For our final day in Jerusalem, we were finally entering the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. Within these walls, the Old City is divided into four vaguely defined quarters: one each for the Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and a fourth occupied by the Armenians. We entered the Old City through the Dung Gate.
The Dung Gate, on the southeast corner of the Old City, is named in Hebrew Shaar ha-Ashpot and is mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah (2:13). It is the main entrance into the Jewish Quarter but it still remains the smallest of all the Old City gates. As we entered, we were ushered into a screening area with two lines—one for men and one for women—with metal detectors and guards checking bags. We then passed the Wailing Wall which we would visit later in the afternoon. The Western Wall plaza was filled with jews in prayer shawls coming to the Wailing Wall for morning prayers. Some wore phylacteries on their forearms or foreheads. These small boxes with scripture inside are bound with leather straps as prescribed in Deuteronomy 6. The flurry of activity in the square was mesmorizing. Our group, however, was heading to the Western Wall Tunnels.
The Western Wall Tunnels are excavated tunnels dug by archeologists to explore the wall's foundations. It follows the base of the outside face of the Temple wall along a Herodian street, below today's street level, and emerges along the Via Dolorosa. Our journey through the tunnel reminded me of an Indiana Jones movie. The further into the tunnel we progressed, the further back in time we were going. The walls and brickwork we were walking along and beside dated to the Second Temple period (70AD) and sections were even older than that. Bricks that were larger than the touring bus we traveled in made up portions of this wall. It was amazing to consider how they were quarried and cut, let alone put in place.
As we exited the tunnels, we were now on a portion of the Via Dolorosa. Known as the "Way of Sorrows," this is the path that Jesus walked on his way to the Crucifixion. We were also in the northeast corner the Old City known as the Muslim Quarter. Our next stop was inside the Convent of the Sisters of Zion which is located where the Antonia Fortress stood during Jesus' days. The Antonia Fortress was adjacent to the Temple and was built by Herod the Great in 37-35 BC to protect the Temple. It was also where the Roman government was headquartered. Most importantly to us, it was the site where Jesus was flogged before being led to his death. The site we visited was very likely the location—or very near to—the site where Jesus was beaten. During our time here, we discussed the verse in Isaiah that prophesied about Jesus being beaten and that "by his stripes we are healed." We took time to pray for each other, for physical healing, and thanking Jesus for his stripes and his healing power today.
Next, we walked to St. Anne's Church and the Pool of Bethsaida. The most impressive part of this visit was the incredible acoustics inside this stone church built by the Crusaders between 1131 and 1138. As we entered, various groups were seated and taking turns singing a cappella. We found our seats and continued to listen. The groups were from all over the globe and singing in their native tongue. First, a group singing in French, later a group singing in Russian. We sang three or four songs (in English, of course) and were amazed at how good we sounded! It was like singing in an enormous shower with our songs reverberating off the stone walls surrounding us.
We now exited the Old City through the Lion's Gate which faces the Mount of Olives to the east of Jerusalem. The Lion's Gate actually has six names, each one for various reasons. It's known as the Sheep Gate, St. Stephen's Gate, the East Gate, the Jericho Gate, or in Hebrew, Shaar ha-Arayot. By whichever name you choose, we walked through it and then headed south along the outside of the Eastern Wall and back into the Old City through the Zion Gate on the southern wall. We were now in the Armenian Quarter for a block of two until we turned into the Jewish Quarter. Our plan was to have lunch in the Jewish Quarter, but plans change. So instead we found restrooms, saw the Cardo—an excavated and partially reconstructed main street of Byzantine-era Jerusalem and the "Street called Straight" mentioned in the Book of Acts. We then boarded our bus and headed out of the Old City for a fantastic lunch.
