"Good" Thursday

The remains of Caiaphas's palace, where Jesus was taken after his betrayal and arrest.

There is also a church (French) build over the two-thousand-year-old rooms where prisoners were held.

In the church courtyard, Peter's denial is remembered.  (At the top of the column is a rooster).

 As we walked down from the Mount of Olives, thorny vines grew at the roadside.

 The traditional site for the crucifixion is at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, inside the city wall.  Several denominations share the site, with so many people milling about and a lot of confusion. 

Scripture clearly states Jesus' crucifixion was outside the city wall.

So we went instead to a rocky cliff a short walk from the Damascus Gate.  A place where

stonings could have taken place, so, already a place of execution.

A place close to a major road, as the Romans' purpose in crucifying convicts was

 to instill fear in the populace through a public, horrific execution. 

And a place with caves that used to look like eyes, nose and mouth--it could look like a skull.

It's only been in the past hundred years or so that this site has gained credence as the probable Golgotha.

It's also likely that the crosses were placed by the road, at the bottom of the hill, 

instead of on top, so that passersby could cast insults at the dying men.

  (There's a Muslim cemetery on top of the hill now).

 About  50 yards from Golgotha is the Garden Tomb ("nearby").  

Fairly recent archaeological discoveries 

brought this area to everyone's attention.
The crucifixion was hurried because of the "preparation for the sabbath" according to three of the Gospels,
but in John, it mentions preparation for the Passover.  And the Passover has the same rules in place as
a Sabbath--no travel, work, etc.  It would seem that this week, there could have been two "high" days in a row--Passover on Thursday evening to Friday, then the regular Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday.
By the way, Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus, by handling the dead, were "unclean" and could
not participate in either the Passover or the Sabbath.  They also marked themselves as followers of Christ though the rest of the Sanhedrin obviously were opposed.  It was a very brave thing they did.

 The burial niches.  From the scriptural description, the far left one would have been

where the Savior's body lay, and where the folded burial clothing was left.

And the tomb is empty!  How wonderful that is!

Although there were a lot of people gathered to see this tomb, the garden setting was beautiful.

The walled-in area on the green hillside across the little valley is likely where the potter's field was that was purchased with the betrayal money that Judas gave back to the Jewish leaders. (Looking southward from

the area of Caiaphas' palace). 

*** 

This little valley is called Hinnom.  Sometimes other syllables are added to it to denote it as "Hell".

It was the area where garbage was continually burning, with terrible odors.

This is probably the comparison for the fire and brimstone associated with the "lower realm".

It was also the place where the ancient Palestinians worshiped Molech,

sacrificing their children by fire.

How interesting that this area is where Judas ended his life.

Wednesday evening and a quiet garden

I have often wondered how the prophecies were fulfilled that Christ would lay for three days and three nights in the tomb before his Resurrection, when He was crucified on a Friday and rose again early on a Sunday morning?  The time requirement was too short!  Thirty-six hours does not equal three days.

But if Jesus held his own Passover meal on Wednesday night, and was taken to the cross on

Thursday, the timing is right.   And it seems that is what happened.

So instead of Good Friday, we should have Good Thursday.

Although there is a church and a garden "Gethsemane" with 2-thousand-year-old olive trees in it down at the base of the Mount of Olives, our guide took us higher up the hillside, citing a portion of the Law that said the annual atoning sacrifice of the red heifer had to take place opposite the Temple and in line with the Gate Beautiful.  And Jesus came to fulfill the Law.

We sat on the hillside, looking across at the Gate Beautiful, the gate only used for priests to enter into the Temple.  (The Moslems don't want the Christians to be thinking it is a gate that's accessible so they bricked-in the entrances.  They also purposely put a cemetery there so that Christ, as a priest, couldn't walk through without being defiled, when He comes again. It's their way of saying those prophecies are worthless.)  By the way, the Dome of the Rock seems to be a bit to the south of the location of the ancient Temple.  Theoretically, a temple could be there without the Dome having to be moved.

