Journeying Jesus’s Last Days

As Ben started off the morning by telling us that “this is going to be a great day,” as he does every morning, he again told the absolute truth. Departing from our Jerusalem hotel one last time, we headed to an overlook on the Mt. of Olives where we had a view of the whole city that we have spent the last few days exploring, and we began to hear about Jesus weeping over the city because he knew what was to come, and to preface what was in store for Jesus’ final days. This is where we would begin our journey following the path Jesus is known to have taken before his death. We made a stop at the Church of All Nations in Gethsemane, which is a place that commemorates Jesus crying out to the Lord for all of humanity to be saved. From there we moved on to St. Anne’s Basilica where people from all over the world come to sing in the awe-inspiring acoustics, and we had the honor of singing the doxology and various worship sounds which send chills up my spine because of worshiping our great Father in such a beautiful setting. Next on our walk was the Pool of Bethesda where we heard about Jesus healing a paralytic man, and reminded ourselves that Jesus not only healed at this spot in the first century, but he is still healing the lame, blind, broken-hearted, and diseased every day, the miracles didn’t end here! We then had an opportunity to pray for healing of those we know in this place of extreme hope. I was again blown away at the power of standing in a spot that Jesus once stood. In case this wasn’t enough life-altering stops for one day, we started to walk down the Via Dolorosa, which is the traditional path that it is believed Jesus’ cross was carried. We ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the ancient building that is traditionally, as well as archeologically believed to be the place that Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose again. We were led through the stunning gates, to a small room in the back where bedrock was exposed all around us. Ben and Stacie revealed in the middle of the craziness in this building, that the ground we were seeing is where the cross stood. The noise around me seemed to stop as I thought about the words “It is finished” being uttered here; the sin of the world erased, and the Lamb of the world sacrificed for my sins. Gods incredible story of freedom from sin, and the love for each human created in his image has been transforming my life while here but many of us struggled today with the view of this land today. The land that the King of humanity died on is now adorned in jewels and chandeliers, and that is the very message Jesus didn’t bring. He came to love the prostitutes, rebels, and abandoned. He humbled himself, and to see the decorations didn’t seem right. But as I wrestled with this I realized that no matter what has been put on this land, the decoration isn’t what mattered. God so loved the world that he gave His son to save me, and you, and everyone we know and that is the message that should be shouted in this place. We are not bound by expectations, as mine have been blown out of the water, but instead I have been reminded how epic, powerful and ridiculous his love for us is. We then moved to “The Hidden Gate,” where new archeological digs claim that this is the spot of Jesus’ trial, where it was decided that this Lamb would be led to slaughter. Jesus stood on these steps as he heard the news of his fate come from the mouths of his people. Again, my mind is blown, and again I thank God for who He is. We were reminded as we heard the story of the people choosing to let Barabbas go, and send Jesus to his death, that we are Barabbas. We stand next to Jesus and God tells us that he wants us to be free, and reminds us that Jesus died for US. That is love. To finish the day, we headed to Jerusalem University College where Ben and Stacie Post spent 2 years studying the Word of the Lord and we got to hear a bit about the ways God works here, meet some of their friends, and even see the spot of their first kiss (I know, we all got giddy).

As we walked the streets that Jesus walked, I was reminded on this path that Jesus is the only hope for this broken world. Sin consumes our society, but there is nothing too strong for our God, He is greater and more powerful than anything standing in front of Him and He will always stand triumphant. The perfect sacrifice was made here and we cannot take this for granted. We serve a God that loves to love us, He delights in us, and He not only covered our sins but wiped them clean so we can live in freedom. God is so cool, as He continues to blow my mind with these “mic-drop” moments, that I can already tell are transforming who I am. Now off to Galilee!

Nicole Fredericks