Day 4 in Israel
Day 4 – Jerusalem, Garden of Gethsemane, Caiaphas’ House, Garden Tomb
I began the first day in Jerusalem with a 30 minute run/walk up and down the hilly streets of Jerusalem. Israel is not a flat country. And Israel is all hills. You can truly understand why the Gospels always say that Jesus went “up to” Jerusalem. We walked down the traditional Palm Sunday road. Then we went to the Mt. of Olives.
We entered the Garden of Gethsemane. I gave the devotion. It was very moving to share God’s Word with 20 pastors and lead them in contemplating Jesus’ agony and prayer from that holy Thursday evening. We sang “Go to Dark Gethsemane,” even though it was bright and sunny at 9:00 o’clock in the morning. Then many of us went up to an olive tree to pray as Jesus prayed that the Lord’s will be done. Obviously this is an unforgettable trip, but giving that devotion was certainly a highlight and something I will never forget! I don’t get nervous too much anymore about preaching, but I had trouble sleeping last night because of the magnitude of this morning!
We toured the house of Caiaphas the high priest and his courtyard where Peter denied his Lord three times. There is a chapel built on that location, too. In almost every holy place there is a Catholic, Orthodox or Byzantine chapel or church. On top of this chapel is a weathervane with a golden rooster recalling the rooster that crowed at Peter’s denial. We had a devotion on the steps that Jesus would have taken as he was led into Caiaphas’ house for trial. We sang, “Jesus and Shall It Ever Be,” praying for the Lord’s strength to never deny or be ashamed of him.
We took a quick walk through the traditional place of Jesus’ Last Supper in the upper room. Then we went to the Jerusalem Museum to view the importance of the Dead Sea scrolls and an awesome 1/50 scale model of Jerusalem. The model really helps you get the idea of what the city of Jerusalem looked like in Jesus’ day.
We ended the day spectacularly at the Garden Tomb. This may or may not be the location of Golgotha, the place of the skull or of the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. But the side of the hill sure looks like the face of a skull. The tomb surely was close by and in a garden. Whether this was the exact tomb of Jesus isn’t really important. The place is not important; the person is! Wherever the tomb may be located, it is empty! We had a devotion and sang “I Know that My Redeemer Lives.” There were other groups having devotions and singing in other locations around the tomb. Simply amazing! We also received Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper and after the short service we exclaimed, “He is risen! He is risen indeed!”
I began the first day in Jerusalem with a 30 minute run/walk up and down the hilly streets of Jerusalem. Israel is not a flat country. And Israel is all hills. You can truly understand why the Gospels always say that Jesus went “up to” Jerusalem. We walked down the traditional Palm Sunday road. Then we went to the Mt. of Olives.
We entered the Garden of Gethsemane. I gave the devotion. It was very moving to share God’s Word with 20 pastors and lead them in contemplating Jesus’ agony and prayer from that holy Thursday evening. We sang “Go to Dark Gethsemane,” even though it was bright and sunny at 9:00 o’clock in the morning. Then many of us went up to an olive tree to pray as Jesus prayed that the Lord’s will be done. Obviously this is an unforgettable trip, but giving that devotion was certainly a highlight and something I will never forget! I don’t get nervous too much anymore about preaching, but I had trouble sleeping last night because of the magnitude of this morning!
We toured the house of Caiaphas the high priest and his courtyard where Peter denied his Lord three times. There is a chapel built on that location, too. In almost every holy place there is a Catholic, Orthodox or Byzantine chapel or church. On top of this chapel is a weathervane with a golden rooster recalling the rooster that crowed at Peter’s denial. We had a devotion on the steps that Jesus would have taken as he was led into Caiaphas’ house for trial. We sang, “Jesus and Shall It Ever Be,” praying for the Lord’s strength to never deny or be ashamed of him.
We took a quick walk through the traditional place of Jesus’ Last Supper in the upper room. Then we went to the Jerusalem Museum to view the importance of the Dead Sea scrolls and an awesome 1/50 scale model of Jerusalem. The model really helps you get the idea of what the city of Jerusalem looked like in Jesus’ day.
We ended the day spectacularly at the Garden Tomb. This may or may not be the location of Golgotha, the place of the skull or of the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. But the side of the hill sure looks like the face of a skull. The tomb surely was close by and in a garden. Whether this was the exact tomb of Jesus isn’t really important. The place is not important; the person is! Wherever the tomb may be located, it is empty! We had a devotion and sang “I Know that My Redeemer Lives.” There were other groups having devotions and singing in other locations around the tomb. Simply amazing! We also received Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper and after the short service we exclaimed, “He is risen! He is risen indeed!”
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