Old Jerusalem

May 25, Tuesday
We walked today where Jesus walked, where he taught and where he healed. We went down the Via Dolorsoa, the road of suffering. We spent the day in the Old City of Jerusalem. On the way we again drove by the Kidron Valley and Mount of Olives. We joined crowds of people that have come from around the world to see the holy places in Jerusalem. When we walked through the gate into the city we were awed by the high stone walls that surround the city. There is an odd mixture of the old ruins, many old churches and mosques, narrow streets with vendors and shops of all sorts, vehicles driving down 12 feet wide streets of stone along with many pedestrians, and somehow to understand that Jesus walked through this city 2000 years ago.

Seeing the Western Wailing Wall was an astounding sight. The orthodox Jews come by hundreds to this very special spot to pray and read scripture. Men and women are separated as they come to pray. The significance of the Western Wall is that this is the part of the wall that is closest to the Holy of Holies. We were given time to pray individually at the Wall.

We were privileged to be able to go into the underground excavations along the Western Wall. Part of the walkway is the original Jerusalem street, so we walked today where Jesus walked, on the very street that He walked. We saw the biggest stone discovered in the foundation. It is 45 by 12 by 5 and weighs 600 tons. It is not known how King Herod had his engineers mine it and then move it into place. A part of the underground walk took us through an aqueduct constructed by people about 200 BC. Another reminder to us of the importance of water to this area.

Water, rocks, stones, fortresses, trees and plants will certainly take on new significance for us as we read the Bible after seeing the impact these elements have on the people who live in the Holy Land.

Above ground we again walked the narrow streets and came to what had been the Pool of Bethesda, there is no water in it anymore. Jim read the story from John 5 when Jesus healed a man. The man and Jesus got into trouble because Jesus told him to carry his mat on the Sabbath. Special Sabbath rules remain very strong for the Jews of Israel. Near the Pool was the St. Anna Church built by Crusaders about 1100 AD.

Lois had her once in a lifetime experience at the St. Anna Church. She was asked to lead our group in singing “Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty”, “Lord I Lift Your Name on High,” and “Be Still and Know That I Am God.” The acoustics are so incredible in this church that as we sang the songs slowly we heard each note echoing back. There are no words to describe the impact. A taste of singing with the angels in heaven!

We continued our walk down the Via Dolorosa through the crowded streets. It was a stone street, up and down hill, and not easy to walk and stay together as a group. As we walked between tall buildings, school children yelled at us from the 2nd and 3rd floor windows, even spitting on some of our group. Vendors on each side of the street aggressively market their wares. Jim enjoyed his first pizza since we left home at a small street restaurant.

After going through an Ethiopian section and church that had very little decoration we came to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which was originally built by Helena the mother of King Constantine about 324 AD. This was very ostentatious and the scent of the incense was very strong. The Roman Catholics claim it is the sight of Jesus’ death and burial. Tomorrow we will see the site that Protestants usually consider to be the actual site. Our guide told us about many of the traditions connected with the 14 stations of the cross.

We were given a little time for shopping. Yes, all of it is mingled together.

Our next stop was the southern wall. Excavations continue to reveal new things about the ancients who lived around Jerusalem. We saw the wall that had foundations from the time of King Herod. The Romans destroyed the city in 70 AD because of a Jewish revolt. The area remained desolate until the Moslems came about 700 and began building their village and mosques in the area. The Crusaders came about 1000 and destroyed some of the Moslem buildings and built their own. This area remains a hot spot for Jews and Moslems.

We were hot and tired from walking up and down hill on the stony road and from climbing lots of steps (often 150 at a time) when our guide led us to yet another place with more steps. To be honest, the air conditioned bus sounded pretty good at this point for most of the people in our group. But we followed onward, and had another powerful experience. It was more steps, but an experience that will always be etched in our memory. We sat on the steps that lead up to the gate (now closed off) on which Peter most likely proclaimed his Pentecost message. As we overlooked Jerusalem, Jim read the Pentecost story from Acts 2 and Lois lead our group in singing “Spirit of the Living God.” We did experience the spirit of the living God today as we walked where Jesus walked.