So here we are at Simon the Tanner's house.
The location is still here,
and according to the ancient tradition--
- (Rhoda) It's not it. - (Sergio) It's right here.
(Rhoda) This is what we should be looking for.
(Sergio) Oh.
According to Rhoda's research, it's not here.
♪ (music) ♪
We are in ancient Jaffa.
This place has been here for 3 1/2 thousand years,
all the way from the Egyptian conquest
to Hellenistic period to the Israelites that lived here.
Solomon that used to bring wood from Lebanon through Tyre.
And then all the way from the times of Jesus
when Peter came from this city
and went to Caesarea to see Cornelius,
and then all the way to our time!
It's full of history, full of excavations,
and we are going to explore it today.
(Rhoda) The cool thing about the marina here,
it's called Via de Maris,
and this was the way of trade.
The port that was used from the Egyptian Empires
to bring goods here and from here
to the empires in the north of the Babylonian and the Assyrian.
So it's a very important place.
And whoever ruled this land in history
had a huge economical benefit of ruling the trade
and what's happening in the trade here.
So, it's a very strategical place
in geography and economy.
♪ (music) ♪
There are two traditions that tell us where Peter stayed.
If you remember the Book of Acts
where Peter stayed with Simon the Tanner in Jaffa,
right before he went to Caesarea to talk to Cornelius.
Behind these very walls,
according to the Catholic tradition,
is where Simon the Tanner lived
and where Peter stayed.
On top of this place,
they built a Catholic church called St. Peter's.
But there is the more ancient tradition that tells us
that the Simon the Tanner's house
is about a 5 minutes' walk from here,
and that's where we're going next.
♪ (music) ♪
Look! A Saint Martin's hat.
(Sergio) So here we are at the house of Simon the Tanner.
Wow!
So, they built a mosque behind it
on the same ground,
and there is an Arabic inscription at the top.
Honey, can you help me read? What does it say over there?
(Rhoda) It's hard to read it. It's unclear.
So, this is the place where Peter had the vision
of the blanket with all the animals,
and God declared it Kosher, which was the beginning of time
that the Gentile church was grafted in.
So right after it, he goes to Caesarea...
to Cornelius.
Who is...
A Gentile, a Roman.
Yeah.
Wow.
I can't believe it's not open. We're right here!
Imagine Peter here, up there...
in a trance or sleeping and..
(Sergio) Wow.
♪ (music) ♪
Jaffa was also the place where Jonah the prophet came to
to take a boat in order to flee from the face of God.
God told him, He commanded him to go to Nineveh,
but instead, he disobeyed and he went to Tarshish.
And because he disobeyed God,
God sent the big fish and the storm,
and the sailors, they threw him off the boat,
and then the big fish swallowed him.
And after three days, he was released.
And we all know the story that eventually
he does go to Nineveh
and they believe him, and they repent.
So, we have that big fish right behind me.
It is just a fossil today.
And I think Sergio is petting it.
Did you actually put that in your mouth?
(Sergio) All right. That's the rock.
and Mrjonnyboy1965 is the one who's gonna get it
because he was the first one to say "I want the rock"
in the commentaries.
That's awesome!
And the cool part about it is that Mrjonnyboy1965
is from Australia.
How long does it take to get a package to Australia, Fifi?
It must be long.
So, he actually collects rocks.
- And fossils. - And fossils.
So, he is gonna appreciate this rock.
And some of you might ask:
Why do we need a rock from Galilee?
I mean, what's the point, right? It's just a rock.
Well, think about the witness opportunity here.
Imagine you've got this rock on a shelf, right?
And then somebody comes in and says:
Why do you have a rock on the shelf?
You've got an opportunity to say:
Well, that's not just a rock.
That's a rock from the Lake of Galilee, right Fifi?
Do you know what happened in the Lake of Galilee?
And then you got an opportunity to share with them
what happened on the Lake of Galilee
and who Jesus is.
All right. So we've got this package right here
for Mrjonnyboy1965.
And now, this is for the WatchmanOnTheWall for Fifi.
Maybe next time.
(Fifi growls)