He could look across its silver surface when He spoke His parables. And on a rolling plain not far away He fed 5,000 people. The river Jordan makes this sea with sparkling water from the hills. The river Jordan flows on south into another sea. Here is no splash of fish, no fluttering leaf, no song of birds, no children's laughter.
Travelers choose another route, unless on urgent business.
The air hangs heavy above its waters, and neither man nor beast nor fowl will drink. Not the river Jordan. It empties the same good water into both. Not the soil in which they lie, not the country round about. This is the difference.