 Such a peaceful, pastoral location, away from the crowds!

Not much has changed.

And here we talked about wine presses and olive presses. 

The Garden is the place of the olive press, but Christ said he had trodden the wine press alone, 

as the Atonement was begun, where he sweat great drops of blood.

As it turns out, it could have been both presses.

With an olive press, a large stone is rotated to crush the olives.  The first oil that is released is reddish (extra-virgin olive oil) and was used for anointings and the candelabra in the temple.  Under more pressure--the pit is crushed and more oil comes--that used for food and light for homes.  More pressure, and then comes the oil used for medicines and industry.  The mash that was left was dried and burnt for fuel.

Grapes are first trodden by foot, to avoid crushing the seeds which are bitter, then the seeds are taken to the olive press, where, under great pressure, grape-seed oil is obtained, along with a very bitter liquid that is used to make vinegar; "the bitter cup..."

Gethsemane:  where both processes meet to produce the most intense and bitter experience.

 The entrance to the lower "Garden of Gethsemane".  

Who knows where exactly on this hillside the Savior knelt and experienced the worst pain any mortal or God could experience as he began the process of making payment for the sins of all mankind, and where his disciples grew sleepy and could not keep watch?  

I cannot even begin to fathom His experience.  I'm just so grateful it occurred and He was willing.

Passover

I didn't purposely stretch this out so that the events of Christ's last week would be written about during this actual week of remembrance.  It just happened that way.

During the 7 days before Passover, Jewish men must be within a short distance of Jerusalem

to be able to do all the preparations--obtaining the sacrificial lamb and

the personal purification (washings).  So Jesus stayed in nearby Bethany--close enough for the religious requirements, far enough so that he could move if enemy forces showed up (and "the Jews" or the leadership were well aware of the threat he was to their way of doing business).  

Jesus had to stay alive until the moment He had determined.

(In the Essene quarter of Jerusalem)

 Wanting to keep the Passover with his disciples, Jesus sent two of them into the city, to look for a man carrying a pitcher of water.  That "sign" might not seem so unusual to us, but in those times, only women carried water.  The only sect of Jews where the men would carry water was the Essenes. 

 (And that was most likely because they were all men?)

The Essenes kept a slightly different calendar from the rest of Judaism.  For them, Passover always began at sundown on a Wednesday, (the first Wed. after the full moon after the spring equinox).  The Jews' Passover was entirely tied to the lunar calendar and could be on any day of the week.

Thus, Jesus and his disciples held their Passover meal a day before the rest of the people.

 (stairs to the "Upper Room")

The Upper Room, as it now appears.  As with all Christian sites, the early church, then the Crusaders built

memorials here--but they incorporated the room into the building.

No one knows for certain if this is THE location, but it's definitely nearby.

As to the Last Supper, the Gospels only note what is different from a normal Passover meal. But Jesus would have done the full ritual.  

The different cups of wine.

The bitter herbs, the unleavened bread,

the retelling of the story of leaving Egypt.

Leaving a chair for Elijah.

The bread and wine had been used for hundreds of years, but Jesus gave the reason for them,

"take, eat (drink); this is my body, or my blood".

They did not drink the 4th cup of wine, which is usually done--Jesus said he would not drink again until the 2nd Coming, when all will be fulfilled.

Then they sang a hymn, which is also a normal part of the Passover meal, and went out.

***

Early Christian tradition also has the Pentecost (being filled with the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues, seven weeks after the Passover) as happening in the Upper Room.

That makes sense to me that the apostles would gather in a location

that held such powerful meaning for them.

Joppa/Ioppa/Jaffa, it's all the same...

Hebrew is such an interesting language.  As we all know from The Last Crusade (Raiders of the Lost Ark), J and I are interchangeable.  "J" is also interchangeable with Y and H.  P and F are basically the same letter.

