I suppose you could say we hit the “motherlode of sites” with respect to Jesus. Let me list these things, without Scripture references. Most are familiar stories. This will take 2 posts.
·
We were on the Mount of Olives, where Jesus
often spent time.
o
At this point we catch a bus from the Arab
station that sits in front of Skull Hill.
It’s our first view and we will get a better view on Saturday, Lord
willing.
o
On the bus to the top we first go left into the
area of Bethphage where Jesus sent disciples to get the donkey for the ride
into Jerusalem.
o
Then we headed south and get off at the Church
of the Ascension where we were given a very good explanation as to why this spot
made sense as the place spoken of in Luke and Acts as where Jesus
ascended.
o
Then we walked over to the viewpoint where we
could see where the road from Jerusalem to Bethany would have run. In the “Passion Week” each night we are told
that Jesus went to Bethany and then returned in the morning. Among other things, along this road Jesus used
a fig tree to speak of Israel.
o Then we walked down the traditional road of the Triumphal Entry.
o At the bottom of the hill is the olive grove that, while not likely the exact spot, still reminds us of the place of Jesus pleadings with His Father in Gethsemane.
·
We then crossed the Kidron. What an amazing place.
o
The Kidron Valley was where Asa, Hezekiah and
Josiah tossed the broken idols and altars and so forth when they cleansed
Jerusalem of idolatry.
o
There King David, fleeing from Absalom, had
crossed, weeping as he went. And there
also David returned after the defeat and death of Absalom.
o There Jesus had crossed with His disciples, in great sorrowness of heart, after the meal in the Upper Room. And there Jesus returned on the same path, under arrest, heading to the house of Caiaphas.
o
Coming up the other side of the Kidron we
stopped and talked about the Kings Valley (lower section of Kidron around City
of David) where Melchizedek met Abram on his return from retrieving Lot.
o Then we walked through the Muslim Cemetery on the walkway that takes you underneath the Eastern Gate through which the Messiah will someday return.
More in the next post.
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| Bus Station at Skull Hill |
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| On the bus for the Mount of Olives |
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| Church of the Ascension |
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| Gethsemane |
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| Depiction of Christ in Gethsemane |
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| Monuments in the Kings Valley |
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| Eastern Gate from the Muslim Cemetery |
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