Where it all Happened

Today was our New Testament walk in and around the Old City of Jerusalem. We walked SO much today and it was so hot out, but it was still so awesome. We started out walking through the area where the Upper Room where the Last Supper and Pentecost happened. The house itself doesn't exist anymore, but they rebuilt where it would have been located. Then we moved on to the Temple Mount. We entered on the western side, by the Western Wall. The bottom portion of the walls are still the original stone that was built by Herod the Great and there are still remnants of the original structure which is so cool. Inside the wall there is a lot of empty space and a mosque and the Dome of the Rock, where the Temple used to stand. This is the place where Jesus turned over the tables of the money changers. The coolest part is that in the original structure this event would have happened in the first "layer" of the Temple Mount, called the Court of Gentiles. The Gentiles were allowed to go no further than this area into the Temple. So by turning over the tables Jesus was not only making a statement about keeping the Temple area holy, but also that the gentile area WAS supposed to be holy. This was a radical statement from Jesus about how the gentiles should also worship in a holy place. So crazy!

Then we went down to the Western Wall. There was actually a Bar Mitzvah going on so it was really cool to hear them singing and chanting and everything! Then we went and saw the archeological site where they found the Herodian Mansion that could potentially be the house of Caiaphas, where the Pharisees ploted to kill Jesus, where Jesus was questioned and beaten, and where Peter denies Jesus. This mansion fits the description in scripture and is in the area close to the Temple Mount, where the priests would have lived. We made our way around to the south side of the Temple Mount wall, where one of the major entrances to the Temple would have been in Jesus' time. There are still a few of the pieces of stone in the walkway that would have been there in Jesus' time, so it's almost certain He would've walked there. We moved around to eastern side of the Temple Mount wall, to see the Muslim Cemetary, the tombs of the priests, and the Golden Gate. In the distance we could see the Mount of Olives, where Jesus prayed in Gethsemane and was arrested. There is also the church commemorating when Jesus wept. We ended at the Pools of Bethesda, where Jesus healed the man who had been an invalid for 30 years in John 5. The best part about this is that there are ruins of a church that was built right on top of the pools which helps to authenticate the pools themselves. People go to worship at places of significance, so the fact that people wanted to worship here at these pools makes it almost certain that this is exactly where that healing happened!

This is the same situation for the hill of Calvary, which we visited at the Church of the Holy Sepulchr after dinner this evening. This is the place where the hill of Calvary is preserved and Jesus' tomb is believed to stand. The church is a very ornamental Greek Orthodox church that was built around these sites to keep Calvary and the tomb safe. It is definately not what you would expect to see, since it looks nothing at all like it would have looked when the Crucifixion actually happened. And trust me, it is crazy to know you are standing on the place where Jesus was crucified, however I think the church really showed me how much I don't need objects and places to feel close to God. It was awesome to see it, don't get me wrong, and it's so cool to learn he history behind it, but it was hard for me to feel any spiritual connection there. In a sense though God was speaking through that, showing me that I simply need nothing but Him.

It definitely is very cool to see so many different types of Christians worshiping God in different ways here in the city of Jerusalem though. Just because it wasn't for me, doesn't mean these people are worshiping with a true and deep faith, which they cleary are if you simply watch them for 3 seconds. Though we may all be different, it all breaks down to the same roots, which seem to have began here at Calvary.

It was a very long day packed with so many sites that held so much significance. To be in these places that Jesus walked and preached and led His people is amazing. It makes it real and tangible to be literally walking in His footsteps over 2000 years later, knowing how different the world is because of Him.

Here's a picture of of the west side of the Temple Mount. The Western Wall is past the covered ramp walkway in the middle. And that's obviously the Dome of the Rock up there. The stones jutting out from the wall all the way to the right is the remnants of one of the main entrances to the Temple Mount that would have been intact in Jesus' day. It was a large staircase supported by arches leading up to the Temple Mount.