The Synagogue in Capernaum

 

 

When I came upon this ancient ruin, I didn’t know for sure what I was seeing.  It looked like a bomb site strewn with rubble. Leveled buildings only a couple of rock layers high tell us where something stood but not what, at least not to untrained eyes. They were black basalt stones arranged like dominoes ready to fall.

White limestone, some rose-stained, gave clear form to a synagogue planted on a stone slab.  This structure, squared and pillared, isn’t the synagogue, the one that Jesus came to with Peter and Andrew. 


However, it is built upon the one Jesus visited and shares supporting foundation that can be identified by the black basalt stone, the most accessible building material in the area. 

 (The picture to the left shows the black stone line in contrast to the more recent limestone on top.)


What surprised me the most, what I had never known about synagogue buildings, was the way you entered the synagogue.  There are steps into the synagogue:  three very high, narrow steps.  They are so narrow that the only way to use them is to plant your feet carefully sideways.  Also, the opening into the synagogue is low so that even at 5’2” I have to bend to step in.

I found out this was not accidental construction.  For people who had lost their temple in Jerusalem, who could no longer bring their sacrifices for sin and thanks, no longer hear a priestly prayer; it seemed the synagogue was built as a prayer to God.  To enter, you had to lower your head, watch where you placed your feet, enter one at a time, and bow in prayerful reverence.  You could not run into this holy place; you could not hurry.  By design, you changed your pace and posture  to spend time with God.

I can just imagine what would happen if we re-designed our entrances this way.  Our desire for efficiency and comfort would make us revolt.  No building committee would ever sign off on such.  But what if we did it in other ways?  What if we considered coming 5 minutes earlier to take a slower walk into the building?  What if we made our drive to church the beginning of our praise, thanking God the beauty we see, the family we share, the people we love?  What if worship smiles showed on our faces as we entered our places of worship?  What if we taught our children how special this place is so that we enter with expectancy wondering what God will say to us today?

What if . . .