Day 05 - Jerusalem : Mount of Olives, Gethsemane, Saint Anne's, Pool of Bethesda, Via Dolorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity, Johnny's (shopping)

"Wow!" "Oh my!" "Hello!"

I am sure there are other phrases people spoke as they came up the steps and peered over the wall at the old city of Jerusalem for the first time. It's impossible to put the scene into words when you see it for the first time, but we're getting accustomed to saying "Whoa" a lot! I can't describe it here, so the pictures will have to tell the story.

Our agenda today was packed to the gills, so I will have to be brief, but I'll do my best to give a clear picture of our day.

After viewing the Old City from the Mount of Olives and talking about how important this specific place is for both Jewish and Christian faiths (seriously, it's one of the key spots on the planet!), we headed down the mountain. Dan, our guide, talked to us about the Jewish burial ground we were passing through. Then we stopped at another tomb just down the road where an ossuary (or bone box as we Americans would think of them) was discovered to have a small fish carved secretly on the inside. The earliest Christians identified themselves by drawing a fish. The cross did not become a symbol of Christianity until hundreds of years later. It really didn't look good to hang a torture device around your neck back then. This specific ossuary is notable because of its age and where it was found. It must have held the bones of one of the very early followers of Jesus!

At the bottom of the Mount is the Garden of Gethsemane. We spent a little time there reflecting on Jesus' tears and admiring the grove of olive trees they have next to an ornate chapel.

From there, we made our way through traffic (whoa!) to Saint Anne's Church, where we had the opportunity to sing briefly in one of the most amazing acoustic buildings on our big blue planet. Check out that short video if you have the time. It sounds amazing!

We turned right out the doors of Saint Anne's and had a great time talking about the pool of Bethesda, where Jesus healed the man who had been lame for 38 years. There are a ton of layers to the story, but the short explanation is that Jesus bypassed all the "rules" and "customs" and got straight to the business of actually healing the man, even though the man had no idea that all it really took was Jesus giving the word.

We continued our ascent (you know, like Psalms 120-134...see what I did there?) toward Jerusalem and walked the Via Dolorosa (if you have Sandy Patty stuck in your head now, welcome to the club I've been a part of all day!). It did NOT look like this when Jesus walked it. Not even close! The LED lights and bags along the way would have gotten in his way. Still, even with all the shops along the way, it is humbling to walk along the path Jesus walked and imagine His pain and agony as He continued His climb.

We ended the journey at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Before we entered, Dan explained why he believes this is the most likely place Jesus was crucified, and, I have to say, it was a really solid case. The events are really what matter, though, and we know that whether or not it was in this exact spot, Jesus still paid the price for our sins.

After going through the church, we had a great lunch and drove to Bethlehem, where we stopped at Johnny's for some shopping! Johnny is a Christian businessman in Bethlehem (10% Christian and 90% Muslim) whose business supports 60 Christian families in the area. They make excellent souvenirs (especially the olive wood carvings) and are gracious to groups that come through. We finished up our time there and had the opportunity to go through the Church of the Nativity.

According to tradition, this church sits on top of the cave Jesus was born in. While you can go down and view the cave, the wait was about two hours, and we didn't have that kind of time. But there is another cave right next door that used to be connected, and there was literally no one else in there! We went down and had a great time learning about the caves and history.

Like I tried to tell you, it was a very busy day, and people are pretty tired. Tomorrow is a much shorter day, but it starts out with a BANG! We're going to the Temple Mount.