After lunch, we returned to Dung Gate and proceeded to the Wailing Wall. Now later in the afternoon, the activity was much less. A group of Jewish school children were at the wall with their rabbi teaching them to pray. A couple of soldiers were praying at the wall. And several others whether they were tourists, Hassidic Jews, or local Israelis. The Wailing Wall is considered the holiest site in Judaism. This is due to the fact that when the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in AD70-73, Jews believed that God's presence moved from the Holy of Holiest inside the Temple to the only portion of the Temple wall that remained: the Wailing Wall. It's name comes from the time during the Ottoman period when Jews came to this wall to lament the destruction of the Second Temple. Today, worshippers visit the Wall to celebrate Bat and Bar Mitzvahs, to recite daily prayers or the entire Book of Psalms, and others who believe petitions to God made at the Wall are especially effective, will write down prayers and insert them between the stones. As I approached the wall, I took time to pray with one hand placed overhead against the wall, thanking God for this amazing experience. I prayed for my kids and for their future and then inserted a written prayer in between the stones.
The women's section of the Wailing Wall is separated from the men. So Susie and the other women on our team entered a different sections area to pray. The one marked difference we all noted between the women and the men was that when the women finished praying they walked backward away from the wall while still facing it. The men did not do this. Apparently, the women, who do not want to "turn their backs on the presence of God," are more spiritual than the men. The ladies in our group seemed pleased by this fact!
After the Wailing Wall, we returned to our bus to make the final stop of our journey: The Garden Tomb.
The Garden Tomb is located outside the Old City walls and is north of the Muslim Quarter between Herod's and the Damascus Gates. Towards the end of the 19th century the British General, Charles Gordon, was visiting Jerusalem and started a dispute among archeologists. As he looked out the window of his room, he saw a skull-shaped hill and what he concluded had to be Golgotha—the site of Christ's Crucifixion referred to in Mark 15:22. He also surmised that the site of Jesus' burial had to be here and not at the nearby Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The debate still continues today. The Garden Tomb is a beautiful garden setting overlooking that same skull-shaped hill and features a first century tomb carved out of rock in the hillside. A British Christian ministry operated the garden and our host not only shared the history of the site, but he made a clear presentation of the Gospel. He made no claim that this was the actual site of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. But he made a solid case why it could be. He left the decision making up to us, but mostly this was a great way to see what Christ's tomb probably looked like—if it was not in fact the real thing.
After viewing Skull Hill—which overlooks an Arab bus station adjacent to the Garden—we walked over to the nearby Tomb. I smiled when I read the sign on the door, "He is not here. He is Risen!" The small tomb was indeed empty, except for the four of us crowded inside to take pictures. That empty tomb is the central difference that separates Christianity from any other religion. Jesus said He would rise again and His empty tomb proves it. Mohammed, Buddha, Confucious, and all the others are still in their tombs. Jesus is alive!
Our final moments in the Garden included Pastor Jim leading us in a time of reflection—sharing stories and personal impacts from this trip—followed by communion and worship. To take communion in Jerusalem, in the garden near the place where Jesus suffered, died, was buried, and rose again, cannot be put into words. It was a moment that will stay with me all of my life.
It's equally hard to summarize the past eight days in Israel. We have seen more than I ever imagined. Pastor Jim said that a visit to Israel is like a year of intensive Bible seminary education. I can't disagree. I'll be processing all that I've seen and heard for weeks and months to come. One thing I do know... When I read the Bible and encounter place names like the Mount of Olives, Capernaum, Sea of Galilee, the Garden of Gethsemane, Caesarea, and so many more, I no longer just see names on a page. Now I see the actual places. The Bible has come to life. A friend said before I left that when she visited Israel it made the Bible become 3D. It's so very true. My Bible is now in 3D. I've always known that the Word of God is living and active—but now I feel like it's been supercharged, at least in terms of my own imagination and understanding as I read it's pages.
My final thoughts: put a visit to Israel on your life's "to-do list." It wasn't on mine. This opportunity came as an invitation by Pastor Jim to be the trip videographer. Now that I've experienced Israel, I would jump at the chance to return. Again, put israel on your personal bucket list. It will change your life and you'll never read the Word of God the same ever again!
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