Day 4

Some Very Cool Places

Today we visited a number of central points in the life of Christ. We started at the Temple mount, then went over to Beth Lehem, and ended up back on Mt. Zion in the Upper Room. Needless to say it was a wild and profound day.

The Temple Mount:

While there is nothing left of the temple built by Herod (No Stone Remains upon another), what does remain is the old city walls, and the Temple Mount – which is the foundation Herod built for the Temple. As we entered the temple area we were once again taken aback by being so close to this place that represents the most holy sight on the planet. Abraham’s sacrifice (Almost) of Isaac happened here when it was called Mt. Moriah, Jesus preached some of his harshest sermons here and likely sealed is fate on the Temple steps, and Mohammed claims this spot as the place where he recieved the central tenants of Islam. As a result the three major world religions all converge in very unique ways in this holy place.

As we went up to the temple – amazing to say that given how often that term occurs in scripture – the first thing we noted was that you really have to go up to the temple. Its a bit of a hike even when your nice mercedes tour bus takes you most of the way. Given that the modern street level is 6 stories or so above the ancient street level, they really meant it when they said let us go up to the temple.

Getting In

As we arrived at the entrance we passed through the checkpoint. The security was evident but not overwhelming. We passed through metal detectors and got the once over by the Israel army dudes but it was pretty standard stuff. We went up toward the temple mount. This area is not always open, especially during times of particular unrest so it was fortunate we were able to get up there. The temple mount is the sort of flat surface where the temple would have stood. Today it houses the Dome of the Rock, the place celebrated by Islam as Mohamed’s reception of the tenants of Islam. While beautiful and stunning, we learned that the temple would have been one and one half times larger than the mosque….amazing. On our way up a wobbly wooden boardwalk to the top, we looked over the wailing wall area and heard a Japanese group singing Hebrew songs and dancing Hebrew dances…it was surreal. I have some video of it I will post after returning home. There were also excavations going on around us, digs down toward the street level of Jesus’ time.

Temple Mount:

Once on top I snapped a picture of my foot as it fell on the temple courts for the first time. For some reason I thought that would be symbolic. The first thing we saw was the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which once was a Christian church, and the ritual washing baths outside of it. These baths are used to clean yourself ceremonially before you go into the Mosque. Oh I forgot to mention we weren’t allowed to bring our bibles up top because they don’t allow any worship services up there. Also most Jewish folks don’t go up on the top because they fear accidentally standing where the Holy of Holies once was. I saw a few Muslim men praying toward Mecca and found out that the Christians had used this area as a garbage dump, and that it was the Muslims that actually rescued the area. One of the really interesting things was the text on the Dome of the Rock Mosque, it says that God is one, and that He has no son. Clearly anti-trinitarian language. They at least agree with the Jewish Rabbi’s on this point. At one point we looked out over a gate that opened toward the Mt. of Olives. I was able to watch pilgrims traverse the same path we did yesterday, down the hill just as Jesus did on the triumphal entry. It was amazing. I began to think that three sacrifices were important here. First, Abraham is willing to sacrifice his son, then the sacrifices ongoing in the temple for the sins of the people, then the Sacrifice of Christ which tore the veil of the temple when “it was finished”. Also some of the tombs that opened might have been right across in the cemetery on the Mt. of Olives. Wild Wild Wild…..

Wailing Wall

After walking around the Temple Mount and looking at the Mosque we headed back down toward the wailing wall through some really cool tunnels in the old city, lots of shops and some guys hauling out dirt from a dig under the temple. There is no telling what they might find down there!! We came out and went down to the wailing wall. Hats are required, which was weird because I kept feeling I should take off my hat to show respect, but here it was the opposite. We went in an interior area that served as a library where you could check out all sorts of Hebrew commentaries to read in front of the wall. The wall has basically become a sort of synagog. The wall isn’t a part of the temple, rather it is a section of the wall of the temple mount. Its significance is mostly its proximity to the “holy of holies” up above. I prayed and put in several prayer requests on the wall and then spent some great time in prayer. All around me were the observant Jewish men in their prayer shawls with scriptures tied on their hands and on their heads moving back and forth as they prayed. This was a powerful time of prayer. Oh there was also a group of little kids singing traditional songs that was very cool.

