Wednesday in Jerusalem

We're heading toward the tail end of this marvelous Israel Study Tour; "Come and Learn to Walk" and it's all been about learning to walk as a follower in "the way" of Jesus. We've learned a lot about the historical and cultural context in which Jesus came and proclaimed the good news of the Kingdom. I think it's true that the closer we can get in understanding Jesus day, His people, and the long stream of God's interaction with that people - God's chosen people, the better we can understand Jesus' teaching and the development and expectations of being His disciple.  We've been learning loads.

Orienteering

Today we began in Jerusalem at the Jaffa gate.  What you see above ground are all the walls built by Sulieman the Magnificent surrounding the Old City.  Most of it is built upon the foundations of the walls Jesus would have seen.  In Psalm 51 David prayed for mercy, forgiveness and cleansing after his sin with Bathsheba, but his prayer moves to the city he loves, asking God that this great sin would not stain its future.  "May it please You to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem."

We hiked down to the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the lame man (John 5). This again was the site of a pagan rite of Asclepius where mysterious healings were said to occur.  Here is Jesus again in contest with the pagan religions, demonstrating that as God in flesh, he could do with a word, what all the invalids were struggling to obtain. It's always been curious to me why in this crowd of cripples Jesus heals only one disabled man.

Dome over Church
of the Holy Sepulcre

From there we walked down to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Most Protestants have preferred Gordon's Calvary as the site of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection (me too). Gordon, a British Army officer reasoned that since the scripture referred to the site as outside the city walls, it couldn't have been the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  But the walls in Gordon's day had been extended outward and the site of the Holy Sepulchre was outside the walls of Jesus' day. Does it matter? Not really. The whole point is that He is not there, He is risen as He said.  (Matt 28:6)

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was abuzz with pilgrims and a cacophony of several worship services at once. Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Coptic, Syriac and Ethiopian all share the space and conflicts do erupt about encroachments of space. By agreement, a Muslim family is custodian of the key.  This mess of religious jealousy and competition is also the kind of sin Jesus assumed on His cross. Some day soon He will return and all of the silly debates will be over.

Reference to Caiaphas
the High Priest on
ossuary of his son.

Spike through heel
of crucifixion victim

We spent the remainder of the morning at the Museum of Israel and the Shrine of the Book.  There we saw the original Dead Sea Scrolls and many archaeological finds from the Biblical periods.  Several of the finds show extrabiblical evidence for biblical characters.  The first and only reference to the House of David is found on an Aramaic stone monument.  I particularly enjoyed seeing artifacts I had written about way back in Seminary.

Then we headed to the Suq for a late lunch.  Jen and I sat and ate in the crowded market and so enjoyed our time together.  I will always be honored that Jen asked me to join her on this journey.  If we ever get the chance for another, it will have to involve a bit less activity.

Lunch with Jen
at the Suq