Jerusalem has so many Christian hot-spots: where Jesus had his last supper (Mt Zion), taught, rested and prayed (Mount of Olives), did miracles, agonised (Gethsemene) and where he was crucified (now Church of Holy Sepulchre). I’ll cover these and more… but first something I should have mentioned in my Holiday Season post…
I witnessed and accidentally got stuck in the middle of the Jerusalem March, an event during Sukkot that has people of all nations march for a few hours through the streets singing Jewish folk songs and shouting out ‘We love Israel’ and ‘You are not alone’ to the Israelis lining the streets to watch.
Souvenirs like Canada pins, flags, hats, bookmarks etc are handed out to those watching and receiving all the love and high fives. Some of the marchers wore their national costumes, others had matching outfits with others in their group, or wore ‘We love Israel’ T shirts. Each nationality had people holding signs, flags or banners so we could see where everyone was from. Samoa, Panama, China, France, Angola, Brazil, Ghana, Norway… people were from all over! These days people from almost 100 nations participate in this march- which has run since 1955.
The reason for such a march? Well in the messianic era, the Jewish holiday Sukkot will, according to the prophet Zechariah be a universal festival and all nations will make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate it there, so I guess people are getting practice in early!
It’s quite an interesting event to witness. It’s lovely to see all the good vibes and love being spread around, indeed one Israeli I talked to was brought to tears by it all. But it is also a bit weird. A large proportion of the marchers are pro-Israel Christian Evangelicals who believe the return of the Jews to Israel and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 is fulfilling biblical prophecy. As mentioned in my post about traveling to Israel, I feel very uncomfortable with this kind of Christian Zionism. Not my cup of tea at all.
So imagine how I felt when I accidentally left the viewing zone behind the barriers and ended up between very exuberant Filipinos and friendly smiling Chinese, walking along with them as they sang something in Hebrew and greeted people in the crowd. I took a wee video, then kept my head down and tried not to look too awkward, while scanning the road for a gap in the barrier fence. There were none, but after maybe 10 awkward minutes of being in the march I see a couple of people physically moving the barrier apart so they could escape – I quickly followed them!
Right, now to get on with Jerusalem’s main Christian sites. The first one Antony and I stumbled upon when on our first advenutre into the old city by foot. We climbed Mt Zion and came in some kind of back way to the Tomb of King David (not really much evidence this is his tomb but nonetheless…) then we ended up in another room with tourists. We took a few pictures not knowing what it was exactly we were looking at until exiting and discovering some info. Turns out this was very likely the place where Jesus and his disciples shared the Last Supper/ the passover meal.
Of course over the centuries churches have been built on this spot then ruined again, the first was built in 390 CE. The current shape of the room was formed in the 14th century preserving elements from the 12th century Crusader era Church. During the Ottomon rule it was converted into a mosque. You can see the mihrab in the picture – it’s dedicated to King David. According to the gospel, the room that was here is also where the disciples reunited seven weeks after the resurrection (at Pentecost) and they were inspired by the Holy Spirit to go out to all nations with the Christian message.
Also on Mt Zion, just outside the Old City walls we found the Dormition Abbey – built on/ near the place where Mary mother of Jesus was said to have ‘fallen asleep,’ i.e. ended her worldy existence. A church was built here in the early 5th century – and it appears on the 6th century mosiac floor map of Jerusalem which we hope to see in person when we’re in Jordan. The original church was called Hagia Sion and was destoyed in 614. The current building took 10 years to build and was dedicated in 1910.
From Mt Zion to the Mount of Olives we go next… Starting at the bottom with a visit to the Virgin Mary’s Tomb. We descended a wide staircase down into a rock cut cave where the tomb is. There is a small altar built on top of it and lots of tourists were lining up to enter and touch it – we skipped this but enjoyed being down in the unique location. There was a mihrab here from the time when Muslims had joint access to the site. Mary is special to them too- as the mother of the prophet Isa /Jesus. It might explain why the churches above ground were on a cycle of build- destroy- build again repeat, yet the crypt was respected and kept in tact.
Right next to the Tomb of Mary was the much quieter less visited ‘Grotto of Gethsemane,’ believed – along with the garden nearby- to be ‘Gethsemane’ the place where Jesus used to come with his disciples when they were in Jerusalem. The word Gethsemane is Aramaic for press and oil – indicating that an olive press or storehouse for oil was here. In 1956 excavations brought to light the remains of an olive press here.
It’s quite cool to imagine Jesus and his disciples camping out in the cave. It was here Jesus left his disciples alone to pray (and they fell asleep), here Judas kissed him in betrayal and here he was arrested. Right since the 1st century this place was venerated and transformed into a chapel. No-one else was down here when we visited and it had a lovely natural feel being in a cave, nice decorative paintings on the roof of the cave too.
Just across the road was the Garden of Gethsemene – where Jesus went with his disciples to pray the night before he was crucified. The ancient gnarled olive trees here were pretty cool – apparently they still use their fruit to make olive oil.
Next to the Garden of Gethsemane is the Basilica of the Agony – built to recall how Jesus agonised over us to the point of sweating blood. It is also called the Church of All Nations because so many different nations contributed to the mosaics of the apses and cupolas. The first church here (380 CE) had at its centre the rock of the agony – which is also part of the current church (opened in 1924). It is right in front of the altar and believed to be where Jesus prayed before he was arrested. There was a service happening up at the altar so I couldn’t get a close look at the rock or lie prostrate in front of it as many have done in the past! I really liked this church and could have stayed there for sometime – great structure, windows, cupolas, mosaics – really nice.
Next with our friends Simon and Nagisa we headed up the hill to explore more of the Mount of Olives. Dominating a large chunk of this area is a Jewish cemetery. People have been buried here for 3000 years making it the oldest Jewish cemetery in the world. There is a belief that when the messiah comes he will descend on the Mount of Olives and those who are buried here will be first to be resurrected – hence its popularity!
On our meander up the hill we missed churches we were hoping to find (the fancy Russian orthodox one with all the gold domes) and found others instead (Franciscan – modest but nice view of Temple Mount). The views over Jerusalem were fantastic during the walk and particularly at the top as the sun set over the city.
Nearish the top we found the Dome of the ascension – a small undecorated shrine built over the site where Jesus supposedly ascended to heaven. You can even see his footprint (yeah right) in the stone and the mihrab included when the site was turned into a mosque. It is still part of the mosque complex today. Muslims also believe in Jesus ascension so it’s also a special place for them. Around the edge of the courtyard, remains of previous churches indicate it was once a more impressive site.
There’s still a bit to go for Christian Jerusalem and this post is getting long so I’ll end it here and create a part 2 for the write up on the Via Dolorosa & Jesus’ crucifixion.
