Enter the Old City via St. Stephens Gate. Then walk along the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. continue on the Cardo to the other side of the old city to the Davidson Center. Here you will see the world of Jerusalem's glorious past, showcased through the prism of advanced visualization technology. You will also take the famous Temple tunnel tour. End your tour at the Garden Tomb (
Jn.19:41). Enjoy a farewell dinner and transfer to the airport to check in to your flight home. Depart Ben Gurion Airport just before midnight with many memories of your experiences in the Lands of the Bible.
Wow! What a day!
Lots of people and emotions....see and read on...
Our itinierary changed from what is written above.
Instead of entering the Stephens Gate we entered the Dung Gate and visited the Western Wall - the most sacred Jewish part of the temple mount area.
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You can see the orange line that represents the Via Dolorosa.
It's the Catholic version of the route Jesus took on the way to Calvary which ended up at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which is built over Mt. Calvary.
I will show you one of the stops, but will also explain why we didn't go down this route exactly. |
Today's Opening Devotion:
Based on Psalm 118:1-21
Psalm 118:8 is the middle verse of the Bible and central to the theme of the Bible
Psalm 118:8 "It is better to trust the LORD than to trust people."
Another theme mentioned in this Psalm is "gates".
Verses 19, 20 read, "Open for me the Temple gates. Then I will come in and thank the LORD. This is the LORD's gate; only those who are good may enter through it."
Matthew 7:13,14 "Enter through the narrow gate. The gate is wide and the road is wide that leades to hell, and many people enter through that gate. But the gate is small and the road is narrow that leads to true life. Only a few people find that road."
And finally...John 10:9 "I am the gate, and the person who enters through me will be saved and will be able to come in and go out and find pasture."
We'll be entering City Gates today. May this devotion ring in our hearts and minds as we go in and out through these gates.
On our way to the Western Wall we road past the East Wall of Old Jerusalem and looked back over the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives
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| This pictures shows the northern part of the Mt. of Olives. |
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| Another view as we drive past. |
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A couple of days ago we were at the steps of the All Nations Church you can see with the three prominent arches.
The Garden of Gethsemane is just to the north (left) of the church. |
We enter thruough the Dung Gate to visit the Western Wall
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| The best way to get to the Western Wall is through the Dung Gate #4. |
First Stop: Western Wall
From The Western Wall Heritage Foundation brochure:
The Western Wall has been the center of Jewish yearning and memory for more than 2,000 years. The only fragment of the Great Temple to survive the Roman destruction (AD 70), the Divine Presence has never departed from the Western Wall. Built to support the western side of the Temple Mount, it is known as the Western Wall (in Hebrew, HaKotel HaMa'aravi), it is the most sacred structure of the Jewish people. Its ancient stones stand testimony to a glorious Jewish past, a proud heritage and an extraordinary national rebirth. It is a focus of Jewish longing and prayer for redemption and renewal.
The next series shows Jan making her way down to the Women's Section of the Western Wall.
Follow Jan (pink top, orange jacket wrapped around her waist) as she makes her way...
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| The final touch. |
Here's a picture of the Men's Section of the Wesstern Wall.
From The Western Wall Heritage Foundation brochure:
The Western Wall Plasza is the cleared area in front of the part of the Western Wall. It allows both a dignified approach to this holy palce, and is a setting for national events: the Priests' Blessings (
Birkat Cohanium) at Pesach and Sukkot, candle-lighting on Chanukah, the swearing-in of Israel's police and armed forces recruits, and IDF Memorail day and Jerusalem day ceremonies.
Next Stop: The tunnel under the old street that paralleled the Western Wall
Under the debris of the fallen wall after the Roman destruction of the Temple in 70 AD are these tunnels/rooms which were originally used for ceremonial washing.
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This pictures looks down from above at eh Western Wall below the level of the street.
Here it shows how far down they had to go to build on the bedrock. |
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I like this picutre because it shows a map of the area where we're standing.
The small arch above Rick's head to the left is the small arch to the left of the large arch on the second level in the framed picture. |
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| After the walls were knocked down, years later the Arab community built up a community on the ruins and covered up most of the Western Wall. After the 6 day war in 1967 Israel built this tunner under the Arab community above to reach the far north of the Western Wall. |
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Toward the end of the tunnel we see the bedrock rise to meet the original road that circled the walls.
Jesus very likely could've walked on these very stones, just as he walked on the steps of the southern wall. |
Next stop: Station #5 on the Via Dolorosa
Our approach to Station #5
Length: 00:00:05 sec.
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| Amir points to the Roman Numberal "V" which is the 5th Station of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa. |
Another view of the route of the cross...
Length: 00:00:05 sec.
