Tabgha- Church of St Peter Primary

Church of St Peter Primary

Photo of us outside the church

Statue showing Jesus asking Peter to
feed his sheep

We went to the Church of St Peter Primary which is located in Tabgha, Israel. The original church was destroyed in 1263 and the present chapel was rebuilt in 1933. This was the place in John 21:15-19, where Jesus appeared to his disciples for the third time after his resurrection and reinstated Peter as chief among his apostles, after he had denied him 3 times before the roaster crowed. Jesus told Peter to feed his lambs and to take care of his sheep and even told him about the kind of death that he would receive because of his testimony of Christ. 

It is a very significant place as after this encounter with Jesus Christ, Peter led the disciples to bear witness for Christ as recorded mostly in the book of Acts. He was martyred just like all the other disciples except John, for his testimony of Christ which was recorded throughout history.

Inside the Church

A learning lesson for me, is that we are all just like Peter, who said that he loved God and yet denied him due to fear of his life. We all say that we love God but yet we constantly sin against him. Romans 3:23 says that, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We all need to constantly come to God for forgiveness and to repent. Even Peter, who had been with Jesus for his entire ministry and watched his miracles and heard his teachings but yet still sinned against Jesus by denying and lying that he did not know Jesus. 

Despite his wrongdoing, Jesus still forgave him and restored him back to his original role as leader of the disciples. Sometimes in life, as Christians, we may fall away or backslide, from our calling or our walk with God. But when we repent and come back to God, he will forgive and restore us just like how he restored Peter.