Section 80
Return to Galilee and encounter with the Pharisees and Sadducees
The Region of Decapolis → Magadan (Dalmanuta)
Matthew 15:39-16:4
Mark 8:9b-12
39After sending the crowds away, Jesus got into the boat and went to the region of Magdala. 1Now the Pharisees and Sadducees came and tested Jesus, asking him to show them a sign from heaven. 2But he answered them, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3And in the morning you say, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times?
9bAfter sending them away, 10Jesus immediately got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. 11Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him.
4An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.” Then he left them and went away.
12Sighing deeply in his spirit, he said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
Notes
Magdala
The town of Magdala is not mentioned in the Bible, but Mary Magdalene is mentioned a total of 12 times in the four gospels. This place may have been her birthplace or her home. A few late manuscripts mention Magdala (Matthew 15:39 KJV), but earlier manuscripts read Magadan. Magdala is located about 4 miles north of Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
No one really knew the location of Mary’s authentic hometown until 2009 when a salvage dig conducted by the Israeli Antiquities Department struck pay dirt. Less than one foot under the topsoil, a first century AD synagogue was discovered, including a decorated stone block that archeologists say was probably used as a table for reading the Torah. The stone may even be a miniature of the Jerusalem Temple with its ornate columns and arches, a seven-branched menorah flanked by vessels for wine and oil, a 12-leaf rosette and chariots of fire.
A local coin found in a side room in the synagogue was dated to the year 29. Matthew says, “Jesus went all through Galilee, teaching in its synagogues, preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God and curing the sicknesses and the ailments of the people.” Wow – did Jesus preach in this very synagogue?
We know that Magdala, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, was a Galilean hub for the fish industry. Indeed, one of its most populous quarters was called Tarichae in Greek, meaning the place of the fish-salters. From here fish were exported to Judea and around the Mediterranean world.