Thoughts On [insert religious topic(s) here]

Today was a day of biblical proportions. Seriously. We walked much of the land Jesus would have walked during his final week in Jerusalem. But that wasn’t exactly the plan for the day.

Before going to bed last night, we sat with Howard on the patio and invited him to walk around the outside of the city walls with us today. After seeing the city from above on the ramparts, our plan was to see the city from the outside, walking along the walls and seeing all the gates of the city. If you have a map of Jerusalem, now would be a good time to get it out. If not, Google is your friend. Believe me, a map will make this much more interesting-especially if it gives elevations.

We headed out Jaffa Gate and turned south onto Hativat Yerushalaim. That road led into the valley of Hinnom, stopping at the City of David and the Pool of Siloam. So much for walking around the walls of the city… We were in the valley and the city was getting further away with every step. But, we are both stubborn so we kept walking. When we got to the City of David, an ancient city that is now a major archaeological dig, we turned back north and trekked up two VERY steep roads to get back to the walls of the Old City.

By the time we got to the Dung Gate (the gate that leads to the Western Wall) I was exhausted. We sat for fifteen minutes, catching our breath and having some water. Then we continued walking around the southern walls to the eastern walls that run alongside the Temple Mount. Jac’line said we should go through the Muslim cemetery at the base of the wall so we could see the Golden Gates. The Golden Gates are no longer gates but apocalyptically, they are the gates that the Jewish Messiah would enter the city through.

Jac'line and I in front of the Golden Gates

You can sense the bitterness between cultures in this tiny strip of cemetery. The Muslims purposefully buried their dead here so that the Jewish Messiah couldn’t enter the city. Travelling through a cemetery is an act of uncleanliness so the Messiah would be blemished when he entered the city, making him incapable of meeting the apocalyptic ideal. There was trash all over the cemetery, grave markers had been vandalized and there didn’t appear to be any concern by Muslims to clean the area up. It’s sad to think that they may have buried their dead here in order to block off an important aspect of another religion just out of spite.

Defaced Muslim Cemetary in front of the Golden Gates

When we were almost at the Lion’s Gate a Muslim guard forcibly made us turn around and go back through the cemetery because we were not allowed near the Lion’s Gate at that time due to a Ramadan service. So, we walked back through the cemetery and out onto Ha-Ofel Road heading down to the Church of All Nations and the Garden of Gethsemane. When we got to the base of the valley, Howard had decided that he had had enough and headed back to the hostel. We were just getting started though. We walked down through the valley and up El Mansuriya Road. The road goes right between the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations, heading up to the Mount of Olives. Jac’line remembered finding a secluded garden towards the top of the road so we started hiking it up the road.

For whatever reason, be it the heat or just a lack of city resources, the road was in bad shape. The asphalt had become worn and slick. It was a real struggle not to slide backwards down the hill. As we got near the top, we were rewarded with stunning views of the Old City. We were actually starting to get higher than the elevation of the Old City which is 2700 feet.

The Old City from the Mount of Olives

Along the way up, we spotted a donkey and a colt in a field off to the side of the road. Talk about a biblical moment; in Luke 19, Jesus told two disciples to go find a colt on the Mount of Olives so that he could ride it into Jerusalem.

A donkey and a colt on the Mount of Olives

At the top of the mountain, we realized that we were really close to the Dome of the Ascension, in fact, we could see it off in the distance. So, we walked there. When we got to the Dome it was completely empty. We spent some time in the church at the site reflecting on our walk. We were both tired but knew there was some reason that we were here with nobody around.

When Jesus was resurrected, he spent some time with his disciples. Just before he ascended into heaven, he led them up to the top of the Mount of Olives. As the disciples watched, he taught them a final lesson about bearing witness and receiving the power to disciple others. Then, he vanished.

The disciples, probably as tired as we were after the long hike up the mountain from Jerusalem would have been left alone and probably confused, scared that their rabbi was gone. How would they move forward and be changed from this point onward? We can safely assume that they were changed since today we stand on the shoulders of their faith and read about it in the New Testament. But it must have been quite a moment of dread and fear to watch your rabbi leave you.

With my legs aching and lunchtime quickly approaching, we left the church and got a taxi to Augusta Victoria, a hospital on very pinnacle of the Mount of Olives. The hospital has a lookout tower and we wanted to go up there to see the lay of the land. Unfortunately, the tower was closed so we’ll have to go back when we are in Jerusalem again, but we got to see the Israel/Jordan border off to the east as well as the Old City to the west.

The hills of Jordan from St. Augustina Victoria

We got another taxi back down the mountain and to our hostel. After a quick stroll to the Christian Quarter for lunch, we went back to the hostel and collapsed. I wasn’t feeling too good because we ran low on water on our way up the mountain, so I was slightly dehydrated. After some rest I felt better. As it got later, we went down to a new mall just outside Jaffa Gate and down some stairs. There was a nice café there, Café Aroma, and we grabbed some dinner there. The café was kosher so there were no meat sandwiches, only vegetable and tuna sandwiches. I had a sandwich with feta, sundried tomatoes and lettuce. It was really good, but I could use a nice big roast beef sandwich.

After dinner, we headed back to the hostel and called it a night.

Shalom,

Mat