Following the Footsteps of Jesus: From Caesarea to the Sea of Galilee

After two days in Netanya, we were finally rested, adjusted to the time change, and ready for the adventure we'd planned for years. That evening, I sent Blake a quick email to let him know how we were doing.

"The food here is amazing already and we've only eaten in the hotel. Fresh hummus. Roasted peppers. Shakshuka for breakfast. Totally my kind of food. Tour officially starts tomorrow."

At that point, I was mostly excited to see the places I'd spent years reading about in the Bible. I expected incredible history, beautiful scenery, and plenty of opportunities to learn.

I wasn't prepared for how personal the experience would become.

By the end of our first day, I'd posted 130 photos to Facebook with this caption:

"History has come to life here. The climate and terrain are nothing like we expected. It reminds me very much of the Texas Hill Country. We stood on ground that Jesus stood on, saw where He taught in one of the synagogues, and explored an ancient city that has at least 30 layers of different civilizations. Words cannot describe this experience."

Our first full day would take us from the Roman city of Caesarea to Tel Megiddo, across the Jezreel Valley, and finally to the shores of the Sea of Galilee. By the time we arrived in Magdala that afternoon, Israel was no longer just a place I'd studied on maps or read about in Scripture.

It had become real.

Our bus left Netanya early that morning and headed north along the Mediterranean coast to Caesarea, the magnificent port city built by Herod the Great. Designed to impress Rome, Caesarea featured a sprawling harbor, an impressive theater overlooking the sea,
palaces, temples, and all the grandeur expected of an important Roman city.

Today, those structures stand in ruins, but it's still easy to imagine the city at its height. The theater continues to overlook the sparkling Mediterranean, Herod's palace extends toward the water, and the ancient aqueduct serves as a reminder of the incredible engineering that brought fresh water to the city nearly 2,000 years ago.

As we explored the palace ruins, our guide explained that many scholars believe the Apostle Paul may have been imprisoned here before eventually being sent to Rome. Reading about Paul's imprisonment in the Book of Acts is one thing. Standing where those events may have unfolded makes the story feel remarkably real.

Until that morning, biblical places had mostly existed in my imagination. Standing in Caesarea, they began to feel like real places where real people lived, governed, worshiped, and struggled.

Leaving the Mediterranean behind, we traveled inland to Tel Megiddo. Long before modern highways existed, this hill overlooked one of the most important crossroads in the ancient world. For centuries, armies moving between Egypt and Mesopotamia marched through the valley below, making Megiddo the site of countless battles and the home of more than 30 successive civilizations.

Many people know this valley by another name: Armageddon.

Standing on the overlook, the vast Jezreel Valley stretched out before us in every direction. Whether you come for the archaeology, the history, or the biblical significance, it's impossible not to pause and take in the landscape. Our guide connected the valley with passages in Revelation, but even apart from prophecy, the strategic importance of this location is immediately obvious.

One of the most fascinating parts of Megiddo was descending into the ancient water system. Builders carved a tunnel deep into the rock so the city's inhabitants could reach fresh water during a siege without exposing themselves to enemy attack. The engineering was astonishing, especially when you consider it was built nearly 3,000 years ago with the tools available at the time.

Every stop seemed to deepen our understanding of the history of Israel, but nothing prepared me for what came next.

By late afternoon we arrived in Magdala, a small fishing village on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee and the hometown of Mary Magdalene.

In 2009, while construction crews were preparing to build a guesthouse, they uncovered one of the most significant archaeological discoveries in modern Israel: a first century synagogue dating to the time of Jesus. Because the Gospels tell us that Jesus taught throughout the synagogues of Galilee, many scholars believe He would almost certainly have taught here.

As I stepped inside the synagogue, one thought kept running through my mind.

Jesus walked on these grounds.

Not somewhere like this, but here.

The ancient stone floor beneath my feet dated to His lifetime. These weren't replicas or reconstructed ruins. They were the actual stones that people walked across while listening to Jesus teach.

Our guide invited us to spend a few quiet moments reflecting, and the room fell completely silent. In that moment, it wasn't about archaeology or history anymore. It was about remembering that Jesus wasn't simply a figure in Scripture. He lived, walked, taught, and changed lives in places exactly like this.

In my notes from that evening, I found only two words beside Magdala:

"Literal chills."

Years later, that's still the best way I know to describe the experience.

That evening we checked into Ma'agan Hotel on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee. From our room, we looked out across the water as the sun began to set, and I couldn't help but think about everything we'd seen in a single day.

We had walked through a Roman capital, explored one of the world's oldest archaeological sites, looked across the Valley of Armageddon, and stood in a synagogue where Jesus likely taught. Yet the image that stayed with me wasn't the grandeur of Herod's palace or the sweeping views from Megiddo. It was the quiet simplicity of Magdala and the realization that the stories I'd read since childhood happened in real places, among real people, on stones that still exist today.

Before turning in for the night, I shared a photo on Facebook with a simple caption:

"Found in 2009. Synagogue on the edge of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus would have taught here. He walked on these grounds!"

Of every place we visited that day, Magdala is the one I still think about most often.

Up Next

Tomorrow we'll continue around the Sea of Galilee, visiting Tel Dan, Caesarea Philippi, the Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, and the Jordan River. Some of the most familiar stories in the Gospels unfolded in these places, and seeing them in person made me read those passages with fresh eyes.

Continue following our Israel journey →