Written by Cara Nicklas
What better way to start the day than to spend time in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. We left our hotel this morning and traveled by the Kidron valley to the area in Jerusalem where Jesus and His disciples prayed before Jesus was taken for trial prior to His crucifixion. As we read in the gospel of John, on the night that Judas betrayed Jesus, the Master “went forth with his disciples across the Kidron valley, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered . . . for Jesus often met there with his disciples.” The Garden of Gethsemane (from GAT + SHEMANIM) means “olive oil press” and suggests that Gethsemane was in or near a grove of olive trees. The garden contains olive trees believed to be between 1000-3000 years old. In the enclosed garden are eight olive trees held by tradition to be the silent witnesses of Jesus’ prayer and suffering the evening before His crucifixion. What a privilege to be able to pray in the place where Jesus spent so much time in prayer.
We also toured the basilica built to recall how Jesus agonized over us to the point of sweating blood. This was the third basilica built on this site. Begun in 1919 and completed in 1924, the basilica includes the “Rock of the Agony” which has been conserved directly in front of the altar. This basilica is called “The Church of All Nations” because of the contributions offered by different nations for the mosaics of the apses and cupolas.
We continued on to the Western Wall where we were again able to spend time in prayer and place our written prayers in the wall. The women went on the right side of the wall and the men went on the left side of the wall. The men were able to witness a bar mitzvah in front of the Western Wall. I stood on a ledge and looked over the half wall in order to see the bar mitzvah taking place. Interestingly, the state of Israel decided to create a space on the outside of the Western Wall for families who wish to include women in a bar mitzvah.
Next, we toured the temple area and the excavated sites of “The City of David.” What was most incredible was spending time at “the teaching steps.” We went to the main entrance to the Temple Mount. This is a place where Jesus would have spent a lot of time teaching. This is the place where Jesus taught us to love God and our neighbor. Josh Attaway led a short message helping us remember how Jesus taught what mattered most to Him. Hearing scripture being read at the very site where Jesus taught will surely change the way I read the Bible.
We loaded the bus and traveled outside Jerusalem through the Judea Desert on our way to Jericho where we would eat lunch, do a little shopping, and visit parts of Jericho. Jericho is the oldest and lowest city in the world. It is 1300 feet below sea level and has towers and walls that were built 10,000 years ago. Twenty-three layers of civilization have been found. Jericho was the first city that Joshua encountered when leading the Hebrew people into the Promised Land. Today, Jericho is under the Palestinian authority. Approximately 5% of the population is Christian. We saw what may be the Sycamore Tree that Zacchaeus climbed in order to see Jesus. We also saw the Mount of Temptation, the hill in the Judaean Desert where Jesus was tempted by the devil. (Matthew 4:8). We viewed much of Jericho from the comfort of our bus because it was hot!
As we traveled back to Jerusalem through the Judaean Desert, Wendy read from the book of Psalm and we gained new insight into the meaning of Psalm 23. When you look at the terrain referred to by King David, you realize the need the sheep had for a shepherd. The sheep did not roam in thick, green pastures. No, they were in the desert in need of a shepherd to guide them to the location of grass and water. They relied solely on the shepherd to provide for their needs. To hear the words of the Psalms as you look out your window at shepherds herding their sheep in the desert terrain is a memory of a lifetime.
