Day 09 - Jerusalem: Mount of Olives, Gethsemane, Saint Anne's, Pool of Bethesda, Via Dolorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Ramparts, Southern Steps

Today was our last day of touring in Israel. I have mixed emotions as we wind down this study tour reflecting on all that we have learned in these last 9 days, while at the same time looking forward to taking what I have learned and experienced and put it into practice. I will now look at my study of the Bible with a different perspective. What I have seen, heard and experienced has changed me forever.

Today’s tour was focused on the last days of Jesus’ time here on earth before the crucifixion. We stood on holy ground at the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus went to pray with his disciples prior to his arrest. While we were uncomfortable with the weather it was nothing in comparison to the agony Jesus experienced that night as he was praying and later betrayed into the hands of the Jewish authorities.

We moved on to the pool of Bethesda which was a place where “miracle workers” were “healing” people through drugs and deception. Jesus approached a man who was crippled from birth and healed him instantly by commanding hi to stand up, take his mat, and walk. The interesting question he posed to him was “Do you want to be healed?” This seems strange to us, but this man had been crippled for 38 years. Perhaps Jesus saw the look of complacency in his face. The question for us is are we too comfortable with where we are in life to really seek Jesus fully in our lives. Perhaps we need to be “healed” and encouraged to step out further in our faith walk.

Next to the pool at Bethesda was the Chapel of Saint Ann. While this chapel was decorated like many other chapels I have seen from the era, this chapel has special acoustical properties. It was really cool to listen, and then sing as a group, many of the familiar hymns we all know and experience the richness and fullness of the sound. It truly sent chills down my spine and brought tears of joy to my eyes. What a blessing!

Lastly, we walked into the city of Jerusalem, along the Via Dolorosa, to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Here we saw the “Stations of the Cross”. There were 14 in total with the last 5 residing in the church. We experienced the loud (very loud) ringing of the church bells, saw a procession of Greek Orthodox priests, and viewed the various ornate chapels within the main building. God blessed us with great weather up to this point, but we did experience a heavy rainstorm (and some snow) after leaving this church.

I am thankful we had a great GTI tour team with Ariel and Eli: Eli for his great driving a large bus on these small streets and Ariel for the wealth on knowledge he imparted to us on a daily basis.

24 March 2022

By: J. William Burke