2nd Thursday

We made it to Jerusalem late yesterday. After the long and slow border crossing, we got to see Jericho before heading to the hotel.

We had another one of the now famous enormous days today. Out the door at 7:30 a.m. and back in at 7:30 p.m. – just in time for a late dinner. We started the morning at the Temple Mount looking at the outside of the Muslim mosque that now stands where the Jewish Temple once stood. Next we went through the Old Town to the Wailing Wall and prayed. It was very moving to be praying with/near the local Jewish people. It gave me a great sense of how gracious God was in grafting in us Gentile types into His family. Then we were off to the Mount of Olives and the Church of the Ascension – where Jesus ascended to heaven. From there we went to the Church of the Pater Nostre – a church built to commemorate Jesus teaching his disciples the Lord’s Prayer. After that we walked down the route Jesus would have walked on Palm Sunday. It’s a steep and curvy road that looks out across the Kidron (sp?) Valley onto Jerusalem. While it sounds like a long way, it really isn’t. Imagine two large hills across from each other and you’ve got a more accurate image than any two mountains I can think of. We kept walking down the hill until we arrived at “The Sanctuary of the Dominius Flevit.” I thought the Latin stood for “The Lord Wept,” but I also thought it was where Jesus looked out over Jerusalem and said “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Matthew 23:37-39). Hmmm…I’ll have to do more research at some point. From there we went to the Garden of Gethsemane. It was incredible to see the place in which Jesus did so much praying and was betrayed.

And that was all before lunch.

After lunch we saw the House of Caiphas and a dungeon Jesus was likely lowered into on the night of his betrayal. We passed by King David’s tomb which was a short distance from the location Upper Room where Jesus shared the Last Supper with his disciples. It is also thought to be where the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. The room itself no longer exists but is now a part of a larger church/chapel that also has been a mosque. It seems like everything has been both a church/chapel and a mosque around here.