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Another Station of the Cross location.
This one represented a station not written in the Bible.
A woman by the name Veronica wiped Jesus face with a cloth. |
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Looking down the Cardo - main street - on the Via Dolorosa.
Street name is Beit-habad. |
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| We are almost at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. |
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| The entrance to the Holy Sepulchre. |
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| After entering the gate where Jan is standing above, this is the courtyard. |
This video shows a 180 degree look around the courtyard.
Length: 00:00:13 sec.
After visiting the Holy Sepulchre we stopped for lunch.
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| Getting ready to say "grace". |
An action video of our lunch together.
Length: 00:00:10 sec.
Next Stop: Redeemer Lutheran Church, Jerusalem
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| After lunch we stopped by to visit an active Lutheran Church in Jerusalem. |
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| Looking up from the main entrance. |
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| Inside admiring the structure and space. |
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Here's our group taking it all in.
Left to right: Jan, Marilyn, Carol, Joyce, Cheryl, Gary, Nancy, Sarah, Jane & Kent. |
Next stop: The other Via Dolorosa
The Via Dolorosa starts out the same from the Antonia Tower where Jesus was tried by Pilate.
Prceding down Lion's Gate Road. At the next "T" intersection, instead of turning left on Ha-gay Rd. you turn right and head toward Damascus Gate.
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| This is the insdie of Damascus Gate of the outer wall. |
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As we were waling through the wall to exit the city, I couldn't help but notice this BIG BEN sign.
My son's name is Ben. This is for you, Ben! |
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This is the outer wall at the Damascus Gate.
You can see Nancy Gatfield and Cheryl Monzingo taking pictures.
You can also see Rick Wisdom looking up at the gate.
You can also see other group members left to right...Joyce Mary, Terry, Gary, Amir, Kathleen, Derek. |
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Carol Koziol captured this colorful picture of the goods for sale at the entrance.
You can also see a beggar at the city gate.
Not much has changed since Jesus walked these roads. |
Next stop: The Garden Tomb
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Proceeding outside the gate you continue down the road to Damascus called Derech Shchem.
Here is where you enter the Garden Tomb. |
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Our guide, Omer, gave us some very interesting perspectives.
The scripture says Jesus was crucified at the place called the skull.
That means in the area of the skull (not necessarily on top of the skull).
Most likely he was crucified only a foot off the ground by the side of the road so you could walk by and look Him in the eye.
You could hear his words clearly spoken to Mary and John.
The street name is Sultan Suleiman. |
Here is calvary's hill.
See the skull?
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| The bus station covers up some of the base of the skull. |
Here's another view with some helpful graphics added to help your imagination.
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| When you look around, you can see we're standing outside the city gates so passer-bys going into and out of the city can see the spectacle and learn from others' mistakes. One of the reasons the people laughted at Jesus was because the sign above the cross said, "King of the Jews". Was this some kind of joke? "C'mon, if you're king of the Jews, take yourself off that cross." They threw insults and mockings as they passed by. |
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| Omer then prepared us to view the empty tomb! |
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One the way, he showed us a wine press. Remember the name for the Garden of Gethsemane meant wine press?
It wasn't uncommon to have a garden with a wine press near-by or included in the garden. |
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| Finally, it is our turn to look inside. |
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| Carol Koziol would be the first one to the tomb. |
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| It's EMPTY! He's not here! |
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Following the joy of this discovery, we paused to share Holy Communion with one another.
What a sweet time of fellowship and receiving the forgiveness of our sins, paid by the blood of the lamb and our risen LORD! |
Four Important Lessons gleaned from the Empty Tomb
1). Proves Jesus speaks the truth.
2). Proves GOD accepted the sacrifice of Jesus, His Son.
3). Proves our loved ones who have died before us are going to live again!
4). Proves GOD's faithfulness and His forgiveness of sins.
Next stop: Our last supper together:
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| Come inside and see what's ready to eat. |
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| Table 1 with Amir, left to right: Derek, Gary, Rick, Mary Lynn, Mary, Terry, Pastor, Janelle, Dan, Amir |
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| Table 2 left to right: Debbie, Joyce, Shelly, Kent, Jane, Sarah, Marilyn. |
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| Table 3 left to right: Kathleen, Nancy, Cheryl, Carol, Jan |
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| Back to Table 1 this time without Amir, because his family is coming. |
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And finally, Amir's family.
Two sons, 1 daughter, 1 daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren.
Amir's wife couldn't come because she was taking care of her mom who just came home from the hospital. |
Last & Final stop: Ben Gurion Airport
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We'll be heading out just a couple of minutes after midnight tonight.
It's now a little after 9pm. |
