Day 08 - Jerusalem : Mount of Olives, Gethsemane, Pool of Bethesda, Via Dolorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Israel Museum, Model of Jerusalem

Good morning! Our last full day in Jerusalem was very full and we’re writing from the Tel Aviv airport.  We have all had an amazing time here in Israel and are ready to get home to our families.  

Our first stop on the last day was at a lookout point where we had an amazing view of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock. It is now a shrine and holy place for Muslim people. This is where the Muslim people believe that Mohamed ascended into heaven, received the five principles of faith, and returned home. The location of Dome of the Rock is also on the same mountain where Abraham was supposed to bring Isaac to sacrifice him. Nearby is also the Temple Mount, which Herod built to appease the Jewish people. However, right behind the temple, Herod also built a fortress that was larger and taller to show the people that he had the ultimate authority and power. This fortress in the northern part of the Temple Mount was the political capital of Pontius Pilate. 

Our next stop was to climb up the Mount of Olives and visit the Garden of Gethsemane. This was one of the most powerful places we visited. Gethsemane is where Jesus went with his disciples to pray the night before he was crucified. Mount of Olives is mentioned several other times in scripture as the place that David came and wept, and also where Jesus grieved with the two sisters over Lazarus’ death (before he was then raised back to life).

From the Mount of Olives we could see the corner of the old wall where, in the time of Jesus, someone would have stood and sounded the horn when Jesus was being crucified.

When we went to the Garden of Gethsemane, our team had communion together and read through Mark 14. For me, this is always been one of the most powerful parts of the Bible. We can see in the scripture that He must have been in prayer all through the night as the disciples continued to fall asleep, even when He asked them to stay awake and watch Him in prayer. We read about how Jesus was both betrayed by Judas and denied by Peter, two of his closest friends. In these passages, we see that Jesus is overwhelmed with sorrow, anxiety, and grief. In Mark 14:36 he says, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” I think this simultaneously captures the full humanity of Jesus as we feel the emotion and agony He felt in anticipation of the humiliation and excruciating pain He was about to face, and also His godliness. Even in the middle of his sorrow, He is able to say let your will be done, Father. Standing on the mountainside in the garden, we were able to picture our Savior here, “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). It made me imagine the depth of emotional pain Jesus must have felt, knowing what He was about to face in just a few hours. I thought about how Jesus was arrested and taken from the garden, and see how much He loves us.

In John 17, we read Jesus praying specifically for his disciples, which is powerful to read. It says, “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”

After the garden of Gethsemane, we went to the remains of the pool of Bethesda (Mark 2). This was considered a healing pool in its time and sick and paralyzed people would draw near to it, hoping to be healed.  It is here that Jesus encounters the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years, and Jesus asks him, “Do you want to be healed?… get up, take your bed and walk.” The man did not even know who Jesus was at the time but he obeyed him and was healed. Our team discussed the idea that sometimes God will call us to things that we feel completely incapable of, and how Jesus followed up with the man later to offer complete healing through the forgiveness of his sins. 

Our next stop was to the beautiful St. Anne’s church, which has some of the best acoustics in the world. Our team sang the Doxology together and then walked down the Via Dolorosa. This is the path through the Old City of Jerusalem that Jesus would have walked, carrying the cross, on the way to his crucifixion. Throughout most of our walk, we could hear the Muslim call to prayer.

Our last stop was at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, located in the Christian quarter of the Old City, Jerusalem. This location is identified as the place of both the crucifixion and the burial tomb of Jesus.

Our students had lunch on a rooftop overlooking the Dome of the Rock and did some souvenir shopping in the local market. We were able to meet up with my friend, Andra Hersey, who works at the Jerusalem University College and the students ended their day with a tour of the campus. A few of them seem interested in coming back and studying in Israel someday! 

We are now at the Tel Aviv airport and ready for our long travel day ahead. We are so incredibly grateful for this amazing experience, a great team to travel with, and the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the Bible and our Savior, Jesus. Thank you for all your prayers and we’ll see you soon in Chicago! 

Highlight from Isaac Locascio: Going to Israel has been such an incredible experience, understanding the biblical narrative under the lens of historical evidence not only builds faith in a tremendous way, yet further provides such profound insight into the stories of Christ as well as opens the backdoor into our beloved biblical authors backgrounds. The breathtaking moments with God cultivated through being in the real settings of hundreds of stories we’ve read about since childhood. This trip to Israel has truly invoked new encounters and deep intimacy with the Lord, truly reading the Word of God will never be the same after this experience.