Day 4 - Jerusalem Tour

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After gathering outside Damascus gate (and taking pictures with the military), we loaded up on a bus and went to the Mt. of Olives. The views here are fantastic. You can see the Dome of the Rock, the Old City, Gethsemene and the City of David. It is believed that Jesus ascended from Mt Olives (Acts 1:3-11). It's quite remarkable to think about Jesus' disciples sitting there watching him ascend, not realizing that he wasn't coming back immediately.
The Dome of the Rock sits on Mt. Moriah, which is where it is believed that Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac (or Ishmael if you're Muslim) - (Genesis 22). It's the site where the temple of Solomon was built. It's now under Muslim control and functions as a mosque. The Muslims believe that Muhommed ascended from the site of the Dome of the Rock. For Muslims, the Dome of the Rock is the 3rd most holiest place. Mecca and Medina are thought to be more holy than the Dome of the Rock.
It's interesting to look down at the city of David. One would think it would be a grand area. Yet, its on the small side and not on a very large hill. Yet, it was prime real estate because it was protected by valleys and close to the water source.
Below us are what looks like the worlds's largest cemetary. There are tombstones everywhere. They are on both sides of the valley. Both Muslims and Jews believe that those closest to the temple will rise first when the Messiah comes.
After a few camel rides and bargaining with locals for souvenirs and olive tree branches (the little kids would come out of nowhere, put branches in your hands and then ask you to pay for them - reminds me of Mexico), we headed to the tomb of the prophets. Haggar, Malachi, and Zechariah are believed to be buried here. All 3 of these prophets lived during old testament times (around 500BC) and predicted the arrival of the Messiah (Jesus). For 500 years, God didn't speak to the people. But the people remembered the prophecies of these 3 prophets and were excpecting someone to rescue them. However, many people were expecting a military king, so when Jesus came they did not recognize him as the Messiah.
Next was the Damascus Chapel. It's considered a Holy Site (although I'm still not sure why). As a Holy Site, no shorts or tank tops are allowed. Of course it's well over 90deg. So I had to cover up my bare shoulders. I'm not exactly sure what happened at this place. But I did have to pay 1 shekel (yep, just like in the bible) to use the bathroom. 1 shekel is just over 20cents.
Next stop was the Garden of Gethsemene! The garden itself was pretty small. A few olive trees and a few flowery shrubs. It was in front of the Church of All Nations (or Church of Agony). The church is built over the rock in which it is believed Jesus prayed at the night before his arrest (hence the name "Agony"). I could not get very close to the rock, due to so many people touching and kissing the rock. The last remodel of the church of was done with money from 12 countries (hence the name "All Nations").
Matt 26 shows Jesus praying and praying and praying to have the desire and will to complete God's will. Luke 9 speaks of carrying our crosses daily. It is not an easy task as we see even Jesus requiring much prayer to surrender. If it took Jesus 3 times to surrender (or get the answer), why should we expect any less. It takes much prayer and patience to surrender and understand God's will
Going through St. Stephen's gate, we stopped at what's believed to be the Pool of Bethsheda. The place where God healed the paralyzed man. John 5:1-3 shows the paralyzed man, hopeless and not even willing to ask for help. Jesus asked him if he wanted to get well and he replied with why he couldn't be healed. We too can often be in situations and not ask for help. Why? Maybe because we don't want to "bother" God with small problems. Maybe because we think we should be able to handle it ourselves. Maybe because even though the situation is not good, its comfortable and we don't want to go through the pain of change. Whatever the reasons, God wants us to come to him with our problems so that we can be healed. The same scriptures show the Pharisees becoming upset because the man was healed and was carrying his mat on the sabbath. They were so concerned with the rules that they were blinded to the miracle of the man being able to work. We can also get so legalistic that we miss the miracles of Jesus and the point of Christianity.
At some point we stopped for lunch and had....can you guess? Yep, we had Falafel. It was so good - the best so far.
Passing under Ecelitome Arch, we made our way down the Via Dolarosa. This is where Christ is believed to have walked to his crucification. However, there is no historical evidence to proove Jesus walked this route. The most likely route is believed to have begun in the Armenian quarter as opposed the the Muslim quarter, where it is now. Hmm, that reminds me I forgot to tell you about the old city. The Old City is everything within the wall. There are four quarters: Christian (where I live), Armenian, Muslim and Jewish. Each area has its own flava. Ok, back to the Via Dolarosa....
Most of modern day Jerusalem is at least 4ft higher than it was back in the days of Christ. So, for those of you thinking that I'm walking on the same ground that Jesus did, that's not quite right. In fact most of what we see is just "believed" to have occured there. However, I think that understanding the event (whether it's Christ's death, ascension, prayer, etc) is more important than actually seeing the certified place where it occured. Oops, I'm degressing again. Back to the Via Dolarosa...
You're probably thinking that the Via Dolarosa is this cobblestone path perserved from the times of antiquity. That's kind of what I expected. In reality it looks no different than any other street in the Old city. It's packed with vendors, selling everything from candy to soap to rugs to clothes to religious artifacts.
From the Via Dolarosa, we walked to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This church was built around what is believed to be the sight of Christ's crucifixion, burial and resurrection. Legend has it that one woman believed that this was THE sight, but noone believed her. So she threw money over the ground and had people dig up the money and the ground. And 3 crosses were found. The crosses are now in Rome somewhere. However, there are still many who believe that the Garden Tomb is the more likely spot for Christ's death, burial and resurrection (but I'll get to that later). The church was very ornate and packed with tourists and locals. Many there to worship. The Chruch is divided into different sections to represent the many faiths that are worshipped there - Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and a few others. To prevent any one group from gaining control of the church, the Muslims have ownership (or manage) the church.
From the church we moved on to the other site believed to house Christ's tomb. The Garden Tomb. The Garden Tomb is outside the city wall and is believed to be the site of Jesus' burial and resurrection because Matthew 15 references Golgatha (skull), being by the road and outside the city gates. The Garden Tomb fits all of these requirements (the facing hill looks like a skull - if you squint hard enough). Side Note: The church of the Holy Seplucher is actually outside of the original city gates (although now it lies within the gates). The Garden tomb is in a beautiful garden setting and with few tourists - a major contrast from the Holy Sepulcher. Both areas have historical and biblical evidence to both prove and disprove each as the true site. Again, I don't believe the actual location is as important as knowing that Jesus was cruxcified somewhere for our sins, buried and was resurrected.
Before leaving the Garden Tomb we had a special communion service (complete with singing). In Jerusalem, communion is not taken during a typical sunday service because many people visiting the church are muslim and have difficulty understanding the concept.
We ended the night with dinner and salsa dancing at one of the sisters' household in one of the Jewish sections of modern Jerusalem.
Favorite moment: We had gotten permission to go inside of a Catholic Church. After Aziz read scripture to us, we sang a few songs. It was the most beautiful sound. I really felt like we were really making a joyful noise to God and that he was smiling down upon us. Many of us were in tears when we walked out of the church.
Islamic Proverb: The person who sees the truth and is silent is like a mute devil.

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Photos

Damascus Gate
Me and Vanessa in front of Damascus Gate