The hiss of air brakes interrupts the quiet of a sunlit Tabgha morning. A tour bus dislodges its chattering passengers who gather near the entrance of a grey stone church.

Tabgha doesn’t mind the intrusion. She welcomes the chance to tell her stories. Her quiet slopes once cradled a congregation of over 5,000. Her peaceful waters once yielded a miraculous catch of fish.

It’s appropriate to begin our pilgrimage here, on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus lived in nearby Capernaum and it was in Tabgha that he called his first disciples.

As he walks along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus passes through an area Mark called “a solitary place” (Mark 6:32).  He’ll return to this quiet hillside later.  Today he is looking for the fishermen.  Tabgha–an Arabic contraction of the Greek name Heptapegon or seven springs–is the site of a thriving fishing industry.

The warm springs attract the fish and the fishermen follow. One pair, Simon and Andrew, cast a net into the water.  The day promises a good catch, but they hear a voice on shore calling, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”  Simon (whom Jesus calls Peter) and his brother Andrew, nod at each other, setting their nets aside. (Matthew 4:18-21)

Soon they are joined by James and John.  Their call to discipleship begins.

Three years later, the fishermen return home to their boats. Peter’s heart bears the heavy burden of his three-fold denial, and tonight, the fishing is poor; the men, discouraged.  As the sun rises, a voice on shore commands, “Throw your nets on the right side of the boat…” The fishing nets strain under unbearable weight. Peter leaps into the water to meet his Lord. Jesus, with breakfast and three-fold blessing waiting, has returned to restore these fishers of men. (John 21)

A statue stands in a garden adjacent to the Church of the Primacy of Peter. The church houses the rock believed to be the table upon which Jesus served the “last breakfast”.  The sculpture portrays Peter, fallen to his knees before Jesus, his posture a mixture of anguish, love, and surrender.  Jesus reaches out to him with the hand of forgiveness and commission, “Simon, do you love me?…Feed my sheep.”

The tour group, now silent, gathers around the statue in witness. Their eyes fill with tears under the power of amazing grace.