Jerusalem
Today was the last day with our traveling buddies on the tour. We spent our final day together in Jerusalem, seeing the sites related to the last few days of Christ’s earthly ministry: The Mount of Olives, the Via Dolorosa, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre— built over the location of Jesus’ crucifixion and Jesus’ burial. Most of the people who’ve been with us on tour will get on the plane late tonight, to go back home in the states. Some of us, Connie and I included, are staying behind in Israel for a few more days. Tonight Connie and I are staying in Tel Aviv, and tomorrow we will be heading through the Judean Shephelah, seeing a number of biblical sites along the way. We’ll stay at the southern end of the Dead Sea tomorrow night. From there we’ll go to Masada and En Gedi.
Today it was an amazing experience to walk through the last week of Jesus’ earthly life and to see where he spent it. Of course, in many cases it is impossible to identify precise locations for most of the events of Jesus’ earthly life. As George, our study tour leader, has said to us many times, “We’re not into square inch…” In other words, our faith doesn’t depend on finding the exact locations of Jesus’ ministry.
Over the course of the day we walked through the business district of the old city— which is where Jesus was forced to carry his cross after his “trials” before the Sanhedrin Council, Pontius Pilate, and Herod. The walk was a unique experience because the “streets” in the old city are only about ten feet wide, open only to pedestrian traffic, with very small shops located on either side of the streets. These shops are no larger than the average dining room/kitchen and could be filled with everything from prayer shawls to animal parts to teddy bears. I could imagine Jesus, staggering from the pain and suffering that he was experiencing, crashing the cross into the merchandise that shop keepers had set out for display at the entrances to their shops, as he made his way to Calvary.
Calvary was most likely a worn-out quarry just outside the city gate, on a road that many people used as they left or entered town. This was the preferred location for Roman crucifuxions because it was a place where many would see the crucified bodies and hear this message: “Don’t mess with Rome!”
More on all of these items in months to come…
