David's Royal City

Today we went to the City of David, that is, the archaeological remains of King David’s Jerusalem of about 3000 years. This is located on a ridge below the current Western Wall going down into the Kidron Valley. There are not of remains there but the guide really brought it alive connecting what we were seeing with the biblical texts.

Site of King David's Palace

Looking across the walls of the ancient city which are much lower than the walled city today

Part of the reason for the location of the city was the Gihon Spring. Archaeologists have found an elaborate tunnel system under this ancient city site that enabled access to water without leaving the safety of the city walls.

Looking down the 42 feet shaft to the water below... Originally they thought the water was drawn up from here... but then they found another tunnel! 

Leona and Jim - now called Jum - at the Gihon Spring, the water source for Jerusalem through the centuries until recent times. 

After climbing through the tunnels we came to the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed the blind man in John 9.

We then went to the site of the Temple. Not much remains of the Temple, the most famous being the Western Wall. However there are other remnants…

The large bricks/stones at the bottom of the Temple Mount are from the Temple which was destroyed in the year 70. Also, enlarge the photos... in the shaded wall, just below the three little windows and larger window, you will see an outcrop of bricks. This is where there was a huge archway bridge to enter the temple. 

Another entrance, the steps are original. This is where the teachers of the law used to argue theology and probably where Mary and Joseph found Jesus when he was a teenager.   

Look at the size of these stone bricks. From the gateway at the right all the way along... one piece. It would take a slave or two to move these!

So on this artistic respresentation the archway is at the righ hand side at the front while the steps are on the right hand side. This helps give a sense of the size of the Temple Mount. The Temple itself is in the middle of the courtyard with the smoke of sacrifice rising.

We then went to the Western Wall or the Wailing Wall, which is a wall of the foundation stones of the Temple. This is all that remains of the Jewish Temple which was destroyed by the Romans about the year 70. Above the Wall is Temple Mount where the Dome of the Rock is located.

We then spent the rest of the day wandering the Jewish Quarter of the Old City before returning home.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light

Yesterday, the 4^th, we again went into the Palestinian Territories. The first stop was to the Herodion, a palace built by the King Herod the Great (the one who wanted to kill the baby Jesus) at the edge of the Judean Desert.  The palace was built about 20 BC upon an artificially built hill.

The Herodion Palace - the poor slaves who had to drag the rocks up this hill.

Looking over Palestinian Territory.

Fromthere to the Shepherds’ Fields – the cave area in which the shepherds lived. This was really quite interesting. It was common in this area for people to live in the caves. The sheep were kept at the back of the cave – while the people lived near the entrance where there was fresh air and also where they could protect the sheep.

Often the cave had a ventilation hole at the back… and so this makes sense of Jesus saying – I am the gate of the sheepfold (the one who is at the entrance of the cave to protect the sheep) – while “‘anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.” (John 10). So when the Scriptures talk of there being no room in the inn or living space (the house above the cave or the front of the cave), the logical place for Mary to give birth was away from the crowd, with the sheep, at the back of the cave.

I am the good shepherd... my hseep here my voice

A lovely little cave chapel at Shepherds' Field... one of the many caves that are in the hills around there 

Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit (John 10:1)

 Of course there is something missing in Luke 2:8... the correct quote is In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night while sipping their cappuccinos...

Then into Bethlehem where we have the explanation of the Church of the Nativity. And again, this is where some of what we were told made sense of the church.

The entrance to the cave at Bethlehem... this is in the Catholic part of the church

Sight of the manger (above) and the birth (below) in the Greek Orthodox part of the church

 

Our final stop was to the Aida refugee camp and the Wall. The refugee camp was set up following the creation of Israel in 1948 though a lot more people came there following the 1967 war when Israel annexed the West Bank. Some of the people still hold the keys to their homes in the hope that they will get back to them some day. The Israelis called it the Wall of Separation while the Palestinians call it the Wall of Occupation and Annexation. It really is dehumanising… Rather than being built to protect Israeli settlements on the West Bank it has been extended to cover vast areas of Palestinian owned lands. The Palestinians are refused access to the land which is ultimately annexed for Israeli settlements. Water is another big issue. 85% of the West Bank water goes to Israel and 15% is for the Palestinians. In summer there water can be cut off for 2 months! Hence they have water tanks on their roofs. Then there is the checkpoints which effectively keeps most Palestinians imprisoned behind the wall.   

The ugliness of the wall, here deeply intruding into Bethlehem to keep Rachel's tomb in Israeli territory

The key, symbol of the Palestinian hopes to regain their homes and peace. Below the UN school in Aida Refugee Camp. The windows facing the street have been boarded up so that bullets won't enter the classroom.

 

The irony was, some two thousand years ago, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a town which lived under Roman occupation and oppression. In this seemingly hopeless situation of today hope was once born and he remains that hope today...

The people that walked in darkness

has seen a great light;
on those who live in a land of deep shadow
a light has shone.
You have made their gladness greater,
you have made their joy increase;
they rejoice in your presence
as men rejoice at harvest time,
as men are happy when they are dividing the spoils.
For the yoke that was weighing on him,
the bar across his shoulders,
the rod of his oppressor,
these you break as on the day of Midian.
For there is a child born for us,
a son given to us
and dominion is laid on his shoulders;
and this is the name they give him:
Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God,
Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace.
Wide is his dominion
in a peace that has no end,
for the throne of David
and for his royal power,
which he establishes and makes secure
in justice and integrity.
From this time onwards and for ever,
the jealous love of the Lord of Hosts will do this.