So Joppa can be Jaffa at different times in scriptural writing. Joppa is the city Jonah set sail from as he fled his assignment to preach to Nineveh; and his 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the whale was later referred to by the Savior as the sign given to Israel of how long the Christ would lay in the tomb.

Joppa is also the city Peter was in when he had the vision of the sheet descending from heaven

with all manner of unclean animals, of which he was commanded to eat.  

Now, Joppa is a part of Tel Aviv, the "capital" of Israel.

Since the 1967 war when Jerusalem was taken under Israeli control, Jerusalem has been the declared capital. But most embassies are still in Tel Aviv.

 Jacob's dream of a ladder, portrayed in sculpture.

 The Tel Aviv skyline, north of Joppa.

 Everywhere we went in Israel, cats were in great abundance.  Sleek, well-fed, but with a feral look.  

Many, many calicoes!  While waiting a few minutes in one line, we watched cats come and go, fighting for some garbage.  We counted about 20 different cats in 5 minutes.  

No dogs.  None.  Anywhere.

And I don't know why, in either case.

To Armegeddon and beyond...

The Jezreel valley, or the valley by Meggido (Armeggedon), is a fertile, lush valley.

Much of it was malaria-infested swamp until the Israelis started draining it.

Many Arab families sold their land here because it was almost worthless, and

had been for centuries.  At the time, they were ecstatic in being able to sell; now they claim they were cheated.  Such are the intricacies of politics here.

In February, grains are already "knee high". The land produces several crops a year.

 Almond trees are in blossom.

Overlooking the port city of Haifa, a very prosperous area.  And since Israel recently discovered

a large natural gas reserve just off-shore, they have fuel for at least 100 years

and coal-burning plants are being refitted for gas.  Golda Meir had once said,

"Moses wandered for 40 years and then chose the only land that didn't have oil".

It's kind of hard to imagine Elijah contesting the priests of Baal here, yet Mount Carmel overlooks Haifa.

Watching cruise ships in the harbor made me want to do a Mediterranean cruise--Greece, Italy, etc.

 On to Caesarea, the Rome away from Rome built by Herod the Great in honor of Caesar.

I've reflected before on the fact that so many of the world's great monuments were built by megalomaniacs--someone with enough power that no one's going to say, "You're crazy!"

So a city was built by the sea with a magnificent harbor and breakwater, amphitheater, hippodrome for chariot races, and palace. It became the Roman capital for Palestine.

 This place had all the latest amenities, including public bathrooms. 

There was a channel of running water below several stone slabs for sitting.

Unfortunately, these are really public since they are located in the main entrance to the hippodrome.

(Modeled by Kevin and Craig Davis)

After the "interesting" public bathrooms in China, all the real bathrooms in Israel were

appreciated!

 Part of the remains of the palace where Paul testified before King Agrippa (grandson of Herod the Great) and Festus, the Roman governor. As a Roman citizen, Paul was arrested illegally by the Roman soldiers at the temple, but I suppose they thought they were doing him a favor, saving him from the enraged Jewish crowd.  Paul eventually set sail from Caesarea for Rome, to appeal to Nero, the Caesar at the time.

And when it came time to execute Paul, he was put to death with the sword, since he was a citizen.

In contrast, Peter's death was by crucifixion.

 Also found at this site was a tablet mentioning Pontius Pilate--the only existing proof of his existence.  

And so it is with those who think they are important.

 An aqueduct brought fresh water 8 miles south from Mount Carmel.  It was built with a 1/1000 drop.

To Herod the Great, no problem's too big.

From our first sighting of the Mediterranean as we flew south from Moscow to Israel, Alice and I had been wanting to dip our toes in the water.  Really wanting to!  Being in a such a location as Israel--something I never thought I'd do--just didn't feel real until our feet were wet.

I just love water!  Lake, ocean, river!  

I could have spent all day here, listening to the waves and wading.

I wish our Bohai Sea looked even a little like this!

