Day 3 The Mount of Olives

Holy Hiking

We began day three seeing the sights just outside of Jerusalem.  First we walked across the Mount of Olives where Jesus often walked from the village of Bethany (where He stayed with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus) as He traveled to the city of Jerusalem.  It is quite a steep hill and we have all decided that Jesus must have been pretty fit.  There is a great view of the Old City from this mountain.  Here is a picture of the group being instructed by our new guide (Grandpa Jimmy hurt his leg and is resting) by the name of Ihab, and he is incredibly knowledgeable about the area.

On the Mount we visited The Church of the Pater Noster, the place where Jesus taught his disciples the Lord’s Prayer.  We gathered at the rock where tradition says He did this, and we too prayed that same prayer, 2000 years later.  This church is also famous for displaying the Lord’s Prayer in 180 different languages.

The Garden

One of the most famous gardens in the world must be the Garden of Gethsemane.  It can be found near the base of the Mount of Olives and this is where Jesus often went to have solitude away from the crowds and to pray to the father.  After He instituted the Lord’s Supper He retreated here and this is the place where Judas betrayed Him with a kiss.   The Garden of Gethsemane still has some ancient olive trees that are huge and rather eerie looking.  This certainly would have been a quiet place in Jesus’ day, but today it was very crowded with pilgrims, and not so serene.

On the site of the Garden is now “The Church of All Nations.”  It is bright and lively on the outside, but very dark and somber on the inside, intentionally done with the use of deep purple stained glass.  Those inside are to feel somber as this is the place where Christ was in agony before going to the cross.

We also did many other this day like, visiting the tomb of Mary, Jesus’ mother.  Pastor Dressler bonked his head entering the tomb because he didn't bow low enough as he entered.  (Typical Lutheran.)  We visited to Dominus Flevit Church where Jesus wept over Jerusalem and we visited to tomb of St. Jerome who translated the Bible into Latin.