The Holy Land, Part II

Our touring continued with two days in Jerusalem, seeing as much as possible. First stop: the Mount of Olives.

The view from the Mount of Olives was breathtaking. We got an aerial view of the Temple Mount and our first good look at many of the Holy City’s sites. The largest Jewish cemetery in the world is on the Mount of Olives, across from a large Muslim cemetery. Scripture says that Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives, enter the Temple Mount through the Eastern Gate and reclaim His earthly throne. Muslims believe that a Jewish Messiah will not defile himself by walking through a Muslim graveyard. That combined with the bricked over gate should stop him, right?

While on the top of the Mount of Olives, we had the opportunity to ride a camel! He was a very odd creature, but it was a fun ride.

We journeyed down the steep mountain to the Garden of Gethsemane. Our first stop was the beautiful Church of the Nations, with its intricate mural. From its front steps, we had a perfect view of the Eastern Gate. We then walked into the garden and saw 2,000 year old olive trees in the area where Jesus prayed the night before his crucifixion.

At the Israel Museum, we saw several of the Dead Sea Scrolls (no pictures allowed) and a giant model of Jerusalem as it would have looked in Jesus’ time. The gigantic replica of Herod’s temple really brought to life what is very specifically described in scripture.

The Garden Tomb is one of the two sites thought to be the spot where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. The face you see in the hill side is Golgotha. At the base of the hill is where most protestants believe the crucifixion took place. That place today is marked by an operating Muslim bus station. Ironic? We toured what is believed to be Joseph of Arimathea’s garden, which is very obviously the garden of a very rich man. A tomb was found there with evidence of one person being buried, but no remains were found. We had communion at the side of the tomb, which was yet another memorable moment!

 

We began our last day of touring with a bang at the Temple Mount. We went through extremely tight security, got an overhead view of the Western Wall and then walked onto the Temple Mount. It was incredible! The Dome of the Rock is beautiful

We walked through Hezekiah’s Tunnel in the City of David, written about in 2 Chronicles.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the Catholic location of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection. The church is beautiful with gorgeous Catholic mosaics. The line for the actual tomb wrapped around the entire huge church.

Before wrapping up the day, we strolled up the newly excavated Southern Steps. This was the main entrance to the temple during Jesus’ time, meaning that without a doubt He would have preached on these very steps!

Our final stop in Jerusalem was back at the top of the Mount of Olives. There, we prayed together as a large group one last time before splitting into our service teams. As we prayed, one of the afternoon Muslim calls to prayer rang out loudly. It was a reminder of the difficulties we would face as we went out to minister to the Israeli people.

After we split, our team headed to Haifa for a week. That’s a story for another post…

-Laura