Southern Wall/Steps

We then headed out and went to the southern section of the wall. We climbed up and eventually came to the southern steps. These steps would have been the way Jesus and the disciples entered and left the Temple. They were also the “teaching” steps and likely would have been a place that Jesus taught regularly, and that Paul would have learned from Gammile. Crazy to think really. As we ascended the steps we thought about the psalms of ascent again. “Lift up your head oh gates, who is this King of Glory…Enter his courts with thanksgiving and his gates with praise. You can also see the whitewashed tombs Jesus referred to in the Woe to you sermons, over on the Mt of Olives. The process for going up to the temple would have been 1. Mitzvah bath for purity, ascent into the triple gate, sacrifice offered, descent out single gate. The great thing here is just knowing for sure your standing within close proximity to where Jesus would have stood.

Our guide Hillel once again had to disenbark because we were going into the West Bank which is controlled by the Palestinian authority. Our driver took us through and then we picked up a Palestinian Christian guide who was outstanding. First we got one of the Nissan brothers, who owns a big resturant and shop in Bethlehem. The Palestinians in Bethlehem (Which means house of bread in hebrew – house of meat in Arabic) are around 40 percent Christians. This is down from nearly 90% just a few years ago, the drop is the result of economic hardships imposed by the border wall and the resulting immigration from unemployment and poverty. Its really sad to see the kids basically begging us to buy small items. These folks are not the terrorists in any sense of the word, but have suffered the Ghettoizing and poverty that come from being lumped in with others of their ethnicity. Oh also our Guide did the lords prayer in “Aramaic” which is their church language, but also would have been the language of Jesus – so that was very cool. I think i got it on video.

Shepherds Fields:
After some time of shopping and eating we headed toward Manger Square. On the way we stopped and looked over the shepherds fields. At one point (I think this is before we got into the west bank actually) we saw an actual shepherd herding his sheep up the field and right by us. Anyway we looked over the shepherd fields, which are everywhere. Terraced landscapes with sheep, caves, rocks, everything a shepherd would need to keep his sheep in good shape.

Manger Square/Church of the Nativity/St Catherine

Legend has it that this Church survived the pre-Muslim persian conquest because the mosaics depicting the three wise men reminded the conquering army of their own kings. Every other church was totally destroyed during this time. The church was first purchased and built by St Catherine – Constantines mom, the current structure is from the 600’s or so. We entered the very old church, the timbers above were from one of the crusader kings, the sanctuary was decidedly Orthodox. Icons, beautiful lamps and lights, ornate alter area, etc. The priests didn’t look all that happy to see a large group, I think they were frustrated by having to wait a bit to perform their mass. (These were Orthodox Priests). We headed down into the grotto, and saw the place that is supposedly the exact place Jesus was born, and the place that is where the wise men came and presented their gifts. They have closed up the cave with this grotto so I was a little bummed just to see all this ornate religiosity. I really wanted to see the cave. After we came out we looked at some old mosaics from the original church that were inside of a trap door in the floor. Then the religious police (yes thats what they are called), told us to get out of the way – we were confused but obeyed. Then the Orthodox priests did what one of us called a little parade around the whole sanctuary, complete with incense and candles….it was pretty wild and I have some video of this as well.

St Catherines

After all this we went into the Catholic area, I thought this would be a dissapointment because it wasnt the “main” area. In actuality this became the coolest part. The Catholics have dug out the “rest” of the cave. This is the area not enclosed in the grotto. This is what I wanted to see – the actual cave, which looked like a cave. This was awesome and felt like the place that the birth of the Saviour happened. Also in the cave was a series of catacombs supposedly of the slaughtered children. I have my doubts about that. But in a nearby room was St. Jerome’s tomb. St. Jerome lived here for 36 years as he translated the bible into Latin, which became the dominant translation for the next 1200 years. Both of these things were just amazing to me.

While we were here we heard every kind of language, Spanish, Korean, Japaneese, we also sang away in a manger in the grotto, and I sang O’ come all ye faithful in the catholic cave.

The Upper Room

After exiting Bethlehem (we had to show our passports to some friendly yet heavily armed Israeli soldiers), we headed toward Mt. Zion to visit the Upper Room. I had low expectations for this place because our guide mentioned it had some non period architecture. Basically that means it has been rebuilt since Jesus’ time. However, there was an early church built on this site, and it likely is the site of the upper room, the more I learned the more I became convinced. It makes sense biblically because its close to the temple, yet outside the old city…and after the upper room prayer – Jesus goes through the Kidron Valley to the Garden of Gethsemany. This all makes sense geographically here. The room to me instantly felt like it was the right place, and I began to sense its significance. Here was the place of the last supper, the first communion. Here was the place that the disciples gathered after the death of Jesus and saw him after his resurrection. Here too was the place that the holy spirit descended with toungs of fire. This was a really powerful place and for me the most emotional…not sure why but it was.

Tommorow:

Masada, Qumran, Dead Sea – Another adventure awaits.