For the most part, the Sea of Galilee (also known as the Sea of Chinnereth in Numbers and Joshua, Lake of Gennesareth in Luke, and the Sea of Tiberius in John) is a calm, "harp shaped" (Chinnereth, in Hebrew, mean harp) body of fresh water that is no more than 13 miles wide and 7 miles long. The Jordan River literally runs right through it, entering in the north and exiting in the south as it makes its way toward the Dead Sea. 

Because it appears to sit in a bowl or basin, the calm waters can be whipped to a frenzy by winds as they come through the mountains that surround it. These waters are chock-full of fish and, in the days of Jesus, the cities and area that surrounded it were densely populated. Most of Jesus' ministry took place in the region known as Galilee, near the Sea, and among the people who spoke in a rough and guttural tongue and who-according to Josephus-inhabited 204 cities and villages, the smallest of which held 15,000 citizens.

Learning more about Galilee and what took place there is paramount (or should be) for the modern Christian. It was in Galilee that Jesus grew up, called His disciples (they were all Galileans), preached, performed His first and His last miracles (as well as 23 significant other miracles), and cooked breakfast for His disciples after His death, burial and resurrection.

Shortly after His time in the desert, just after His baptism and just before His ministry began, Jesus went to Galilee to call those He would spend the next three-and-a-half years with in intimate travel.    

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. ~~ Matthew 4:18-22