The Final Day :-(

For the last day of our journey George had us do a lot of walking retracing the steps of Jesus from the Mt. of Olives through Jerusalem to the Church of the Sepulcher. We first walked through the market place to the Old City before is was even awake. The narrow streets were bare and easy to maneuver. We went out the Damascus Gate, past Solomon's Quarry, where the large stones for the Temple were cut, and then up to the Mt. Of Olives. It was a beautiful morning and the sun glistened off the Old City.


We then walked down the road that leads to Gethsemane. It is very steep and gravity pulls you along, but as George said, it was love that pulled Jesus in this direction. We spent some quiet time along a path in the Garden reflecting on that love. We also saw olive trees that were centuries old, possibly over 1,500 years old.

We then crossed the Kidron Valley and entered the city again by the Lion's Gate. We went to St. Anne's Church, a beautiful 12th Century Catholic church. It has amazing acoustics and our group walked up to the steps and sang. Ryan, a young pastor with a beautiful voice, lead us in singing Holy, Holy, Holy; it was a powerful moment for us. We then walked next to the church to see the remains of the pool of Bethesda.

We continued our walk down the Via Dolorosa cutting through the old food and meat market ending at the Church of the Sepulcher. Here we mingled with the religious pilgrims who come here by the thousands to see where Jesus might possibly have been crucified and buried. It is actually rather dark and dreary there from all the candles people have lit and placed by the shrine of the tomb.


After a lunch in the market we packed up and began our trip to Tel Aviv. On our way out of town we stopped at the Israel Museum where we saw a model of Jerusalem as it might have looked in the first century. We then continued our trip to the coast and stopped for supper at a seaside restaurant. After dinner we walked to the Mediterranean Sea, waded in and watched the sunset.


We have seen, touched, smelled, walked on so much in the past two weeks that it will take months to process it all. All I can say now is that it has opened our eyes and hearts in such a way that we will not be the same. It has made us realize that God has always asked of His people some amazing things, and this has not stopped even today. I will try to unpack what that means more in the days ahead.