into a Church: By the 4th century, the home was expanded into a public meeting place for worship, and by the 5th century, a large octagonal church was built over it – a design commonly used to highlight sites of extreme importance in early Christianity.
• Synagogue Nearby: Just steps away, you’ll see the remains of a white limestone synagogue built in the 4th or 5th century, right on top of the black basalt foundation of the original first-century synagogue where Jesus likely taught (Mark 1:21-28).

All of this paints a compelling picture: This wasn’t just a house in Capernaum. From the earliest days of the church, believers identified it as Peter’s house, the home base of Jesus’ Galilean ministry.

Aha Moment: When Jesus Moves In

One of the wildest scenes in the Gospels happens right here. The crowds were so thick inside Peter’s house that four friends, desperate to get their paralyzed buddy to Jesus, climbed onto the roof and ripped it open (Mark 2:4). Tiles flying. Dust everywhere. A gaping hole over Jesus’ head.

I wonder what Peter thought in that moment.

“That’s my roof! Who’s going to fix that?”

Following Jesus isn’t tidy. It’s disruptive. Sometimes it means your schedule, your comfort, even your home might get wrecked in the process.

But here’s the thing: it’s worth it.

Because on the other side of Peter’s wrecked roof, someone walked out healed. A life was changed. The crowd witnessed the power and mercy of God.

Discipleship comes with a cost, but it also comes with a front-row seat to miracles.

At First Christian, that’s what we want: to be the kind of people who are okay with a little holy chaos if it means someone else meets Jesus. We’ll deal with a wrecked roof if it means we get to witness God moving.

Reflection Prompt

If Jesus physically showed up at my house, would I have room for Him? Would I let the crowds in even if I knew it might cost me something, or would I keep the doors closed and play it safe?

Jesus, move into my life.
Make my home, my schedule, and my relationships – my space in the world – a place where You’re seen and known.
Use what’s ordinary to do something eternal.

Visiting Today

Modern Capernaum is remarkable for how much remains. You can walk the basalt streets where Jesus walked, stand in the synagogue built over the one from His day (you can actually still see the partially-excavated foundation of the original synagogue), and peer into the remains of Peter’s home through the glass floor of the octagonal church that now shelters it. The Sea of Galilee shimmers just a few yards away, reminding you that the Bible isn’t just a storybook – Capernaum is a real place where Jesus lived.