But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 2 Timothy 4:5

Capernaum stood on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Situated near or if not in the "land of Gennesaret," it was one of the most prosperous and crowded districts of Palestine. This city lay on the great highway from Damascus to Acco and Tyre. After the expulsion of the Lord from Nazareth, His home town, Capernaum became ‘His own city,’ the city of His abode - Matthew 4:13-16; Matthew 9:1; Luke 4:16-31.

No longer in existence today, it has been identified with Tell Hum, about two miles south-west of where the Jordan flows into the lake. Here are extensive ruins of walls and foundations, and also the remains of what must have been a beautiful synagogue, which it is conjectured may have been the one built by the centurion (Luke 7:5), in which our Lord frequently taught (John 6:59; Mark 1:21; Luke 4:31-33). "If Tell Hum be Capernaum, the remains spoken of are without doubt the ruins of the synagogue built by the Roman centurion, and one of the most sacred places on earth. It was in this building that our Lord gave the well-known discourse in John 6; and it was not without a certain strange feeling that on turning over a large block we found the pot of manna engraved on its face, and remembered the words, 'I am that bread of life: your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.'" (The Recovery of Jerusalem).

In the land of Gennesaret, in similitude to our big cities, the crossroads of life and hub of business, Jesus fulfilled prophecy of bringing light to a people who sat in darkness! We will have no excuse if we fail to share the love of God in the big cities, notwithstanding the limitations of the environment such as the impenitence and unbelief of the inhabitants as was the case in Capernaum where after the many evidences our Lord gave among them of the truth of his mission. Their rejection of your witness will ultimately bring down upon them a heavy denunciation of judgment as it happened in – Matthew 11:23 but let it not be that we failed to give the witness.