Thursday, April 23, 2009

We started out today at the Temple Mount. We had to leave our Bibles at the control point because “ritualistic items” are not allowed since they might encourage fanatical behavior. (We picked them up later in the day.) Once on the mount we got the history of the area and why it is now only available to non-Israelis. Although neither the Dome of the Rock nor the Al-Aqsa mosque was open to us, the view was great and we learned a fair amount about the history of Jerusalem and the Temple.

Leaving the Temple mount, we passed the Lion Gate and went to St. Anne’s Church and the pools of Bethesda. Inside the Church, the incredible acoustics made us sound like a real choir. We sang several hymns and were all moved by the experience.

The Via Dolorosa was crowded, much like it must have been when Jesus walked the route carrying His cross. The trek ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the traditional sites of the Crucifixion and Burial. Although covered over by church architecture, this site may rate as “Probable” on our P-Scale. Most of the group went into the Church and saw the places that make the Church a center for worship to three different denominations: Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox, not to mention several other groups that regularly frequent the site.

Lunch today was in the Arab Section of Jerusalem and similar to several other meals we’ve had – falafel and gyros. Walking the streets of the bazaar was very interesting – the variety of shops provided a feast for the senses. We saw lots of young soldiers in the streets today – relaxed teenagers carrying automatic rifles. There were also lots of young men in town today for their bar-mitzvahs; we were told this is normal on Thursdays.

The afternoon saw us first at the traditional site of the “Upper Room” and the traditional “Tomb of David.” While the Upper room was probably very near here, archaeologists have shown that David’s Tomb is actually the tomb of some warrior from the crusades, buried about 2000 years after David. However, at the site of the upper room we experienced African believers reliving Pentecost in the “room upstairs” of Acts 1:13, praying actively and loudly in glossalalia (look that one up!)

The last site we visited was the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu (“rooster crowing”), the traditional site of the home of high priest Caiaphas, where Jesus would have been questioned and imprisoned over night while He awaited His Roman trial. Additionally this would have been the place where Peter denied Christ three times before the rooster crowed; hence the name of this beautiful modern church built on 1st century foundations.

The evening began early today and some went down to Ben Yehuda Street, the Pearl District of Jerusalem, and ate out and enjoyed the ambience of the area.

~ Clergy Comments ~

I loved experiencing “other flavors” of Christianity today. At St. Anne’s we sang with Christians from other nations. At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre we observed Orthodox and Roman Catholic believers venerating these traditional sites of the crucifixion, burial preparation and entombment of Christ by kneeling down, touching, kissing, rubbing household objects against the stone surfaces. The Nigerian Christians prayed with an energy that is fascinating to us. The religious commitment and high emotion in these places were obvious. For some of us, emotions were also high, especially when we sang together with other Christians or felt our unity with them at all the sites. Undergirding the joy of Christian unity is the understanding that it is Christ and His redemptive work that make us one. The knowledge of how He loves us is humbling and sometimes overwhelming. We have sensed His presence all along the way. - Graig.