July 11, 2010
That Internet being out really threw me. I can't believe how much I rely on it. I also can't believe how nice it is to travel and to still keep in such close contact with family and friends.
Here is the revised edition of our day Sunday. I am now well rested and better able to give more details. We decided to go up to the mount of Olives and do the walk down that Jesus did, probably many times, but specifically on Palm Sunday. He came from the same direction that the High Priest would be coming, bringing the Passover lamb for sacrifice. That is why there were so many people lining the streets, they came to watch the procession with the perfect lamb. Anyway, we followed the path down the hill and came to a church courtyard. A lecherous Arab was working at the gates, making sure every one's knees and shoulders were covered, He decided he wanted me for his fourth wife so he walked with us and explained why the church was there. It turned out that it was where people believe that Jesus saw in the Spirit the coming destruction of Jerusalem and he stopped and wept for His people. The church is in the shape of a teardrop and there are tear jars adorning it. The grounds are very beautiful and we sat outside the church and prayed for Jerusalem, the Jews, and our new Muslim friends. When we left Dixie protected me from the Arab man, who offered her 100 camels for me.
We continued down the steep road, past the Jewish cemetery. They desire to be buried there as they know the prophesy that Messiah will come to the Mount of Olives. They think it is for the 1st time, we know that it is His 2nd coming. We then turned into the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed until he perspired drops of blood, and where His disciples slept instead of keeping watch. Also where the soldiers arrested Him. The olive trees there are very old, they say 2000 years old. They are way bigger and more gnarled than the ones we usually see. We sat on the steps of the church and looked out at the Eastern gate that I wrote about before. It was awe inspiring. As we made our way to the bottom of the hill we came across Mary's tomb. We had to decend many stairs into a deep grotto, and there people were worshipping Mary. We didn't, we took some pictures and ascended back to the light.
At this point we really wanted to find the upper room, to keep somewhat in order so we headed into the old city, hoping to find it there. As it turned out, we were at the beginning of the Via Dolorosa, or the path that some believe that Jesus took before He was crucified. A man offered to show us the first few stations which were where Jesus was taken before Herod, where they said "Behold the Man!" (Ecce Homo arches), and where He stumbled and fell under the weight of the cross. Then our dear guide demanded 150 shekels each to continue the tour. Dixie gave him 20 for his time and I ended up giving him $10. We dashed away with a bad taste in our mouths so we ditched the Via D. plan and ate some delicious pizza instead. It was getting close to the time church starts so we decided to go through the Armenian quarter and try to find a gift shop that Doug and Moe had recommended to us. An eldery man offered to show us the way, and yes, you guessed it, wanted money when we were almost there. Michelle took out a larger bill and asked if he had change, but he just grabbed it out of her hand and took off. Today was the day of extortionists!
We finally made it out of the old city (remember it is walled, and there are only a few gates to enter and exit from.) We were headed to the bus stop but a taxi driver offered us a ride. I told him there were five of us and he said, no problem, his car is very large! So we decided to go with him but unfortunately his car is not very large and Diane had to cram herself under our legs on the floor. It was good that it wasn't a long cab ride! He was trying to convince us to take tours with him and somehow he figured out that we had gone with his 'brother' Sammi. We didn't really believe him, but found out later that our Sammi was indeed his cousin.
We made it to church on time and it was an amazing time of praise, worship and hearing God's word in relation to Israel. We were thrilled when the speaker talked of so many of the places the we had been to that very day. We were definitely ordained to be here at such a time as this!
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