DAY 8 - "The Holy City"

Jerusalem and MORE!

As we left early on the bus, our guide talked about Jerusalem and the various gates and history of the holy city.   I had read several books preparing me for this trip, but nothing could compare with actually being here.

 The Mount of Olives, one of three hills on a long ridge to the east of Jerusalem, is the location of many biblical events:  King David fled over the Mount of Olives to escape when his son Absalom rebelled (2 Samuel 15:30).  After King Solomon turned away from God, he built pagan temples there for the gods of his foreign wives (1 Kings 11:7-8).  Ezekiel had a vision of “the glory of the Lord” ascending from the city and stopping on the Mount of Olives (Ezekiel 11:23).  Zechariah prophesied that in the final victory of the forces of good over the forces of evil, the Lord of hosts would “stand on the Mount of Olives” and the mount would be “split in two from east to west” (Zechariah 14:3-4).

Looking down to Jerusalem from the top of the Mount we see the beautiful gold dome of the "Holy Sepulchre."  We'll go there later.

"Arise, Oh Jerusalem!"

Jesus often traveled over the Mount of Olives on the 40-minute walk from the Temple to Bethany.  He also went there to pray or to rest.

He went down the mount on his triumphal entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, on the way weeping over the city’s future destruction (Luke 19:29-44).
He addressed his disciples on the mount and foretold his Second Coming (Matthew 24:27-31).
He prayed there with his disciples the night before he was arrested (Matthew 26:30-56).  He also ascended into heaven from there (Acts 1:1-12).

Cousin John remembers this same guy giving camel rides when he cam to the Holy Land 20 years ago!

The Jewish Cemetery on the Mount of Olives, is the most ancient (3,000 years old) and most important cemetery in Jerusalem.

The little teardrop Church of Dominus Flevit, halfway down the western slope of the Mount of Olives, recalls Jesus weeping over the future fate of Jerusalem.

GETHSEMANE - ( lyrics by Jenny Phillips)     My grandchildren LOVE this song!
Jesus climbed the hill                                   
To the garden still
His steps were heavy and slow
Love and a prayer
Took Him there
To the place only He could go
Gethsemane
Jesus loves me
So He went willingly
To Gethsemane

He felt all that was sad, wicked or bad
All the pain we would ever know
While His friends were asleep
He fought to keep
His promise made long ago

Gethsemane
Jesus loves me
So He went willingly
To Gethsemane

The hardest thing That ever was done
The greatest pain that ever was known
The biggest battle that ever was won
This was done by Jesus.
The fight was won by Jesus.

Gethsemane
Jesus loves me
So he gave His gift to me
In Gethsemane

Gethsemane
Jesus loves me
So he gives His gift to me
From Gethsemane

The garden of Gethsemane, near the foot of the Mount of Olives is the place where Jesus went with his disciples to pray the night before he was crucified.  

Mark 14: 32: "And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray".

The name in Hebrew means “oil press”. Oil is still pressed from the fruit of eight ancient and gnarled olive trees that give the garden a timeless character.

I asked Tal, our guide, if I could sing "I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked."  What the perfect place to sing it!  Unfortunately, my friend didn't push the right button on my camera, so I don't have a recording.  It was an amazing experience, though.

"I knelt today where Jesus knelt, where all alone he prayed."

I took off my microphone and gave it to Tal.

I stand in awe with such a reverent feeling of love for my Savior and King.

My Grandma Esther Olson and I used to sing this together.   I can still hear her voice as she sang it - how special it is to know that someday I will see her again because of Christ's sacrifice in the Garden.


In the Garden

1. I come to the garden alone
while the dew is still on the roses,
and the voice I hear falling on my ear,
the Son of God discloses.
Refrain:
And he walks with me, and he talks with me,
and he tells me I am his own;
and the joy we share as we tarry there,
none other has ever known.                                 

2. He speaks, and the sound of his voice
is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
and the melody that he gave to me
within my heart is ringing.
(Refrain)

3. I'd stay in the garden with him
though the night around me be falling,
but he bids me go; thru the voice of woe
his voice to me is calling.
(Refrain)

In front of one of the old 8 trees in the Garden.

The Gethsemane olives are possibly descendants of one that was in the garden at the time of Christ. This is because when an olive tree is cut down, shoots will come back from the roots to create a new tree.

Saint Stephen's Gate where Stephen (one of Jesus' disciples) was stoned to death.