Nazareth

From Tiberias westward to Cana and then to Nazareth--about an hour's drive.  The area is inhabited mostly by Arabs today.  First, past the site of one of the last stands of the Crusaders.  They had a fortified height.  Attacked by mobbish Bedouins in July.  All they had to do was stay in their castle and ride it out.  Instead, they went out in full armor, on horseback, as knights do.

Except with the heat, it didn't take long for the horses to dehydrate and falter.  That left armored knights on foot, in the heat.  The battle was lost as was the fortification and the Crusaders (those left alive) were no longer a factor in the history of this land. 

***

Nazareth is a modern city, with probable/possible spots for the Annunciation, Joseph's home, and so on.

We didn't go to those churches.  Instead, we drove to the parking lot of a Super Target and climbed through a back fence, and walked up a hill to a tiny church:  The Lady of the Fright.

 Lady of the Fright?   That's an unusual church name!  But this is probably the hill where Jesus was taken to be "cast down", after he had read in the synagogue and the people were upset with him.

(And Mary, his mother, would definitely have been frightened.)

 The top of the hill leads to old quarries--the typical place for an execution, particularly for blasphemy.

"Stoning" goes a little differently than I had always supposed.  Instead of a crowd all throwing rocks at the accused (which seemed to me like a slow and painful way to die) that person is pushed off the edge of a cliff by one of the witnesses of his crime. The other witness then checks to see if he died in the fall, and if he hasn't, uses a large stone to either crush the chest or the head.  Death is very quick.

Finally, the body is covered in stones, for burial.  

Since the witnesses have to participate, that guards against frivolous charges!

Another note about Nazareth.  The village's major occupation throughout history has been stone work, as they had good quarries.  The people were nicknamed "rock warriors".   The word "carpenter" in the King James Version, means "craftsman, or home builder".  

In Europe, a home builder used wood.  In Nazareth, they use stone.

Thus, it was likely that instead of being a carpenter, Jesus grew up working with stone.

And maybe that's why there are references to Christ as "the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner..." or, "the stone cut without hands..."

 From another hilltop in Nazareth, we looked at Mt. Tabor, the site some believe was the Mount of Transfiguration.  That was confirmed by President Kimball during a visit there.

Jesus, with Peter, James and John was there for the Feast of the Tabernacles--

when Israelites believed Moses and Elijah would return.

And they did!  That's why Peter said, "This is good!"  

 On the same hilltop, but looking southwest instead of southeast.

Overlooking the Jezreel Valley, sometimes called Armeggedon.

Lilies of the field.  I thought they were "just" wild poppies, but no,

these are the real thing.  And they were blooming everywhere because it is spring.

A Galilee Sunrise

I would imagine that watching the sun rise over the sea of Galilee looks about the same

now as it did when fishermen were bringing their ship to shore

and hearing a Man call from the shore

"Children, have ye any meat?...Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find."

 Looking across to Decapolis, where the swine ran into the sea and were drowned.

***

I awoke quite early, and while Kevin went to get email downloaded in the lobby of the hotel, 

I couldn't resist seeing the dawn over the lake.

It was a brisk morning, and I half-ran to the quay, afraid the sun would peek over 

the opposite hills before I got to where I wanted to be.

What a glorious morning!

Why do I feel so renewed by such moments in nature?

One of my favorite Galilee experiences...

...watching the fresh oranges become fresh orange juice.

The oranges grew in nearby orchards,  so were tree-ripened and delicious.  

Worthy of a picture all by itself--a fresh orange juice machine.

Up to the Galilee

After the barrenness of the desert by the Dead Sea, the Galilee was beautiful and reminded me a lot of some of the western states--mountainous (we actually could see a snowy Mt. Hermon in the distance), brushy, with green pasture-lands. We were lucking in coming during the rainy season.  Later on in the summer, we were assured that the scene is much drier and brown.

The ruins on the hilltop were from the Hassassin, a group resisting the Crusaders.  From their stronghold, they'd sally forth (I love terms like that!) and commit mayhem and murder.

