Israel and Palestine continued

Hello again everyone! I pray this finds you all well and blessed.

I am traveling on a bus with Noel Horton and about 30 others from Haifa, Israel to Jerusalem. It is my first time on a large public bus here. It is nice with good air conditioning unlike the smaller Sherut buses that only carry 10. We will take another bus fom Jerusalem to Ein Bokek on the Dead Sea. We are spending two nights there to visit and float in the sea and to visit Masada (explain later), Qumran (later) and the former site of Sodom and Gomorrah.

I continue to keep a rather rigorous pace in order to see and experience as much as possible on this perhaps once in a lifetime trip/experience. The down side to this approach is that there is not much time for reflection or blogging. Noel has managed to do pretty well with posting things on his Facebook account with his laptop, which functions way better than this IPad for that.

Our friends, the Templeton's, flew home Saturday morning and are likely recovering. It was great to travel and experience much of Israel and Palestine with them. Speaking of others, I am really missing Joanna, Jordan and Emily. We really had a good time in Europe and were together 24/7. I look forward to seeing them in less than a week. I also miss the rest of my family and friends and the NPBC family. At the same time it is hard for me to believe I have been on my sabbatical nearly 2 months - time flies at this pace. I am looking forward to slowing the pace soon.

Thanks for patience in reading my musings. Now for the part most of you are interested in the pictures!

Chapel over site of Jesus' ascension (seen in previous post).

Noel Horton, good friend who is also joining me on this adventure in Israel and Palestine.

Typical scene, lots of Israeli soldiers toting M16s, including young women soldiers.

Reputed room of the Last Supper. Many things are different than in Christ's day. This place was used by and altered by Christians, Jews and Muslims over the centuries.

Notice the lamb on the standard above the light. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away our sin.

A picture of the whole group on the roof of the building of the Last Supper and David's Tomb (below).

An archeological excuvation in Jerusalem showing place where the old wall once ran. If my memory serves me this is from the first wall prior to destruction by the Babylonians.

Western Wall (formerly aka the Wailing Wall because Jews used to come and wail here). They no longer wail, mostly pray. Men and women have seperate places to approach and pray. This wall is one of the few remains of the Temple Mount constructed by King Herod the Great.

Many write prayers on pieces of paper and stick them in the cracks of the wall. I wrote simply this - "Come Lord Jesus".

Look close and you'll see a yamakah on our heads - required to approach the wall.

A section of stones from a stretch of road from the old city Jerusalem from the first century excavated and used for a section of the Via Del Rosa. Jesus likely walked over these very stones.

The Holy Sepulchre is the church located on the site where Jesus was crucified and also over the traditional and most reputed burial and resurrection site.

Entry to the church.

One view from inside.

This is the stone on which Jesus' body was prepared for the grave.

Marking the now stairway leading up to the spot of Jesus' crucifixion.

Part of the Golgotha rock (formerly a quarry, then site where Romans crucified criminals). According to the Gospel accounts when Jesus died there was a violent earthquake and rocks split. It is believed that this vertical split in the rock of Golgotha occurred at the moment Jesus died. There is a tradition concerning the spiritual significance that was told us. According to a tradtion, Jesus' blood flowed down and that it was over the grave of Adam and thus the Second Adam's blood flowed down and washed away the original sin of Adam. Scipture is silent on this point in regards to the actual location of Adam's grave - (likely lost after the flood in my view). Regardless, Scripture clearly teaches that Christ's atoning sacrifice has the power to remove the condemnation and power of our sin - praise God!

Another view - above the tomb.

The ornate nave over the tomb, which was a traditional cave tomb in Jesus' day. The years of church buliding, pilgrims taking pieces of the rock, Orthodox and Catholic traditions of icons, etc. have changed the appearance of this venerated place.

We were given 10 seconds within the tomb itself. Three could go in at a time. My other two photos were blurry. One of my friends took this one of me in the tomb. Some (fewer) believe the Garden Tomb (will blog on later) is the site of Jesus' burial. Presently, I think this site is more likely based on the data. God knows. Regardless, if this was the exact location of Jesus' burial and resurrection, the reality is He lives! And because He lives, we can have eternal life through Him.

A beautifully painted ceiling in a chapel within the church.

The reputed spot of the cross. Golden icons of Christ and Mary venerate the site.

Actual top of Golgotha.

I had mixed thoughts and emotions as I visited this most holy place. On one hand I appreciated being where our Savior died and rose, seeing it with my own eyes. On the other hand nearly 2,000 years of history and changes at the location, the church, icons, crowds, and rush made it a little difficult to reflect on what happened here while I was there. The good news is the Lord does not ask us to make a pilgrimage to this site or limit our access to Him to such places. For those who been saved, trusting fully in Him as Savior and Lord, born again of the Spirit, we have His promised presence with us always - amen.

Brett