Isaiah 9:1-7 - Midnight Mass of Christmas

Jerusalem, Jerusalem

‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Matthew 23:37

Jerusalem, the city where the three great religions that believe in one God meet, a city that holds the paradox of earthly division and a heavenly communion.

Today we started at the top of the Mount of Olives and journeyed down the mount, across the Kidron Valley and then up into the Old City of Jerusalem finishing again at the Holy Sepulchre Church.

View over the Kidron Valley from the Mount of Olives... a cemeteries in the foreground and below the city wall. Behind the Dome of the Rock (the gold dome) are the domes of Holy Sepulchre Church.

First stop was the Chapel of the Ascension where it is held Jesus ascended into Heaven forty days after his resurrection and the slab of stone inside it is believed to contain one of his footprints.

Next we went to the Church of the Pater Noster (Our Father) (also known as the Sanctuary of the Eleona) which stands on the traditional site of Christ's teaching of the Lord's Prayer in Luke’s Gospel. It features the Lord’s Prayer in many languages of the world.

Further down the Mount of Olives was the Russian Orthodox Church of St Mary Magdalene. It was being decorated for Pentecost with green branches – a sign of new creation. There was also a baptism happening.

At the bottom of the Mount of Olives was the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations. Some of the trees in area were there at the time of Jesus.

This is some of the bare rock from where Jesus had his agony in the garden. 

Then the haul up the Kidron Valley and into the city through the Lion Gate. We stopped at the Church of St Anne which remembers the mother of Mary. Also there were the Pools of Bethesda as appeared in John chapter 5 which Leona read to the group.

St Anne and the child Mary

Leona reading the account of the healing of the paralytic. You can see how deep the pools are... as Jerusalem kept being invaded over the centuries and rebuilt one layer was built over another.

Lunch was on the top of Ecce Homo, a biblical institute in Jerusalem that gave great views over the old city from within.

On the way to the Church of the Holy Sepluchre... a Jewish enclave in the midst of the Muslim quarter.Orthodox Jews buy properties and then demand the army protect them.

 Then it was on again to Holy Sepulchre – in 32 degree heat. This time we visited the place of the crucifixion and once again it was a mad crush of people.

The Holy Sepluchre... place of the crucifixion. Below the altar is the bare rock of Calvary

St Helena, mother of the first Christian emperor Constantine, and the cross. She came to Jerusalem looking for Christian artifacts and is supposed to have found the true cross.

Now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem

I rejoiced when I heard them say:
"Let us go to God's house."
And now our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is built as a city
strongly compact.
It is there that the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord.

For Israel's law it is,
there to praise the Lord's name.
There were set the thrones of judgment
of the house of David.
For the peace of Jerusalem pray:
"Peace be to your homes!
May peace reign in your walls,
in your palaces, peace!"

For love of my brothers and sisters and friends
I say: "Peace upon you."
For love of the house of the Lord
I will ask for your good.       Psalm 122

This is the psalm pilgrims prayed as they entered the walled city of Jerusalem. So after our 80 minute walk from Tantur (it was so hot) and entering the city through the Jaffa Gate we too prayed the psalm, remembering our “brothers and sisters and friends.”

A final valley to cross and then the climb up to the walled Old City and the Jaffa Gate

We immediately got lost in the labyrinth of alleyways that make up the old but fascinating city of Old Jerusalem. First stop was to find something to drink and a sit down. A cool real lemon and mint drink fitted the bill… Leona is already scheming what to do with her next crop of lemons!

Finding things in the old city is not easy but then you discover other things you were not expecting…like the Syrian Orthodox Church of St Mark, which supposedly was where the Last Supper was celebrated. I say supposedly, someone I met there said this was the second Upper Room they had visited that day. However, the where is not so important as the what it recalls. The Syrian woman who looked after the church also told us that this was the site of house of the mother-in-law of the evangelist St Mark. It was a beautiful church – no photos allowed in the church… she then sung the Lord’s prayer in Aramaic, the language of Jesus and the language they still use for their liturgy.

The Upper Room of the Last Supper in the Syrian Orthodox Church of St Mark

From there we tried to find the place where we had the lemon juice and had a lunch of falafels and salad in pita bread. Very nice!

Then we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Tomb). This is really an ancient church and the crowds were huge and loud. It wasn’t a particularly reflective visit. We think it will be better visiting there with a guide.

Looking up into the dome of the Holy Sepulchre

The tomb...

Next we walked down the Via Dolorossa (the sorrowful way), the path that Jesus took with the cross to Calvary. At the end of that we found the Church of the Flagellation and Church of the Condemnation. Mid Afternoon Prayer and the Divine Mercy were being prayed in Italian with bits in English… it was a rather nice end to the day.  

We left the City through the Muslim quarter and the Damascus Gate and caught an Arab bus home… the Jewish buses are big and flash articulated buses. The Muslim ones tend to be much smaller and rougher looking.

The Damascus Gate

A day at home tomorrow.  

As we write this the mosques are calling people to prayer… a rather hauntingly beautiful call tonight.