Basilica of Agony

   A Catholic Franciscan church, one of the most magnificent churches in the Holy Land.  It was begun in 1919, after the Byzantine Church by Antonio Barluzzi and finished five years later.

This painting illustrates the story of the prayer in the garden and the betrayal: Peter, John and James are seen on the left side, since they waited nearby while Jesus prayed. The priests and soldiers and the torch holder are on the right side. Judas is seen kissing Jesus on his cheek, a sign for the Roman soldiers to pick him up. The Latin text under the painting is from Matthew 26:50

The kiss of betrayal.

Also called the "Church of All Nations" because so many donated for the completion.

Jesus, Peter, James, and John retire to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus submits to the Father's will and begins to suffer for the sins and afflictions of mankind.

Jesus is seen here weeping on the rock between the olive trees, after visualizing the ruin of Jerusalem. 

On the floor of the hall lays a flat rock. According to tradition, this is the Holy Rock of Agony, where Jesus conducted his prayer.  I laid my hand on the rock and said a little prayer.

Time to go to Jerusalem

Actual pavement from ancient Jerusalem

The Old City covers about 220 acres. The surrounding walls date to the rule of the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent. (1520-1566). Work began on them in 1537 and wasn't completed until 1541.

The best way to follow the Via Dolorosa, or "Way of Suffering", is to enter Lion's Gate (St. Stephen's Gate) from the eastern side of the City (beside the Temple Mount). This is the route some Christians believe Jesus traveled carrying the cross from his trial to the place of his crucifixion and burial.  The 14 stations commemorate incidents along the way. The first seven stations wind through the Muslim Quarter. The last five are in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  The tradition of following the Via Dolorosa dates to the Byzantine period.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

All of Jerusalem’s refuse and rubbish was taken out through the dung gate, down to the valley of Hinnom, where it would be burned.

Nehemiah 3:14

(This is the most likely place, but we don't don't for sure.)

Station I -- The place where Pontius Pilate's judgment hall once stood and Jesus was condemned to death. 
Herod the Great's Palace, which dominated the Upper City. The remains of the Citadel complex, with its Tower of David (erected long after King David’s time), are just inside the present Jaffa Gate.

Station II -- The Monastery of the Flagellation where Jesus was given the cross.

Yes!  Grandma....I am in our special Holy City!

Station III -- The spot where Jesus fell under the weight of the cross for the first time.

Station IV -- Where Mary came out of the crowd to see her son.

The stone relief marking the Station is over the doorway to the courtyard of an Armenian Catholic church. In the crypt are a strikingly attractive adoration chapel and part of a mosaic floor from a 5th-century church. In the centre of the mosaic is depicted a pair of sandals, said to represent the spot where the suffering Mary was standing.

Station V -- Simon the Cyrene was taken out of the crowd by the Romans to help Jesus carry the cross.

Stone in wall, said to bear the imprint of Jesus’ hand

A stone in the wall is said to bear the imprint of Jesus' hand.  WOW!

The Franciscan chapel here, dedicated to Simon the Cyrenian, is on the site of the Franciscans’ first house in Jerusalem, in 1229.  The lintel over a doorway bears a Latin inscription marking the site where Simon, a visitor from present-day Libya, became involved in Jesus’ Passion.





Station VI -- Recalls the tradition of Veronica stepping up to Jesus and wiping his face.

The face of Jesus was imprinted on the cloth she used to wipe it. A cloth described as Veronica’s veil is reported to have been kept in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome since the 8th century.

Station VII -- Where Jesus fell for the second time.

The position of this Station marks the western boundary of Jerusalem in Jesus’ time. It is believed he left the city here, through the Garden Gate, on his way to Calvary.

Station VIII -- The place where Jesus consoled the women of Jerusalem.

On the wall of a Greek Orthodox monastery, beneath the number marker is a carved stone, It has a Latin cross flanked by the Greek letters -meaning  “Jesus Christ conquers”).

Station IX -- Where Jesus fell for the third time.

To the left of the pillar by Station IX is a terrace that is the roof of the Chapel of St. Helen in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Here, in a cluster of primitive cells, live a community of Ethiopian Orthodox monks.

Church of the Redeemer Bell Tower seen from the roof of the Holy Sepulchre

Touching an ancient Roman pillar

The courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

So many prayerful people

Station X -- Jesus is stripped of his garments. 

