My feet are not very happy with me today…We did a normal two day tour, in one day! We walked essentially through all of the Old City of Jerusalem. We started out on the top of the Mount of Olives where Jesus started his journey through Jerusalem to his crucifixion. There is a beautiful view of Jerusalem from the top of the Mount of Olives even though the Dome of the Rock is directly across the valley.
As we made our way down the Mount of Olives, we got to the Garden of Gethsemane. I love gardens, so once again I was lovin every minute of it! The story behind the Garden of Gethsemane is in Matthew 26:36-46! Right next to the garden is the Church of All Nations. There are 12 (I think..?) different nations represented on the ceiling of the church. The United States dome is the first one on the right side! This is the site where Jesus prayed so hard he sweat blood!
The Pools of Bethesda is another really cool place in Jerusalem. This is there sick/disabled people would hang out because the spirit would stir up the water and the first person in the water after it has been stirred would be healed. This is where Jesus healed a man who had been going to the pools for over 30 years and never got healed. He was paralyzed so he could never get into the water because he didn’t have anyone to help him. Jesus saw this man’s desire to be healed and he healed him right then and there!
The Western Wall was next on the list. Since it is Saturday and we went before sunset, lots of things were closed because people aren’t allowed to work on the Sabbath. This is the Holiest site for people of Jewish faith because they believe that the presence of God is in the wall. When they are finished praying, Jewish people walk a certain number of steps backwards because they do not want to turn their backs on God. We went up to the wall and some people put prayers in the wall, prayed, and then we left. It was super crowded so it was a pretty quick trip! We couldn’t even take pictures at the wall because that is considered work!
Next, we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This church is believed to be one of the possible sights where Jesus was crucified. The church is divided between 3 major religions (Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Armenian). The Greek Orthodox parts of the church are the most obvious because it is decked out in gold and jewels! There are several mosaics on the walls that would have taken forever to complete and they were all done by hand! They were truly unbelievable.
One of our last stops was on the other side of the Mount of Olives at Caiaphas’ house. This is where Jesus was taken before he was put before his crucifixion. He had to stay the night here because it was the Sabbath and there was no working allowed which meant no judging was going on that day. Jesus was lowered down into a pit/cave that only had one opening at the top so it was impossible for anyone to get out. Psalm 88!
Last stop: the Garden tomb! The Garden Tomb is another place that people think Jesus could have been crucified and buried. The mount that is believed to be the crucifixion site is all rock and there is the face of a skull in the rocks. It’s called Golgatha which means ‘skull.’ The garden was full of gorgeous flowers and foliage so once again, I got a bunch of pictures!
Today was great and filled with lots and lots of walking but we covered the whole city in one day! Pretty impressive, huh? Tomorrow is going to be a long, hot day because we are basically going to be in the dessert all day..good night!
Love yall!
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