Last Days of Jesus - F.T.s

2010 - 11 Field Trips:  With our first group of students, and again in April 2011, we retraced the last days of Jesus' life.  On 12/14/10, it was a day of pouring rain (much needed) and gusting winds (not needed).  On 4/18-19/11, we had ideal weather.  [See Sept. & Oct. '10 posts, West Bank - Bethany and Humanits. - Bethany"; Oct. '11 post, Muslim Quarters.]

Also on 4/18/11, we were on the "Mule Xing Bus" with Prof. Kerry Muhlestein.

We started in Bethany, at the 1954 Franciscan Church of St. Lazarus.  Outside were vivid wall mosaics of Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha.

In Dec. '11 we met our friend Yassin Hamden (head of a charity there).  His family has managed the St. Lazarus Tomb for over 150 years. 

Just before ending his mortal life in Jerusalem, Jesus met Mary, Martha & Lazarus at Simon the Leper's nearby home  -- now being excavated by Italy. 

Nearby was this lovely courtyard and spiritual thought.

Bethpage:  We next proceeded to "Betfage" (in Arabic), on the Jerusalem side of Mt. of Olives.  The small Franciscan sanctuary is the starting point for the traditional Palm Sunday Walk and Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.

Inside the church is the "mounting stone" that Jesus may have used to mount the donkey.  On all 4 walls are frescos depicting many Palm Sunday events.

This beautiful fresco of the triumphal entry is behind the front altar.

 Behind the church and down the hill were two ancient tombs, including one with a small but authentic rolling stone that closed the tomb below (bottom right, looking down into it) .

Pater Noster Church & Cave:   Latin for "Our Father," the orig. 4th Century church here was linked to the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 24 & His ascension.  Built by Constantine over a historic cave, it was destroyed & rebuilt many times--most recently as an incomplete restoration of the orig. (started in 1915).

 

Tiled panels inside the church and the adjoining open cloister, built in 1868, are inscribed with the Lord's Prayer in 62 different languages--from Aramaic to Zulu.

Inside is a beautiful model of the virgin.  Outside is a tiled mosaic baptistry.

Of greatest historic interest is this ancient cave, down some nearby steps.

According to tradition and the apocryphal Acts of John, here Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer, the temple's coming destruction, and the "signs of the times."  After singing hymns about Christ's 2nd Coming, we moved on to the next site.

Dominus Flevit:  Latin for "The Lord wept," this tear-shaped church was built in 1955 amid ancient tombs and ruins.  It is very close to the Temple Mount and Gethsemane.  Here, Jesus wept over the coming fate of Jerusalem, the tragic diaspora and the horrific persecution of His people (Luke 19).

Inside is a distinctive arched window.  In Dec., the temple mount was barely visible in the rain.   The opposite was true on 4/18/11.

On the altar front is this mosaic of a hen gath-ering her "brood under her wings" -- just as Jesus tried to gather Jerusalem and its people  -- but "ye would not"  (Luke 13:34)

The view improves greatly when the weather isn't raining and blowing.  Al Aksa Mosque, Hurva Synagogue and Dome of the Rock -- all in bottom rt. photo.

Dominus Flevit is close to Gethsemane and the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene.

From the Old City, views of these sites across the Kidron are impressive.

Before leaving Dominus Flevit, we enjoyed this church choir from Iceland -- singing wonderfully before their own video camera.

In contrast, the Lord truly wept here for "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem" (Luke 13:34).

  Orson Hyde Memorial Gardens.  On 4/18/11, the weather was so fine that we ate lunch outside -- with more fine views of the Temple Mount.

City of David, Zion's Gate.  Next we walked past Old City walls  Since it was a nice warm day, this meant a very long uphill walk.

 Again we saw ongoing excavations at the City of David.  [See our Oct. post, "Old City - Hezekiah's Tunnel."]

Mt. Zion and the Upper Room: 

By tradition, Jesus met on Mt. Zion for the Last Supper with his apostles --in the Cenacle (meaning "Upper Room").  Its origins are unclear, but Crusaders or their successors may have built this on an earlier Christian site.  It may also have been where the apostles saw the resurrected Lord, chose lots to replace Judas, received the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 1:13) & other events.  [See Nov. 2010 post, "Muslim, Jewish & Christian Events."]

Crusaders thought the complex also included the tomb of King David, although most experts say he was buried in the City of David (1 Kings 2:10). 

Inside the Upper Room, we sang hymns & reviewed the Last Supper events.   This Cenacle is divided into six rib-vaulted bays, supported by 3 columns.

