It’s an interesting study
Scientists say they have discovered a possible explanation behind how Jesus performed one of his most famous miracles.
The Bible talks of two instances where Jesus turned fishermen’s unsuccessful fishing attempts into massive hauls that fed their communities for weeks.
The incident known as the ‘miraculous catch of fish’ occurred in Israel’s Lake Kinneret where Jesus preached.
According to researchers, a new study has found that a natural phenomenon that occurs at certain times of the year may have played a role.
Scientists at Kinneret Limnological Laboratory in Israel found that there are much lower levels of oxygen deep in Lake Kinneret’s water basin due to an increase in phytoplankton blooms which block out the oxygen and cause the fish to suffocate.
They identified two events in 2012 that saw thousands of dead fish had floated to the surface along 2.4 miles of the lake shore.
Researchers said: “[Our study] may explain the appearance of large numbers of easy-to-collect fish close to the shore described in the biblical narratives.”
They say the theory supports the idea that Jesus and his miracles of pulling over a hundred fish from the sea were real.
However, it casts doubt as to whether the incidents were miracles or if it coincided with the lake’s natural elements.
The two miracles are told in Luke and John, one in 27 AD before he was resurrected and one after his resurrection in 29 AD.
Lake Kinneret, which is where the miracles occurred is believed to be the Biblical Sea of Galilee which is mentioned in the New Testament.
In the first account, Jesus instructed Simon Peter, a fisherman who hadn’t caught any fish that night, to cast his net into the water once more.
Peter obeyed Jesus and caught so many fish that the nets nearly broke, requiring them to ask another boat to help them bring the fish to shore.
In John 21:11, the Bible reads: ‘Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of 153 large fish, but even with so many the net was not torn.’
After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples and repeated the miracle by directing them to cast their net on the right side of the boat, resulting in another major haul.
The researchers placed sensors in the lake to track temperatures in the water column and the direction and speed of wind and the data suggested that the water’s low oxygen levels were driven by strong winds blowing in from the west.
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Yael Amitai, a physical limnologist from the Kinneret laboratory, told The Times of Israel: “The Sea of Galilee is a stratified lake. The upper layer is warm and oxygenated, while the lower layer is cold and lacks oxygen.”
Lake Kinneret is approximately 33 miles in circumference, about 13 miles long, and 8.1 miles wide. It’s area is 64.4 square miles at its fullest, and its maximum depth is approximately 43 metres.
It is a warm-monomictic lake meaning the surface temperature never drops below 39 degrees Fahrenheit and will separate into layers of water with varying temperatures because of the difference in the water’s density.
This process is called thermal stratification and occurs twice a year and mixes the warmer upper layer with the cooler lower layer of water to deliver oxygen and nutrients to the entire lake.
Within four to six weeks of thermal stratification that occurs in March through April, the Kinneret Lake becomes anoxic, meaning it essentially becomes devoid of any oxygen and is unable to support most aquatic life.
According to researchers, it also occurs at Lake Erie and the Neuse River Estuary in North Carolina.
The researchers wrote in the paper published in the journal Water Resources Research: “Our study suggests a location and time frame for the biblical miracles near Tabgha, documented in the Miracle of the Loaves and Fish and the Miraculous Catch of Fish.”