 Inside the Chapel of the Franks

Steps of the Chapel of the Franks

Station XI -- Jesus is nailed to the cross.

Station XII -- The place where Jesus died on the cross.

Rock of Calvary

Going up a steep staircase one comes to the Altar of Calvary, which rises above the rock on which Jesus’ cross was raised.
The rock is visible through glass plates on either side of the altar.

The chapel belongs to the Greek Orthodox and is decorated with lamps and candles according to their tradition.

Pilgrims can touch the rock through an opening in the silver disk beneath the altar, the point where the Cross stood, according to tradition.  It was an amazing feeling to be here!

Worshiping like the others at the Stone of Anointing

Station XIII -- The spot where Jesus' body was taken down.

Disc marking traditional place where Jesus' cross stood.

Station XIV -- The tomb of Jesus.

Under a decree called the Status Quo imposed by the Ottoman Turks in 1757, ownership of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is shared between the Greek Orthodox, Catholics (known in the Holy Land as Latins) and Armenian Orthodox. Three minor communities, Coptic, Syriac and Ethiopian Orthodox, have rights to use certain areas. All the churches jealously guard their rights.

The wooden ladder leaning against a window ledge has been there since early in the 18th century.

Some of the original Roman pillars

Zion's Gate constructed by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1540.

The Western Wall or Wailing Wall  is an ancient limestone wall.  
It is the most holy place accessible to the Jewish people because of Muslim control of the Temple Mount. It was built by Herod the Great as the retaining wall of the Temple Mount complex.  The plaza was created as an area for prayer when Israel captured the Old City in 1967. 

I put a little piece of paper with a prayer in one of the cracks

 Because of the status quo policy, the Wall is the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray, though it is not the holiest site in the Jewish faith, which lies behind it.

Three times a day the Jewish people pray (morning, afternoon, evening) and they do so with phylacteries tied around their forehead and wrist and with the white and blue prayer shawls.

At times tens of thousands of people gather here for prayer.

One of the holiest sites for Jews is the building on Mount Zion known as the Tomb of King David — the celebrated Old Testament warrior king of Israel who is traditionally credited with composing many of the Psalms.

King David's Tomb

David’s death at the end of his 40-year reign is recorded in 1 Kings 2:10: “Then David slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David.”

David and his harp

Original pillar inscription - very Christian (pelican beak)

People just park on the curbs to come to Jerusalem

Panoramic View from the Church of St. Peter

Another photo of beautiful Mount of Olives and the BYU Jerusalem Center on the top left

Next stop - House of Caiaphas

On its roof rises a golden rooster atop a black cross — recalling Christ’s prophesy that Peter would deny him three times “before the cock crows”. Galli-cantu means cockcrow in Latin.

Church of St Peter in Gallicantu

According to tradition, this was the place of the palace of high priest Caiaphas.

Mark 14: 72: "And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept".

Praying in the pit under St. Peter's church

The prisoner’s cell offers a sobering insight into where Christ might have spent the night before he was crucified. It has become known as “Christ’s Prison”.
The only access to the bottle-necked cell was through a shaft from above, so the prisoner would have been lowered and raised by means of a rope harness. A mosaic depicting Jesus in such a harness is outside on the south wall of the church.

Christ in a rope harness

Steps leading to the House of Caiaphas

On the original steps

Scene depicting Jesus' arrest and taken to Caiaphas, the High Priest

Some of us went to dinner in a beautiful setting...Petra Gardens

John and I are enjoying a great dinner

Baked Chicken and vegetables dinner

We had pita bread beforehand with a wonderful spread of typical Mediterranean salads, hummus, and vegetables.

Joanne & Lloyd are all smiles

Dessert was Baklava

We had a visitor during dinner

Night Spectacular was a 45-minute light-and-sound display using the walls beneath the Tower of David as a backdrop. It's hard to fully conceive of what a titanic expanse of age-old monolithic city wall looks like when used as backdrop for the movies until you've seen it done. The moving images, sent from 20 projectors and two projection rooms, told a wordless, politically neutral pictorial tale of the history of Jerusalem from the time of the Israelite kings down almost to the present day. There were reenactments of the deeds of David, the Romans, the monks, Muhammad, the Crusaders, Suleiman the Magnificent and the rest of the historical family. The action hums along with music by French composer Etienne Perruchon.

 It was better than any fireworks show!

It was quite cold, but the show warmed our hearts immensely!