Mt. of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane and Bethlehem

As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.  Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side.  They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God."  Luke 19:41-44 NRSV

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 NRSV

Today was a mix of experiences, instead of making our way to Jericho and the Qumran Valley, we started out day at the Mount of Olives, walking the path that Jesus would have taken down to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Stopping at the place where Jesus wept over Jerusalem we then moved over to the Garden of Gethsemane.  If you watched the video Adam Hamilton put together about the last 24 hours before Jesus Christ was crucified, the video did not do it justice at all (I don’t know why I am surprised, I’m sure my pictures won’t do the area justice).

From there we headed over to the Palestinian Authority where Bethlehem is to visit the Church of the Nativity and the Shepherds’ Field.  There we saw the mixture of three different denominations that see over the cave where Christ was born. Green Orthodox, Armenian, and Roman Catholic influences are all over the church and the difference is immense. The only down side of the trip to the Church of the Nativity is that we couldn’t spend a lot of time down in the cave where Christ was born. Massive crowds lined the sanctuary of the church to go down to see the birth place of Jesus Christ.  On the upside, we did get to observe an Armenian worship service while we were at the church of the Nativity.

From there we went to the Shepherds’ Field to visit the place that the angels visited the Shepherds to proclaim that Jesus Christ was born. This filed is also important because it is the field that Ruth met Boaz (Ruth 2). Once again showing how tightly connected the Hebrew Bible is with the New Testament.  Another treat was having an impromptu worship service with the priest of the Church of the Shepherds’ Field and Christians from Ecuador.  We listened to the Christians from Ecuador chant in the church then the priest led us all in Angels We Have Heard on High. Needless to say it was beautiful.

Tomorrow we will visit the Dome of the Rock and the Temple Mound followed by a trip to the Israel Museum and I believe Jericho. God bless you tomorrow as you head to worship.  I wish I could be there to hear Wilson from Kenya give his testimony.  

Thanks for reading, more to come tomorrow.