Dormition Abbey.  This Benedictine church is a dominant feature on the skyline.  It was built in early 20th century by Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II on the site of the early Byzantine Hatia Maria Sion church -- traditionally where Jesus' mother Mary had lived and died.  (Dormition = eternal "sleep" or death.)


It is a circular bldg. with several niches containing altars and a choir.  Behind the altar is a colorful mosaic of Mary and Jesus.

Spiral stairs led to a gallery and the main feature -- a crypt ascribed to Mary.

Overhead, the crypt's mosaics depicted notable women in the Bible.  Included here are Eve (with a snake and apple) and Persia's Queen Esther.

Also Deborah, the prophetess/warrior, and Jael -- "nailing" the sleeping Canaanite general Sisera.  (Both are in Judges 5). 

And Ruth -- ancestor of both David and Jesus -- with her gleaned sheaf of grain.

More stairs went up to the organ loft and towers, but we didn't go there.

At Christmastime, Marilyn and Melissa came here on 12/26/11.  They saw the main entry gayly decorated, with the apse beyond.  Also, a beautiful creche in front of another mosaic -- this time, with the virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus. 

 

DAY #2 -- Field Trip (Dec, 2010)

Gethsemane.  The next day, 12/15/10, was cold but clear and not as windy.  First, we visited the elegant Church of All Nations.   [See Nov. '10 post, "Olive Processing - Gethsemane."]  

In the Garden, we meditated on the atonement with hymns, testimonies and a reading of Elder McConkie's farewell address.  In Greek, "Christ" and in Hebrew "Messiah" both mean "the anointed one."  Jesus is the true prophet, priest and king.

St. Peter in Gallicantu:  High on the eastern slope of Mt. Zion stands this newer church.  Finished in the 1930s, it is most likely the site of the high priest Caiaphas' palace.  By tradition, it is also where Peter denied Christ three times (Mark 14:30).  In Latin, "gallicantu" means "cock crowing.")

These excavated steps were most likely climbed by Christ to face a midnight trial before the Sanhedrin at the palace of Caiaphas. 

Before and after the sham trial, Jesus was bound and abused in a deep cavern.

He may have been tied to these holes shown below.

Beautiful as this church is, it marks the spot of judgment and condemnation of the only perfect man who ever lived--God himself.  As the outside mosaic aptly says, in French: "The outrages of Caiaphas!"

This bronze depicts Peter denying his association with Christ while waiting outside.  Leaving his night-time trial about dawn, Jesus turned and looked upon Peter, fulfilling his own prophecy of denial (Luke 22:61).

En route to our next site, we climbed hills overlooking the gleaming 1888 Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene and our own JC.

We also passed this distinctive Muslim cemetery above the City of David and beneath the Temple Mount, overlooking the Mount of Olives.

We entered the Old City's Muslim Quarters by Zion's Gate -- built in 1540 AD for Suleyman the Magnificent. Lepers used to gather here. In the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, troops entered this gate to seize the Jewish Quarter. Bullet holes are still visible.

In the Muslim Quarter is Bethesda or "House of Mercy."  An ancient pool stored & supplied water to the First & Second Temples.  Nearby is St. Anne's, the best-preserved Crusader church in Jerusalem -- named for the virgin Mary's mother.  Did she also have an "Immaculate Conception"?

People in Jesus' time also came to this pool to be healed.  It was a complex of five porches, now excavated.  The Lord healed a man who had been crippled for 38 years and had been unable to reach the water himself (John 3:5-9, 5:2-4).

Near the pools are ruins of a Roman temple to Asclepius, Greek god of medicine.

Church of the Flagellation / Ecce Homo Arch: 

If Pilate lived at the Antonia Fortress (now the Umariyya Boys School), Jesus may have been condemned & scourged (brutally flogged) near this church.   Some say the Ecce Homo arch was where Pilate stood in judgment.  Actually, it was built by Hadrian in the 2nd century as part of Aeolia Capitolina.

Old City Walk

From there, we followed the winding Via Dolorosa past the Catholic "Stations of the Cross," through the Christian Quarter to the Church of Holy Sepulchre. 

We also passed some familiar shops & charities, some in holiday decor. 

At historic Damascus Gate, and outside the Garden Tomb, we watched some interesting people pass by.

It certainly turned into a beautiful day, concluding at the Garden Tomb -- with some final testimonies, hymns and prayer.

The next day (Wed., 12/16/10), the students flew home for Christmas.  They took with them a lifetime of memories from the Holy Land.

[See more on this subject at May 2011 posts, "Easter in Israel" & "Jerusalem with Melissa."  Also, "Upper Room & Last Supper" at the end of Nov. 2010 post, "More Muslim, Jewish & Christian Events."]