Visiting the Holy Land
Jerusalem
The first view of Jerusalem was breathtaking and had an unexpected impact on me when I visited there recently. I felt moved to tears as if God had spoken to me personally and welcomed me home. I was on a tour to the Holy Land and Petra organised by Walk Through the Bible. We spent five nights in Jerusalem and each day we set off from the hotel early in the morning to visit the biblical sites and make the most of our days.
The visit to the Temple Mount was quite an experience. Having entered Jerusalem through the Dung Gate we passed the Western Wall on our left as we proceeded up the walkway to enter the Temple Mount area through the Chain Gate and the security area. Many Jewish families were on their way to celebrate Bar Mitzvah. They were dressed in their best clothes and carried trays of sweet cakes and baskets of food for the subsequent party.
Women watching Bar Mitzvah over the wall
The Temple Mount is a huge open area where the Dome of the Rock stands with its mosaic walls. This is controlled by Muslims and nobody else is allowed to visit – except the Pope who arrived the day after we left. We could imagine the Temple itself being here and saw some of the gates. The Eastern gates are closed but that would have been where Peter and John healed the lame man.
We walked down to the Southern Excavation site and were able to spend time on the Southern Steps which are the authentic ones where Jesus would have walked when he came out of the temple through the Southern gate. It was thought-provoking to read from Matt. 22 & 23 and imagine Jesus addressing the Pharisees and Sadducees from these steps and how what he had to say would have angered them. The size of the cornerstones was immense as you can see from the photograph. So much excavation work is going on there still.
The original Temple cornerstones
The Mount of Olives was a very special place – much steeper than I had imagined. As we stood at the top we could see across the Kidron Valley with all its tombs and dryness to the city walls, the eastern gate, the golden Dome of the rock. We walked down the roadway passing the Jewish tombs and then to the right to the Teardrop Church which commemorates where Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Then past the newly excavated Christian burial tombs with their ossiary boxes, from Hadrian’s time when he executed so many Christians.
View of Jerusalem through the Teardrop Church window
Onward then to the Garden of Gethsemane. This was a real highlight of my visit when we were able to spend some quiet prayer time in the private garden just off the main Garden of Gethsemane. The ancient olive trees, the poppies, and the stillness of the garden was a real blessing remembering what Jesus had done for me, out of love.
Jean by some of the ancient olive trees
We walked to the Upper Room and thought how it would have been at the Passover meal. Then to St. Peter in Gallicantu – the place of the rooster crowing which is perched on the eastern side of Mount Zion. We reached it by climbing up the roman road, an ancient stepped way. It was here that Caiaphas imprisoned and interrogated Jesus and Peter denied Christ in the courtyard. The Roman soldiers took Jesus from here to Pontius Pilate. He was brought here from the Mount of Olives. This is where his cruel mistreatment began.
The Garden Tomb and Resurrection Garden was another highlight. The area was first recognised by General Gordon in 1883 from his hotel room when he saw the shape of a skull which is still there today and linked it with Golgotha, John 19:17. Adding to this was the fact that a first century tomb had been found there in a first century garden.
A beautiful garden has been developed here divided into many areas where pilgrim groups can spend some time in worship in a place of quiet peace. Our group visited the tomb and then we celebrated communion together, singing praise to God and celebrating His resurrection.
Moving northwards we went to the area of Galilee staying in Tiberias for four nights. The place was thronging with people – lots of young people from Spain and Italy visiting especially to see the Pope. We went on an early morning trip onto Lake Galilee in a type of fishing boat. The water was calm and it was very peaceful chugging along towards the middle of the lake. We reminded ourselves of the times when Jesus was on the boat with His disciples, preaching and sleeping and fishing. What a lovely time this was. We had a little service on the boat (with the engine turned off) and one of the group sang to us a chorus she had known from a child. ‘By blue Galilee Jesus walked of old, By blue Galilee wondrous things He told. Jesus still my teacher be, Showing wondrous things to me. As of old by Galilee, blue Galilee. ‘ We prayed together and had a quiet time before we were shown how to fish from the boat.
Well, there is so much more that I could tell but I will finish by saying that I was baptized in the River Jordan at Yardenit. This was very special – I was supported by a wonderful group of friends and I was really blessed by the Holy Spirit.
O Happy Day.