Written by Rev. Josh AttawayIt is hard to imagine a more beautiful and moving view than from the top of the Mount of Olives. That’s where we began today with a group picture overlooking the city of Jerusalem from on top of the Mount of Olives. We had a chance to reflect on the time Jesus spent on that mountain in the last days of his life and the significance of that place for His ascension to heaven. While we were up there, some of the people in our group even got to ride a camel around!
From the Mount of Olives we made our way to the old city of Jerusalem. We entered the city
gates and went to St. Anne’s Cathedral. Tradition says that St. Anne was the mother of Mary who was the mother of Jesus, and St. Anne’s church has been built on the birthplace of Mary. St. Anne’s is also the place that used to have pools filled with water that would go to the temple to be used for ritual purification baths. We read about these in our Bibles as the Pools of Bethesda.
gates and went to St. Anne’s Cathedral. Tradition says that St. Anne was the mother of Mary who was the mother of Jesus, and St. Anne’s church has been built on the birthplace of Mary. St. Anne’s is also the place that used to have pools filled with water that would go to the temple to be used for ritual purification baths. We read about these in our Bibles as the Pools of Bethesda.
It was believed that these pools had special healing powers for people who got in them immediately after they were disturbed. We read the story of Jesus coming to the pools and encountering the man who has been unable to get in because nobody was there to help him, and yet seemed to totally miss that the One who could bring healing was standing right in front of him. Rev. Wendy Lambert shared a beautiful time of devotion in this spot and offered to anoint us all with healing oil as a reminder of God’s current work to heal us in a myriad of ways.
St. Anne’s Cathedral is just down the street from the start of the Via Dolorosa. The Via Dolorosa is the way that Jesus went carrying his cross on his way to be crucified. There are traditionally fourteen stations along the way that mark different moments that happened, as Jesus was moving towards Golgotha. We had time to pause, reflect, and pray at each of these stations along the Via Dolorosa and remember what Christ has done for all of us.
The Via Dolorosa ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the traditional site where Jesus was crucified and the church also houses the stone table that Jesus’ body was laid on for burial preparations as well as the tomb that was pulled out of the rocks to be placed inside the church. It was an incredibly overwhelming moment to be there remembering what happened at Golgotha and the significance of it for each of us.
We all had time to walk around the church, be in prayer, and see all that it had to offer before we headed back out of the old city and loaded up on our bus to go eat lunch. After lunch, most of us went back to the old city to take a tour around the Jewish Quarter. We had some great time for shopping and go to see some archaeological excavations that had uncovered some of the walls from the first temple period over 2500 years old!
After our tour around the Jewish Quarter we had free time the rest of the afternoon or evening to do more exploring around the city, rest at the hotel, and just enjoy each other’s company. It is hard to believe we arrived one week ago and tomorrow will be our last full day here in the Holy Lands. Tomorrow we will visit the birthplace of John the Baptist, the Holocaust Museum, and the Garden Tomb. It will certainly be a special last day so make sure to check back tomorrow for our final update of the trip!
