Thursday, March 12, 2009: Walking the Road

Our first day in Jerusalem has been full of fun and meaningful experiences. Our first stop of the day was the Western Wall Tunnel. The Western Wall Tunnel is an underground tunnel exposing the Western Wall in its full length. The tunnel is adjacent to the Western Wall (a Jewish Holy site) and is located under buildings of the Old City in Jerusalem.

After maneuvering our way through the meandering tunnels of the Western Wall, we headed towards the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is the hill facing the old city of Jerusalem, on the eastern side of Kidron valley. Its name came from the olive trees that once grew on its hillside from ancient times. According to Jewish tradition, the Messiah will appear here and bring the dead back to life. Therefore, the hillside became the holiest cemetery, and the hillside is covered by thousands of grave stones.

From the Mount of Olives, we journeyed down the Palm Sunday Road. The path bisecting the hill diagonally from right to left is the road (Palm Sunday Road) that Jesus road into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. We walked down the steep path passing the Dominus Flevit and viewing the Dome of the Rock the entire time. To the right was a Jewish cemetery with all the graves oriented toward the Temple Mount.

Next we entered the Garden of Gethsemane. The Garden is best known as the site adjacent to the Church of All Nations and not too far from the Church of Mary Magdalane, wherein Jesus and his disciples came to pray after the Last Supper.. The Garden of Gethsemane is historically linked to both prayer and betrayal. Indeed, the garden was chosen by Jesus as his last place of prayer during his final hours, and was tragically chosen by Judas as the place to betray Jesus and turn him over to the Romans.

Finally we traveled to the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. To enter Bethlehem, we first had to change buses and tour guides because neither our bus driver or guide could entered; they are Israeli and cannot cross the boarder. Once in Bethlehem we toured the Church of the Nativity. This church is the traditional site of the birth of the Baby Jesus. After our visit to the Church, we then (and some say finally) shopped, and I can say that the Palestinians thank us for adding to their economy!

Another great day! Tomorrow we continue to tour Jerusalem and learn more about this wonderful country. But for now…sleep calls. Shalom from Israel- IAN

From Larry and Carole Amsley:
Thanks so much for all the messages, Beth glad to hear from you. Gretchen and Bill glad to hear everything is going smoothly. We are starting to miss you. John the desserts are really good. Andrea, please check the blog for your class lesson. We are so glad we are doing the ONE YEAR BIBLE, it has made our trip so meaningful. Thanks, Scott and everyone. Keep tabs on RIA. Love to all, see you on the 23rd.