We began today at an odd spot – the site of Jesus’ ascension from the Mount Of Olives. Interestingly, Islam also commemorates Jesus’ ascension.
At some point today we visited the Upper Room to commemorate the Last Supper but it was just too crowded. Here is a photo that shows the crowds we were dealing with.
Then we began our Holy Week at the spot on the Mount of Olives commemorating Palm Sunday and then proceeded to walk the now nicely paved Pilgrim Path leading down the hill.
We next stopped at a church commemorating the fact Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. This is the view he would have had from that spot. You can see the walls of the city. The gold dome is the Dome of the Rock which is where the Temple would have been sitting high above the walls of the city.
In order to walk to the city Jesus would have had to walk through the “valley of the shadow of death”- through a cemetery of many graves, many dating back to the 1st century.
Then it was onto the Garden of Gethsemane and the stunning Church of all Nations. Inside is a piece of ancient bedrock commemorating Jesus stopping there to pray.
From his arrest there he was taken into the city to the House of Caiaphas. These are 1st century steps Leading to Caiaphas’ house. Perhaps Jesus walked up these same steps.
The site also commemorates Peter’s betrayal of Jesus, and there is a wonderful statue of Peter and the three people to whom he betrayed Jesus. There is a rooster on top of the post in the statue.
Of course there is a church over the site, but the original dungeons are under the church. Jesus would have been lowered down through a hole cut in the rock. The dungeons is deep with about 40 foot high walls. Once in, there would be no way out.
And there we left Jesus. Whipped. Bloody. Semi conscious. In a dungeon. To wait.
Looking Out Seeing Within 