Seeing the Old City walls for the first time yesterday was breath taking. I've seen so many pictures of Jerusalem from church and Sunday school, but it was so different in person. Entering through Jaffa Gate, we made our way up to the top of the Petra Hostel. From there, we could see the three towers on the Mount of Olives. The first tower, the Hebrew University tower, sat to the north. The central tower is the Augusta Victoria Hospital, and the southern tower is the Russian Church of the Ascension. Jaffa Gate is next to a massive hold that Kaiser Wilhelm punched through to make a grand entrance into Jerusalem.
Next, we headed to Christ Church, probably the first Protestant church in the Middle East. The model of Jerusalem really helped me get the image in my head of what Jerusalem looked like during the time of Christ. Knowing where the old walls were also helped when we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and evaluated the authenticity of the traditional place for Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. Built by Helena in 325AD, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the most likely candidate for the actual site of the crucifixion and resurrection. A first century tomb has shaft tombs (cylinders drilled into the rock), and arcosolium (shelf spaces with arches over them). John 20:11 confirms that Jesus was laid on an arcosolia. Tradition also confirms the Church of the Holy Sepulcher as the correct site. Since there were always Christians living in Jerusalem, it is unlikely that memory of the site would be forgotten and/or changed. The church also sits outside the old walls. In light of those three things, the church is most likely the site for the crucifixion and resurrection. We also discussed Hadrian's impact on Israel and Jerusalem while we were inside the church. Hadrian hated the Jews, so he renamed Jerusalem "Aelia Capitalina" and renamed Israel "Palestine" after the Philistines. A temple to Venus was constructed by Hadrian in the same place as the Holy Sepulcher sits now.
After regrouping in the courtyard, we headed down the streets of Old City into Shaban's shop. Shaban is a local shop keeper who loves the IBEX students. He was so kind and gracious to us! I'd never had mango juice before then, and I'm pretty sure it was one of the best things I've ever tasted. Shaban introduced us to his brother-in-law, and then changed all of our American money into shekels. Passing through the New Gate, we sat down on the grass and rested while waiting for our first shawarma. The shawarma was very good, but very different from anything I've ever had before. It was filled with turkey, onion, pickles, french fries, and lots more. We passed Damascus Gate and explored Zedekiah's caves, or Solomon's quarry. The quarry doesn't actually have anything to do with Zedekiah or Solomon. Herod actually used the quarry for his large scale construction projects throughout the city. The quarry itself was massive on the inside, and was cool and damp.
We passed Herod's Gate and went up on a small hilltop with a view of the Mount of Olives. Josiah read Zechariah 14, describing how Jesus' feet will touch the Mount of Olives, and it will split in half from east to west.
We passed Herod's Gate and went up on a small hilltop with a view of the Mount of Olives. Josiah read Zechariah 14, describing how Jesus' feet will touch the Mount of Olives, and it will split in half from east to west.
"In that day, His [Jesus'] feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south." - Zechariah 14:4
I think this was the most impactful part of our trek in Jerusalem. Looking at the Mount of Olives and knowing that Jesus' actual feet will touch that spot I'm looking at was incredible. It helped to really solidify and truly realize that Christ is coming back. Of course, I believed it strongly before, but seeing the actual place adds something that I'm not sure how to put into words.
Next we went through Lion's Gate to the Pools of Bethesda. The name Lion's Gate comes from the lions carved in either side of the gate itself. One of Sulimon's architects had a dream about lions in the gate, so they added the stone lions to the gate. The gate also has an alternate name of Saint Stephen's Gate. Some believe this was the place that Stephen was stoned to death. However, it is unlikely because the walls are different now than they were in Stephen's time. After we discussed Stephen's Gate, we went into the Pools of Bethesda. The name Bethesda means something close to "house of mercy." Here, Jesus healed a disabled man and sent him walking away with his bed. The story is detailed in John 5, and is the third sign that Jesus performs in John's Gospel. Jesus came down to Jerusalem from his Great Galilean Ministry to attend the Feat of Weeks, or Pentecost. Jesus came through the Sheep Gate to get to Bethesda. Scholars are unsure of exactly where the Sheep Gate is, but we can guess about its use. IT may be that sheep were brought through the Sheep Gate to be washed in the Pools of Bethesda. Because of this, it would have been a very dirty place. Invalids and sick people hung out around the pool as well, making it an undesirable place to go for the Pharisees. A superstition states that the Angel of the Lord would come and stir up the waters. Whoever got into the pool first would be healed. The pools were also connected to a pagan god of healing. Jesus however, challenging the tradition, pagan god, and the Pharisees, entered the Sheep Gate, found a crippled man and asked him if he wanted to be healed. Healing the man caused the Pharisees to get upset about the man picking up his bed on the Sabbath. After reading the story in the Bible, we got up and explored the pools. It was a little hard to envision the pool filled up with water, but it was really neat to see such old architecture and to be able to walk in it and touch it.