We remember them mostly because their name came to mean "assassin".

This land has never had much peace, though it looks so peaceful now. 

 Whether it was 3000 years ago and it was Egypt and Persia fighting over it, or 2013 AD and it's ... Egypt and Iran rattling their sabers, it makes one wonder why God gave this land to His chosen people,

the Israelites?  So they would be "stirred up in remembrance" of their dependence upon God?

 At Israel's northernmost edge is Tell Dan.  And here is where the Jordan River comes together from numerous springs to begin flowing down towards the Sea of Galilee.  

Crystal-clear water and rapids!  A much better picture of a storied river.

It would be bigger down by the Dead Sea but much is used for agriculture.

 The Hebrew means to go down from Dan--"yored Dan" or Jordan.

This is where the tribe of Dan settled after rejecting the area 

the Lord had given them in the first settlement.

Before, they were a few miles southwest of Jerusalem (at Beth Shemesh, 

where Samson was from--more about him later).  Once they moved to the north, they immediately began worshiping idols and forgot their faith.  A lesson I took from this:  bloom where you are planted--

the Lord has his reasons for placing you where you are.

Among the remnants of Tell Dan.  It was here a few decades ago that the first writing was found that mentioned the House of David, king of Israel--the first non-biblical support of the story.

 Have I mentioned that there is always a church (if not three or four) on the site of anything associated with the life of Jesus?  Franciscan monks have been given the duty of caring for any of the Catholic churches in the Holy Land.  As the sight of a fully-robed monk isn't common anymore, I found it interesting, but also since I'm not Chinese, I didn't take anyone's picture.  They always seemed to be on an errand--not just standing around waiting for their picture to be taken.

 The ruins of Capernaum.  Here Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus.  Here, the centurion sent for Jesus to heal his servant, but didn't want the Savior to come to his home--possibly because he knew that for a Jew to enter a Gentile home would make the Jew unclean (and give rise for a long series of ritual cleansings).  It was also here that the woman with a 12-year "issue of blood" was healed by touching Jesus.

 I've always wondered why she was afraid when he asked, "who touched me?"

With her malady, she was in a constant state of "unclean".  To acknowledge that would make whoever she touched also unclean.  I can imagine there would be some who would be very unkind about such a revelation!  She would have lived through 12 years without anyone touching her. No affectionate caresses.  No hugs from family members. It is hard to imagine her loneliness 

despite being in the midst of others, and her desperate need for healing.

(A couple of military planes were flying over, so I caught the second one in the photo--old and new).

This synagogue was built in the 4th century on the foundation of the one from Jesus' day--the one built by the centurion, who was a friend of the people.

 We took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, with a calm day.  No tempest.  No fishing nets,  

But all very easy to imagine!

After the boat ride, we ate "St. Peters Fish" (tilapia) at a dockside restaurant.  And I found a shekel in the mouth of my fish!  Alice and I both were brave and ate the fish--though we're not usually fish-eaters.  

I won't go so far as to say "delicious"--but it was about the best fish I've ever had.

 Then a short drive part-way around the lake to the area many believe was near by the Sermon on the Mount.  The mother of Constantine (Helene), in the 4th century went around and tried to identify key spots such as in Bethlehem, etc.  She put the Mount of the Beatitudes in a spot several miles away, but the people kept coming back here.  

There is a small, lovely chapel here that was built with funds given by Mussolini because his sister was a nun here.  After World War II, all traces of his name were removed.

Eight sides, one for each of the Beatitudes, with the altar in the center.  It was reverential.

How could something beautiful like this be funded by someone so violent?

If these had been written in his heart instead of just on the stained glass, 

the world's history would be a little different.

 I hadn't thought of it exactly this way, but under the law of Moses,

it took an ACTION to bring you under judgment.

But with the higher law Jesus brought, 

intent or frame of mind bring you under judgment--the heart is where the gospel must be.

***

And by the way, our "ritual cleansing" is done weekly,

when we take the sacrament.