Holy Land Day 8 - Mt of Olive, Gethsamene, Golgotha Gdn Tomb,Caiaphas' House, Cenacle n Jewish Qtr

Day 8 - We started the day with a visit to the Mount of Olives, descended by foot along the same pathway of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem by a colt. We rented a donkey and some of us rode on a it towards Dominus Flevit Church. Picture 3 - a grave site along the way.

Dominus Flevit which translates from Latin as "The Cry of the Lord" or "The Lord Wept", was fashioned in the shape of a teardrop to symbolize the tears of Christ. It commemorates the place where Jesus wept as He prophesized the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

Antonio Barluzzi, the architect, designed the chapel as a stylized tear-shaped building, constructed in the form of a Greek cross. A window behind the altar in the west wall frames a view of the Old City.

A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek nekropolis, meaning "city of the dead".

The Basilica of the Agony at the Garden of Gethsemane (Church of All Nations). Built in 1924 on the traditional site of the Garden of Gethsemane, it enshrines a section of bedrock identified as the place where Jesus prayed alone in the garden on the night of his arrest. Although it is not certain that this is the exact spot, the setting does fit the Gospel description, and the present church, designed by the architect Antonio Barluzzi, rests on the foundations of two earlier shrines: a 12th-century Crusader chapel, abandoned in 1345; and a 4th-century Byzantine basilica, destroyed by the earthquake in 746.

Inside of the Basilica. Picture 1 shows a priest conducting a service. The fresco in the background shows Jesus weeping on the rock between the olive trees, after visualizing the ruin of Jerusalem and observing the ignorance of its citizens of the events to come. Picture 2 - wind pipes.

Peter in the Garden of Olives. Adjacent to the Church of All Nations is an ancient olive garden. Olive trees do not have rings and so their age can not be precisely determined, but scholars estimate their age to anywhere between one and two thousand years old. It is unlikely that these trees were here in the time of Christ because of the report that the Romans cut down all the trees in the area in their siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

A picture, taken from the Mt of Olives, of the Russian Orthodox Church which was built in 1888.

We proceeded to the Garden of Gethsemane, followed by a Holy Communion service at the Garden Tomb. The preservation of the Tomb and Garden outside the walls of Jerusalem was believed by many to be the sepulchre and garden of Joseph of Arimathea.

In 1883, General Charles Gordon visited Jerusalem. He spied a prominent rocky crag which looked to him like it could be the "place of the skull", Golgotha, mentioned in the Bible as where JESUS was crucified. The slope has eroded badly in the last hundred years, but some maintain they can still see the eye sockets and the nose bridge. Regardless, it must be noted that while the Bible locates the crucifixion at the "place of the skull," it never says that it was on a hill, nor that this place bore the resemblance of a skull.

Around the corner Gordon identified an ancient tomb and putting the two together he located the hill of crucifixion and the nearby burial place. This is the place believed by many to be the resting place of JESUS.

Notice the crack on the wall? A tape measure descended into the crack went freely down another 25 ft. This meant the crack had extended down to a considerable distance. Scripture account of the ressurection of Jesus where there was an earthquake and walls of the tomb cracked. (Matt. 27:51) Could this finding confirm that event?

Picture 1 - Peter outside the tomb. Picture 2 shows the water cistern which is the third largest in Jerusalem, holding approximately 250,000 gallons of rain water. This can be dated back to the 1st century AD, and suggests that this garden was once part of a working garden possible housing an olive grove or orchard. The garden site also holds an ancient wine press.

St Peter in Gallicantu was built in the slopes of mount Zion, in 1931. According to tradition, this was the place of the palace of high priest Caiaphas, where Jesus was. brought to jail after his arrest.

Its name (Gallicantu, means the cock's crow) is given after the story of Peters triple denial of Christ and the cock crowing twice.

On the basement of the church is an array of caves. These were cut into the rock under the houses of the ancient city.

Picture 1 - plan of a sacred pit. Picture 2 - A view of the lower caves and the sacred pit, where Jesus was believed to be held in custody.

The Cenacle, also known as the "Upper Room", is the last standing portion of a Byzantine and Crusader Church. The beautiful pillars and the arches, windows and other Gothic style architectural elements are a clear indication the room was built by the Crusaders in the early XIV century, on top of a much older structure most probably pre-dating the first churches erected in Palestine. This old structure, according to the archaeological research, was a church-synagogue of the early Christian community of Jerusalem.

The Last Supper (Lk 22) and the Pentecost (Acts 2) took place in the upper room. Other memories (mainly the Tomb of David) are found on the ground floor. Picture 2 - golden olive tree.

The southeast corner of the Old City, the Jewish Quarter occupies about 15 acres and has been inhabited by Jews for centuries. Following the capture of the Old City by the Arabs in 1948, all Jews were expelled and their buildings destroyed. When Israel regained the Old City in 1967 work began to reconstruct the quarter and today hundreds of people live and study here.

Constructed by the Temple Institute and based on extensive research, this golden menorah is appropriate for use in the Third Temple. Over two meters in height and plated with 43 kg (95 lbs) of gold, this menorah is the first such constructed since the destruction of the Temple. This menorah is on display in the Jewish Quarter.

Reconstruction work following the 1967 war allowed archaeologists to excavate various areas in the Jewish Quarter. One of the most significant finds from the OT period was the Broad Wall. Built by Hezekiah in the days before the 701 B.C. invasion by the Assyrian king Sennacherib, the Broad Wall enclosed the Western Hill and increased the walled area of Jerusalem five-fold.

I love these 6 pictures, so beautifully taken by Peter, at the Jewish Quarters.

Lesson learnt : At the beginning of JESUS' ministry, HE warned the people and performed two cleansing;

(1) turned water to wine at a wedding in Cana. This symbolized a spiritual cleansing of JESUS’ blood superseded ritual washings. JESUS has fulfilled the rituals and replaced them with something much better—Himself. The servants filled the containers to the brim,(John 2:6-11). How appropriate, for JESUS filled the rituals completely, rendering them obsolete. In the messianic age, no space is left for ritual washings.

(2) Cleansing of the temple is an advance indication of what the ministry of Jesus is all about. Jesus was going to bring about the end of the temple sacrificial system and the end of the rituals of cleansing (John 2:19-25).

Three year later, at the end of HIS ministry on earth, the people remained the same. At JESUS' second coming, HE will return as King and Judge. Are we ready to meet the KING of kings and LORD of lords?