The Struthian Pools were next, by way of the Via Dolorosa. The pool is said to be where Pilate handed Jesus over to the people to be crucified. However, this story is incorrect. Josephus describes the Struthian pools to be open to the air during Jesus' time. Now, there are arches enclosing the pool. Next, we walked through the Muslim quarter. I felt pretty uneasy walking through the Muslim quarter, mainly because of the crowded close streets. Once we reached the Jewish quarter, it was like we entered a whole new world. We stopped to talk about Justinian's cardo; a street running north to south. A decumanis is a street that runs east west.
The Struthian Pools were next, by way of the Via Dolorosa. The pool is said to be where Pilate handed Jesus over to the people to be crucified. However, this story is incorrect. Josephus describes the Struthian pools to be open to the air during Jesus' time. Now, there are arches enclosing the pool. Next, we walked through the Muslim quarter. I felt pretty uneasy walking through the Muslim quarter, mainly because of the crowded close streets. Once we reached the Jewish quarter, it was like we entered a whole new world. We stopped to talk about Justinian's cardo; a street running north to south. A decumanis is a street that runs east west.
The Western Wall came next. The Western Wall is the sacred site for traditional Jews, because it is the closest they can get to the Temple. Rabbis won't let Jews onto the Temple Mount because they might accidentally step on the Holy of Holies and desecrate it. Since the Western Wall was a retaining wall for the Temple, this is as close as the Jewish people can get. Many Jewish people come to pray fervently, and leave prayers folded up stuck into the wall itself. The bottom part of the wall is made up of Herodian stones; huge stones wiht a ridge carved around them. The men and women went to the wall in a separate place. I had the chance to reach out and touch the actual wall. It wasn't life changing as I envisioned it to be, but it was impactful to be sure.
Heading back to the Jaffa gate, we passed through Dung Gate, and passed Zion Gate. Zion Gate is full of bullet holes from when the Israelis tried to get access to the Old City from the Jordanians. We walked toward the bus stop, and noticed a bunch of caves in the rock. Each cave was a personal mikvah, used for ritual baths to cleanse oneself before going up to the Temple. The mikvah had to get its water from a natural spring, or rainwater. Since Jerusalem doesn't get rain for a long stretch, a reservoir would be built above the mikvah to collect the rainwater. Once they refilled the mikvah from a well, they would let the reserve water down, and it would purify the rest of the water. Next, we went back to Jaffa Gate and got back on the bus. We were all so exhausted, and many of us were out of water, but the trip was wonderful. We will be back in Old City for Shabbat every Saturday.
Heading back to the Jaffa gate, we passed through Dung Gate, and passed Zion Gate. Zion Gate is full of bullet holes from when the Israelis tried to get access to the Old City from the Jordanians. We walked toward the bus stop, and noticed a bunch of caves in the rock. Each cave was a personal mikvah, used for ritual baths to cleanse oneself before going up to the Temple. The mikvah had to get its water from a natural spring, or rainwater. Since Jerusalem doesn't get rain for a long stretch, a reservoir would be built above the mikvah to collect the rainwater. Once they refilled the mikvah from a well, they would let the reserve water down, and it would purify the rest of the water. Next, we went back to Jaffa Gate and got back on the bus. We were all so exhausted, and many of us were out of water, but the trip was wonderful. We will be back in Old City for Shabbat every Saturday.