Oh Jerusalem!

Jerusalem is incredible! The first day I was very nervous because we are in a completely different culture once again, but this time there is the added tension of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the conflicts between the religions in the Old City. But when our professor Laurie took us into town, I felt much more comfortable. She showed us how to get the “bus”, which is a van, not our version of a bus to the city and back again. She took us into the old city, through the Damascus Gate into the Muslim Quarter which is nearest our bus stop and has great little sweets called honey balls that are basically fried dough balls saturated with honey. We walked through to the Christian Quarter where she introduced us to several shop owners she has become friends with over the years. These are people we can go to, first of all, for fair prices, but also if we get separated from the group, or lost, or just have questions. It was really comforting to have friends we can trust. She showed us the important things like nice bathrooms, good places to sit and get a cold drink, and the fact that the Christian Quarter is fittingly the only place in the Old City to buy alcohol. She also treated us to a great bagel type bread that is served with a delicious green mix of spices called Zatar. These are the important things to know! Our little tour ended with lunch at the Knights Palace, which used to be a seminary and before that was somehow associated with the knights that protected the Holy Sepulcher. Her friend there treated us without charge to a huge Palestinian lunch, which was delicious. One of the women who works there talked to us about being a Christian living in the Old City, and how the Israeli authorities will set up tons of checkpoints around Christian holy sites on feast days to make it pretty much impossible for Christians to go, for instance, to the Church of the Nativity on Christmas. Additionally, being Palestinians, they have a lot of trouble traveling, and it is extremely difficult to be able to visit their friends and relatives in Palestine.

The Damascus Gate

Walking down a side street in the Christian Quarter.

Lori and I took a day to rest, but on the next day we went into town to walk the Via Dolorosa. This is the stations of the cross set up for pilgrims. Most are not historically accurate as to exactly where Jesus would have been carrying his cross, but nonetheless they have been followed by Christians for centuries. Before the stations, we stopped at the pools of Bethesda. These are the pools right inside the Lion’s Gate or St. Stephen’s gate (In Jesus’ time called the Sheep Gate) where Jesus healed the crippled man on the Sabbath (John 5:1-9). This site is pretty historically accurate, and it was so moving to be in the place where a miracle occurred. As we read the story from our Bible, standing in the spot where it occurred, we realized that for years the man had been trying to get into the water to be cured. But the Bible doesn’t say that Jesus put him in the water, or poured any water on him. Jesus didn’t need the water because his healing power came from a different source. He just said, “pick up your mat and walk.”

The Roman pools of Bethesda

The stations were mostly just plaques or inscriptions on doors throughout the city. Some had chapels associated with them. The first and second station are marked by chapels of the Condemnation and Flagellation. We arrived at the Chapel of the Flagellation just as Eucharistic Adoration was finishing. Perfect timing to pray before the sacrament while reflecting on Jesus’ suffering. My favorite was probably the 4th station where Jesus meets his mother. There is an Armenian church there that also had Adoration, but it was the most beautiful tabernacle I have ever seen. It opened up to a modern take on an icon made of flowing glass with light shining through in the shape of Mary holding Jesus. Only where Jesus’ head would be in an icon, was the Blessed Sacrament. We couldn’t find the 9th station, so we will have to go back and do that. The last 5 stations are in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which pretty accurately on the site of the crucifixion. It is so big and confusing, and holds so many important holy sites in it, such as the hole in which the cross was raised, the stone on which they prepared the body of Jesus, the stone that covered the tomb, and the tomb itself. We were too overwhelmed and running out of time before the last bus left town, that we just walked through, knowing that we will return another day with Laurie and will be able to know exactly what we are looking at and be able to reverence it properly. We did recognize the stone on which Jesus’ body was prepared for burial, and I was able to kiss it.

The Chapel of the Flagellation

The 4th Station

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Me kissing the stone on which Jesus' body was prepared for burial

The front of the Sepulcher, the Tomb of Jesus

Today, we hiked up to the other side of the Mount of Olives. In Luke 19:28-44, it describes Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem with palms and how he looked at the city from the Mt of Olives and wept for Jerusalem. He was coming from Jericho, which is another thousand feet below where we were coming from in Bethany (where he would have visited Mary, Martha and Lazarus), but we walked up the road that has been built over what used to be roman footpaths, probably the paths Jesus would have used. It is very steep, and very hot. You really get the physical sense of his journey. Then just as you crest the hill, you get a beautiful view of the city. Today you see the gold Dome of the Rock and the city wall, then he would have seen the huge, white temple and the Holy of Holies standing tall where the Dome is today. It is there that he wept over the fate of the city. There is a church there now, and we were able to have mass in it. Behind the altar is a huge window overlooking the city, which is just beautiful.

The view of the city after cresting the Mount of Olives

The window of the Church of Dominus Flevit, where Jesus wept

Then we walked down the hill a little further to the Garden of Gethsemane. It is very small, with about a dozen olive trees that are so old and twisted. It is very near the city, but separated from it by the Kidron Valley. Knowing from living on the other side of the Mt, how close the desert is, you see that escape was within reach. Within an hour, Jesus could have climbed over the Mt, stopped at Martha and Mary’s house for supplies, and have been well on his way into the desert where the soldiers would not have followed. But he didn’t. Coming out of the church on the site, the entryway of the Church perfectly frames the Golden Gate of the city, and you feel like coming out of prayer, Jesus faced his destiny. It was very powerful.

The Garden of Gethsemene

View of the city walls from the garden

Being here is so surreal. It just feels holy. It makes everything in the Bible seem so real because you can imagine it, and feel what it felt like to walk in these places. It is really overwhelming. We are here for 5 more weeks, so hopefully things will start to sink in a little more.